Hello,

I introduced myself hear last summer, but figure I should do so again and ask a couple questions while I'm at it. I am 6'1" and currently 250lbs. I was down to 234 last summer, but the winter weight combined with a relocation and new job (in a bigger city with excellent BBQ) has caused me to put some of that weight back on. First of all, I love to see that so many people have chosen cycling as their mode to better their health and their lives. I hope to use everybody here as my inspiration to stay in the saddle and push those extra miles. Anyway, on to my question.

I have had some excessive issues with carrying weight in my hands. I leave a 20-30 mile ride in incredible discomfort. I asked this question on the regular boards and all I heard was, "blah blah blah work on your core". Well, my core strength is pretty good, it's just not in proportional to the amount of weight I carry on a bike. The reason I'm worried is at my height and with my arm length I should really be riding a 56cm frame. Unfortunately, like a true novice, I purchased a 58cm frame because the price and LBS I bought from convinced me that it would be fine. I've never had the bike trued up to my actual specifications. Could it be that the increase in frame size contributes to my weight carrying on my hands? Could it just be as simple as a saddle position? Is it just that I have more weight to carry and my body struggles with it? Any feedback would be great.

What benefits would there be in reducing from a 58cm Giant Defy 3, to a 56 cm bike of some sort? Would I see any immediate changes (other than my girlfriend killing me for buying another bike?).

Actually, with regard to weight on hands, larger frames have a taller head tube. Which will tend to place the rider in a more upright position, with more weight distributed to their butt and less on their hands. Smaller/shorter frames tend to place the rider in a lower, more bent over position, with more weight on their hands.

On your current frame, how is the stem oriented? Does the stem angle up or down in relationship to an imaginary line drawn perpendicular to your steering tube? If it's currently oriented down, flipping it to angle upward would assist in bringing your hands up.

However, there may be other reasons for hand discomfort. Did the LBS you purchased the bike from perform any sort of "fitting" for you at the time of purchase?

Unfortunately they didn't. I set my own seat height and took it on a test ride. I ended up buying the bike and they didn't perform any other adjustments to ensure an appropriate fit. I might just have to pay my now local LBS to help me fit into the bike a little bit better. Then again, I could just work on my core and alleviate the problem. The downfalls of being clueless.

Your saddle is probably too far forwards.

Stand with your back and heels against a wall and lean forward. Notice how you fall over.

Bend over and touch your toes in the middle of the room. You don't fall over because your butt moves aft to counter-balance your torso weight.

The same thing happens on your bike - when your butt isn't far enough back to counter-balance your belly you fall forwards onto your hands.

The Knee-Over-Pedal-Spindle rule of thumb happens to work for a lot of people but has no basis in bio mechanics. You want to move your seat aft until you can take your hands off the handle bars (on the hoods and in the drops) without falling over. This will also have a small effect on the height you want it at and moving the saddle up and down will move it slightly backwards and forwards respectively.

Your saddle also needs to be approximately level where you sit so you don't slide forwards.

Core strength is over-rated and six pack stomach (as in what you pour into your belly, not what it looks like) not a big impediment to enjoying road riding. I've had the same position at weights from 145 - 215 pounds. You'll just need more patience going up hill and want lower gears.

More power does lift your torso due to reaction forces but isn't needed. Even racers have low output recovery and endurance days on which they stay comfortable.

I typically fight hand numbness during rides, although come to think of it it hasn't been bad for a while. Here's a couple things I tried

1) better gloves (look up cyclist palsey and see if you have that issue). Gloves that don't put pressure on your ulnar tunnel may help.
2) make sure they aren't too tight either.
3) make sure your seat isn't dumping you on to the bars - it should be level. Tweak it a little up if it is level and see if that helps.
4) gel pads to go under the bar tape. Specialized makes some roubaix bar tape with gel. I'm sure other people do too, but I think that helped me for a while. It certainly made the bars bulkier and more comfortable to grab.
5) raise your bars. Ironically, LOWERING them might help too, but try raising them first.
6) yes, core strength.
7) Focus on not strangling the bars when you're riding... hold the hoods gently, assuming that's where you are riding. Move your hands around. I've heard people say positioning their hands to put the wrist inside the hood (so hands pointing outward if you will) can help too.
8) Shorter stem

How tall are you? All things being equal, as Fred said, a 56 will have you bending over more than you already are.

Where is this magic city with awesome BBQ?

I have found that the output power that we develop makes a great deal of difference when it comes to the weight carried by the hands. Try this. On level ground shift to a gear that you have to mash as opposed to spinning. As you mash the pedals you can probably lift the hands off the bar. Now shift back to a very low gear where you can hardly keep up with the pedals and notice how much weight is now back on the hands.

If we could pedal a full power in high gears the weight on our hands and our behinds would be minimized while the weight on our feet would be maximized.

I am a very low power cyclist and to get the weight off my hands I need to move the seat forward. A strong rider would benefit more by moving his seat to the rear. This is my observation for myself.

I feel like a perfect bike fit is a moving target as long as the riders fitness level is changing.

Take some seat measurements so if needed you can return the seat to its original position and then start moving the seat around to see if you can find just the right spot for you. Also raise the bars if you can.

At 6' I ride 54cm through 58cm, routinely. All are fitted just fine. My problem with the longer reach bikes can be shoulder and neck pain on long rides, not really hand numbness. My first guess, if your core is really stabilizing your body as you say, would be the saddle position; and I would guess your saddle is too low...you are dividing the load between your hands and sitz bones and not fully engaging your core. What happens if you remove your hands from the bars while in a normal riding cadence? Do you immediately fall forward?

Step one, push the saddle backwards. If that makes the bars too far away, fix that with a shorter stem or different bars. I had the same issue on a bike that was too small, actually. Also, different bar shapes can help, so that all the weight htat is on your hands is distributed properly.

as others said above, my first step would be to move the saddle back. that was my problem and solved it quickly.

I rode 30 miles of crushed limestone trail the other day and my neck and shoulders were tortured! I knew after a ride of this nature my hands would be bad off, because that's where I usually feel stiff/sore/pain first. This day though I felt like I needed a masseuse afterwards. I thought that the longer reach was throwing my body too far forward and contributing to the hand pain as well.

Thanks for the responses. I'll try moving the saddle a little bit at a time and see if it helps. I also, clearly, should work on core strength in case that is an issue.

TrojanHorse: You're right, I should probably go invest in some gloves. It's one of the small things I've been putting off. Grip tape makes sense, but will probably wait until it needs replacement. The city of magical barbecue is Kansas City. Between Oklahoma Joes, Jack Stack, Gates, Arthur Bryants, LC's, Big T's, and others I went on a bit of a BBQ bender over the winter. I've been doing a good job abstaining recently, and also avoiding the fast food. Though after my 30 mile ride I treated myself to some Taco Bell (guilty pleasure). All things being equal, my cardiovascular fitness is 10x better than last summer despite weight stagnation over the year; who would have thought not smoking and doing anything active would make such a big difference. Weight loss isn't the only indicator of health, though it's one that we all find as important.

hey congratulations on quitting smoking too! that's something few people accomplish.

I too have struggled with hand/ wrist pain while riding. My bikes seem to be set up correctly as far as fit is concerned and I am very aware of my pedaling and make sure to spin in an easy enough gear so as to not beat up my knees. For the past eight weeks I have been working out in the pool doing aqua aerobics and have noticed a significant improvement in my core strength, and now I am able to ride with virtually no pain in my hands/ wrists. YMMV though, I just kind of realized this about one week ago and had to ask my PT about it. He said, "yea, pretty cool, huh?". Who knew?

thestoutdog I'll have to give some core exercises a try. I've got to do some physical therapy and weight lifting for a torn ACL so I'll just throw it in those exercises. I tore my ACL on May 5 and couldn't ride for a week or so. Since then I've put about 90 miles on my bike. The PT was impressed with my range of motion. Sounds like I need to look at my work schedule and figure out a way to include a trip to the gym in my morning plans.

Ah, I about ate myself into a food coma at Jack Stack's a year ago... it was good.

Go get some gloves! And make sure they're nice ones. Ask Ben King why you should wear gloves.

https://velonews.competitor.com/2013/...ifornia_286142

I had a pro fit and am glad I did. I often had hand numbing on longer rides and thought it was just part of the game. A shake here or there to wake them back up and I was good to go. After my fit that element disappeared.

+ 1 on gloves I never ride without them

I would pay for a good fit and research all the fitters in the area. I spent some time choosing and was glad I did.

This is whom I used

https://www.johnhowardsports.com/

The fit was one of the best investments I have ever made

I'll also add that even if your core strength sucks, you shouldn't be in that much pain. I stopped riding my old road bike because I couldn't go very far without excruciating hand pain; I got a lot of "oh, you'll get stronger" from shops at the time, and I was swimming and doing yoga and a lot of other core stuff at the time. And then I had some other health crap and got way out of shape (long story), got better but not really super in-shape, and bought a new bike that fit right with the right handlebars. I rode it 121 miles this past Sunday with super-minimal gloves, and never noticed a single bit of discomfort from my hands. I still have weak hands -- I can't change two tires in a row, because I have to ice and rest my hands for a few hours in between.

Find a shop that will fit you comfortably at your current fitness, whether that's where you bought it or not. Once your ACL heals up enough to have most of your range of motion back, at least.

You don't need a gym for core exercises, though -- crunches, crunches, crunches. Lots of different ones. Or get a Pilates video -- that's a heck of a core workout.

you're fine on the 58. I'm about the same height and can ride anything from a 55cm to 59cm top tube. Change stem, bars, seatpost to fine fit.

What part of your hand is killing you? If your feeling too stretched out, I'd run a 10mm shorter stem in the same degree you have now OR shallow drop bars with a shorter reach (can buy back 5-10mm or so here). You might find more comfort in a bar change. Most OEM bars are junk anyways.

I don't know if there is any science behind it, but lowering my bars helped me with hand numbness. I think it's the best adjustment I've done to my bike.

This is good reading, thanks. I did a charity road ride from Doncaster to York a week ago (around 40 miles) and when I finished I could hardly use my hands because of de-sensitisation. To be honest it's only just coming back to normal and I wondered if it was size/weight/age related (I'm 6'8", 245lbs and 60 next birthday).
I have a 66cm Cannondale Seco3 that I thought was a good size for my height - still do.
I'll try a few of the tips mentioned here on some longer rides.
Thanks again.

Based on everybody's recommendations and insights I think this is my course of action:

(not necessarily in any particular order)
1) Go buy some gloves
2) Get my bike fitted by a professional to address the issue
3) Trust professional recommendations on shortening the stem or other issues (I trust this LBS)
4) Work on my core, because I'm sure that's an issue.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hand issues is part of the reason I decided to get 'bent...

Not that this would be definitive, but can you post pics of your bike and stem/seat combo? What length stem? How wide are your bars? Offset post?

Have you tried measuring yourself (cycling inseam, etc.)? I know that a pro-fit is typically best, but absent the time/funds, you can do fairly well if you make the adjustments/measurements on your own.

This is a pretty good fit calculator: https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...decorator=true

I agree that fit and core are the most important. But, moving your hands often makes a difference. If you have a flat bat your can still get bar ends. I am always repositioning my hands. Do not death grip the bars. Ppl in the military will tell you what happens when you lock your knees. This is similar.

Erwin8r, I'll look into it. I need to find some time. This weekend is crazy. Trying to go on a short ride in the morning, Royals game, and girlfriend's brother and sister-in-law are coming in town, Sunday is golf and hopefully a short ride (maybe brewing some beer), and Monday is the Royals/Cardinals game. I also have to sneak in getting caught up on some actual work in there. I'll see if I can get some measurements and pictures.

Cobb cycling has a few videos on youtube about this exact thing. Makes all the difference in the world.