Originally Posted by JeePakXJ

I have carpal tunnel in both wrists, its doesn't flare up much but when it does, it goes one wrist then the other and is so painfull I lose about 70%movement in my wrists. Well its starting to flare up lol. I have flat bars on my bike, are there any other bars that I can swap to without any modifications other than the actual bar swap? Also..do those wrist straps actually help reduce pain?

Originally Posted by Leisesturm

Ok, here's my take because IMO each post in this thread has elements of the problem addressed but miss the big picture... kind of like the blind men on the elephant metaphor. IMO and also backed up by recent research. Carpal Tunnel can be eliminated by building up arm strength. All of the seat raising, fore-aft positioning, wrist strapping, and Ergon gripping are compensations for a lack of back, arm and grip strength.

If you can't or won't implement a comprehensive upper body fitness program then the single most effective remedy for wrist pain is handlebar height. Period. Get the bars high enough and you will not, cannot, have any wrist pain or hand numbness from excessive weight on your hands. Your aerodynamics will suck and the amount of power you can put to the pedals will be limited by a very upright posture but your hands won't hurt.

Most people think they are upright on the bike and in fact are leaning forward at a considerable angle. If your bars are within two inches of your seat you are probably at ~45* back angle. That can hurt hands. When your bars are 4" to even 6" above seat height and back angle is 55*+ you are sitting 'upright'. Most of us are going to be sitting in that ~45 degree range and are going to experience some hand pain until we build up the necessary back, arm and grip strength to properly support our upper bodies when cycling. Its worth it to do.

H

Originally Posted by Schwinnrider

There's a reason that touring bikes usually come specced with drop bars. When you ride a flat bar, even if you have bar ends, you really only have two hand positions. With a drop bar you have at least double that.

The key is changing your hand position regularly. I move from flats, to hoods, to ramp, to drops and back again when I ride.

Change your bar. Flat bars aren't meant for long distance riding. I like the Nitto Noodle bar, model 177. It's wide with a flat ramp, so it keeps excess weight off my hands. Also it's a good idea to raise your bar. My cockpit is at saddle height, and there's nothing wrong with having the bars higher than that, if necessary.