Hello Everyone,

I've done a few commutes on my new Breezer now, and have noticed a bit of arm pain at the elbows/wrists. My commute is 5 miles each way and is mostly on a flat bike path. Any suggestions on what I should do? Is it something I just have to get used to, like using different muscles and all that? Should I lower the seat a few inches? Raise the bars/stem and/or move them around a bit or change out the stem and bars? If anyone has had the same experience, what did you do to resolve it, and if you recommend a change of stem/bars, what do you suggested?

I had a fair amount of hand pain on my 6-7 mile commute with my Breezer Villager. It would kick in after 2 or 3 miles. I got a pair of Pearl Izumi bicycle gloves, which helped a bit. But the biggest thing I did was change my handlebar grips to Ergon, on the advice of Donnamb. My They are pricey but worth it. Don't bother with the model that has the extension on it.

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=5251

My old grips were worn a bit anyhow.

Sounds tempting. Did you have to trim the right-side grip to accommodate the twist-grip shifter?

BTW haven't seen any posts from Donna lately. Hope she's OK...

First, check the angle at which you hold your elbows and wrists when riding. Try to find something that keeps your body relaxed, yet in control. Second, you could either get fit for that bike at a shop ($$$) or you could play with the settings yourself and find what works for you. The latter is obviously the cheaper route, but it also could take longer.

No--you can't trim these grips--they are rigid. I think they're made from steel and coated with a rubber skin. The twist grip shifter can slide in. It's position is adjustable.

I get some wrist pain, because the stock bars do not give me a neutral wrist position. It usually takes a good 8-10 miles for any kind of pain to kick in tho, so I haven't done anything. Yet. I'm still debating about going to a mustache/north road type bar. The Ergon grips cost about the same, and won't get me to a neutral position, but will reduce pressure on one set of nerves. It's more an upgrade to cut down on breaks for long rides, so it's just not a big priority.

I've never had *elbow* pain on a bike. That sounds kind of weird to me, and leads me to think that your problem might not be very similar to mine.

I have had upper arm pain... Electra Townies/Amsterdams have a wide riser bar, and the shop just couldn't get the bar down low enough for me on my test rides. It's also much too wide for me, so it was quite uncomfortable.

I've also had back pain from handlebars. My mountain bike had bars that were a bit too low and too far forward for me, so the area in between my shoulder blades would hurt on long rides.

Dahon Bio-Logic Grips are available in a pair of one long and one short, perfect for a bike with a Nexus hub.

You might also try just raising the handlebars. Since it's a threaded stem, you don't need extenders or anything. Or perhaps it would help to angle the handlebar differently?

These grips came as OEM on the Uptown 8. They have a similar "ergo" design as the Ergon's. I raised the handlebars a bit tonite and wil give it a shot tomorrow. I'll also try to be more focused on my riding posture and see if I can isolate any issues. Thanks everyone!

I had the Ergon grips on my Uptown 8 for about 8 months, and they certainly helped. I had the kind with a small horn on the end, and if I remember correctly, I trimmed the shifter side slightly with no problems (that part was just rubber). Just a few weeks ago though, I switched the handlebars completely and am now using a fully wrapped trekking bar. I put the brake handles out in front like on a mustache bar and left the shifter at the back. This new setup has been awesome! The back side of the trekking bars gives me a similar position to the standard Breezer handlebars, but the front side give me a bit of an aero position which has made riding into headwinds noticeably easier. Being fully wrapped, there are at least four separate hand positions with the trekking bars, so you can really keep your hands from getting all tingly. Plus, I think they look pretty cool.

1) do not move the seat to adjust reach or hand position issues.

Mess with everything else, but leave the seat alone.

Thanks for the feedback so far. I have not moved the seat, and will not do so to solve this problem at this time. I raised the bars up about 1.5" and that seemed to help. I also realized my left grip is turned down about 1/2", not allowing my palm to rest on the palmrest the way my right grip does, so I'll see if I can get that grip to rotate back up. I think that may have been a big part of the problem.

dcbrewer, I would love to see a link to the trekking bars you got. I usually have to fight a headwind on 1/2 of my commute and have been in envy of the guys blowing by me in a tuck.

Well, I finally had some time to snap a few pics of my trekking bars. I apologize that they had to be done with a cell phone camera, but they are still a bit better than nothing.