Tom Stormcrowe

It also helps in a headwind

mgmoore7

"It also helps in a headwind"

You bet it does and if you like a little more speed.... I pickup .5 -1 mph almost instantly when I drop into my aero bars without any more effort.

DieselDan

You treating the symptoms, not the cause. Tilt the nose of the saddle up just ever so little. That will transfer your weight to your lower back and rear end. You can wear gloves and use gel tape/grips all you want, but you still in a perpetual push up position instead of sitting on your seat.

Flame on...

BikEthan

+1 on Tom's post. I'm new here but I can say from personal experience (and boy does it not get much more personal than a bike seat) that seat angle can pretty drastically affect weight distribution. I usually put mine a little nose up to help keep weight off my hands and keep me from sliding right off the saddle!

BigBlueToe

I'd echo what that one poster said about drop handlebars being more comfortable on long rides because they offer more positions. I'd also recommend raising them until the top is close to level with your saddle. I have mine maybe half an inch lower, but that's all. Try padding under the tape. I use gel pads wrapped with two layers of tape - the foam tape that comes with the gel, and a second layer of cloth tape.

Having said all that, the first two or three days of a tour are always painful on my hands, wrists, and especially my forearms. Then it goes away. My first long tour was the west coast of the US. The first day was short - maybe 26 miles. My arms hurt but not bad. The second day was too long - about 85 miles. They hurt bad! The third day was about 75 miles. I was in agony! I resolved that the fourth day would be a rest day. I was planning on riding about 10 miles to a different campground and then take the rest of the day off. However, those 10 miles turned out to be pain free, and I continued on with my originally planned day - maybe 35-40 miles. For the rest of the trip - total of 4 weeks - I had no pain in my arms.

Now I always make my first three days easy - no more than 30 miles if I can help it - and a rest day if I need it - so that my arms can get acclimated. It works for me.

ban guzzi

I'm 6'2' and losing my way thru 290. With that said, my 77 Schwinn is a comfy 3 speed. Sorta gull wing bars. Nice for a casual roll or commute. My MTB had straight bars and bar ends. Hated it! Found some used drop bars and put those on. VERY comfy and with a bit more adjustment, perfect for me. I have an elbow that was never set after breaking in a stupid MTB accident 10 years ago so one arm doesn't bend as much as the other. Drops helped alot for this. I have really low drops on my old Panasonic with the old (early 80's) style hoods. I'm getting used to that set up and I'm really enjoying it. I'm picking this bike for commuting and fun more than the other two partially becaus eof the drops and the fact I feel so comfortable in them...

I am a drop bar convert...

Doug5150

If you want riding comfort, go straight to the recumbent choice.

I had regular bikes for ~15+ years before I got into recumbents ~4 years ago; I don't own any upright bikes anymore--and I don't own any padded bicycling shorts or padded gloves anymore either. How's that for a comfort claim?

A lot of people who insist that "uprights can be perfectly comfortable" have simply never tried anything better, and one really needs to do extended riding to understand the advantage. A couple times up and down the street, or around the block on any recumbent won't show it--because that's not far enough for you to suffer on an upright bike. It's on a 2 or 3+ hour ride that you realize the HUGE difference.

Recumbents do have disadvantages: dealers are rarer, prices are higher and transportation is often more difficult--but the riding is simply wonderful.
~

charles vail

One of the biggest reasons for hand numbness is having too much weight on your hands and having your hands in the wrong position. If your hands are in the handshake position like when resting on the hoods of a drop bar or on bar ends you put less pressure on the nerve in the palm of your hand. Raising the bar to level with or above the seat will also do wonders. If your top tube or stem is too long (stretched out too much) or too short (cramped up) you can have too much hand pressure also. Saddle angle should be flat to the ground more or less. If these things don't help you may have other problems with your body/spine etc.
I have a recumbent also and its great but not on rough roads.

ChunkyB

One important factor, especially for clydes, is core strength. When your stomach and back aren't strong enough, it puts a lot more weight on the hands. Try to concentrate on holding some of your weight with your core while riding, and I'm sure it will help (a little at least). That's what I did because I was in the same boat when I got my road bike, and it really helped.

Bob_in_Midland

I've thought of doing this as well, but really wasn't sure that it was something I wanted to do. A few weeks ago, when I was riding the MUT, I was riding right into a headwind. I kept thinking about how nice it would be to get into a set of aero bars to help cut the wind.

Are they hard to get used to? I would think that there would be a balance issue in getting used to them.

mgmoore7

I will 1st note, that you need to check the size of your handle bars vs the size of the clamps on the aero bars. I had to shim mine quite a bit. They work fine though.

At first, it was a bit different but I think that would occur even on a road bike. More of your weight is shifted to the front and the bike becomes twitchy so that takes some getting used to.

After several rides, I have found that I was putting more and more time on the aero bars. One a 26 mile ride that I did a few weeks ago (this is my longest ride yet), I probably spent about 20 of those miles in the aero position. Often, I feel stronger in aero position and on this day it was very windy so it was of great benefit. I found found that I can go longer, stay stronger and be more comfortable when using the aero bars.

dijos

you need to get your fit squared away, and get the weight off of your hands. you should be barely grabbing the bars, and instead holding your weight up. More riding will build core strength.