Handlebars
 

For whatever reason my bars is starting mess with my hands. FSA K-Wing.

Any experience on bars more comfy than others? I looking for comfort.

In what way?

I'm in the minority, but I like trekking (butterfly) bars a lot. I double wrap parts of the bar, and I have some kind of grips at the shifter/brake levers, which are mtb type gear and fit the smaller diameter bar.

I've used Nitto Noodle 177 bars on 2 road bikes for 15 years or so. Most comfortable bar I've used.

It's got a flat section behind the levers, not the valley of a lot of drop bars, makes for a comfortable ride.

I do not know precisely what you mean by "my bars is messing with my hands", If you mean they are hurting, a lot of times it's not the bars themselves. For instance if you have a downward pointed seat (usually over 6mm) it is tilting your weight onto your hands. It's a hand killer.

Its a road bike, right ? , maybe that type of bike is not for you, and you want to sit up more and thus not put so much pressure on your hands..

Sell the bike and get something realistic.




:50:

Trek/Bontrager has a new set of bars out that have dampening material inside them. I spoke with a guy that has them last week and he was raving about how well they absorbed road shock.

You didn't say whether it was numbness, pressure, or the angle of the bars so we are all just guessing. I just changed out my bars because the angle caused discomfort between the thumb and first finger. That's something that doesn't respond well to changing seat position and stem height. Pressure and numbness otoh can often be a bad "fit" that can be corrected. So you need to figure out if it is a problem with your body angle and weight on the bars, your reach (or lack thereof), or the angle of the grips. I'm a big fan of north roads bars, you can flip them over for a more aerodynamic roadie like position or leave them up for a more laid back riding position. I'm also a smaller person so I needed a narrow bar to relax my shoulders. Try tilting your seat back a bit and see if it takes pressure off your hands. If that helps, you need to work on getting the right fit before you start swapping stuff. Or see if a shop will let you try a couple different styles of bars and give you some fit advice.

Yeah, it's almost certainly not the bars themselves. More likely fit and/or bar and brifter adjustment, which is part of fit. The right gloves make a big difference, too.

The BF Numb Hands link: http://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...l#post12953035

I'm 51. Been riding bikes for 33 years Nothing major as far as soreness aches, pains. One suggestion on the this forum and I'm being unrealistic?
I ride everyday and just would rather be on a bike than in my car.
I guess I have to except these kind of ignorant comments in this and age.

Probably riding longer than you're been alive. Let's see what you turn into at my age.

Anyways, except for ****** above I appreciate all you comments guys.

Whatever it was disappeared. No more issues. Probably just a pulled muscle or nerve.

I like a moderate winged handlebar, so you have that one already.

There are some thicker tapes. A couple of brands list 3mm+ tapes.

I think I did feel a bit of road buzz on a longer ride using my Tannus tires. But, that may be an indication that one should consider the tires carefully. I do ride narrower tires, but perhaps it is worth considering slightly wider tires, and lower pressures, especially on the front that generally carries less weight anyway.

I have an aluminum Specialized Roubaix bar on one bike. A few thousand miles, and I'm still trying to figure out if I like it. It probably helps slightly with the road buzz, but also has a little flex that presumably impacts standing hill climbs.

I don't have much experience with bar tape, but I put some Bontrager gel cork tape on my trekking bars, and it was a huge improvement. :) And mine was their last package of bright orange, for visibility, but don't ask for pics, it looks pretty crappy, lol. Wrapping bars takes a lot more practice than I've put in so far. ;)

Touring Bike, Drop Bars as High as the saddle, not too far away, padded them with extra tape layers , Took my hans off and let the slighteat tingling subside

when i Felt it

I created my own broad flat bar surface setup before carbon fiber was a thing.. Randonneur Bend, with Grip Shape stuff under the tape..


My Road bike gets little use.. (No Mudguards) Locally. (69.5 year old) I Toured from SW Ireland to NE Scotland for my 50th Year.




...

Don't expect good answers if this is all the more detail you can provide.

I apologize for my previous post, sir.

But my hands are OK again. It was probably a pulled muscle or nerve.
Been playing contortionist with my truck I'm restoring. Allot of heavy and awkward work must have temporarily messed something up and I was blaming my bars.

I don't think [MENTION=197614]fietsbob[/MENTION] was being disrespectful.

Many have their bars too low, get hand or wrist pain/numbness and blame the bars. It is quite common.

What used to be perfect saddle to bar drop for me in my 30's is now way too low for a man in his 50's. In such a case, "Sell it an get something realistic" is good advice.

9 month long self supported bike tour at age 50, (20 years ago this month) I had the drop handlebars on that bike as high as my saddle.


New bike racers the brake levers and bar tops, are as far down from the saddle, as I had my road bike's Drops, 30 years ago..

Trends change..

You may have to ask the bike-shop for a new fork [metal, not carbon steerer] in order to have the bars as high as the Pro's rode . in the 80's..

+1

This is interesting to me because I've had carpal tunnel surgery on both hands, and one of them still bothers me a bit.

I've ridden some with a guy who averages 400 miles a week and he has 4 layers of bar wrap.

On my recently stolen road bike I used bike ribbon gel pads and two wraps, and it helped a lot.