Inpd

I sometimes have this condition where I get numbness in my small and ring fingers only. I understand this to be handlebar or cycling palsy.

The past week its been cold so I've been wearing gloves and my hands feel great.

So:

a) Why did the gloves prevent this condition.
b) What types of gloves prevent this condition?

I ask b) because the gloves I have are kind of like mittens and I wanted something a bit ore grippy.

dorkypants

Padded gloves provide additional cushioning for the nerves that pass along your wrists and palms to your smaller fingers. Without gloves those nerves get compressed and/or injured by road shock, the result being numb fingers until the nerves heal. You could achieve similar relief by putting gel pads under the bar tape (there are kits sold for this purpose), or wearing gloves with palm pads.

Jeremy_S

Depending on the person and the fit, gloves can help or do nothing at all. I've always had this issue with both bikes and motorcycles in my right hand. Road bikes, crotch rockets, Harley's, and so on. The only thing I've found to help is to constantly move that hand. I've tried every glove known to man and they did little to nothing but if I just shift that hand a little every so often and move it to the end of the hoods, base of the hoods, drops, tops, flex it a little, it works just fine and no numbness.

Trsnrtr

Gloves only make things worse for me. I've tried several pairs over the last 35 years to no avail.

In my case, I have small but wide hands and I have to buy large gloves that don't really fit properly and tend to bunch up under the palms actually accelerating the numbness.

WhyFi

IMO, instead of addressing the symptom, address the problem - work on supporting more weight with your core, less with your arms/hands.

mcours2006

I find when I am going at an easy pace sometimes I get the numbness in the hands. There is more weight on the hands, arms, shoulders when you're just puttering along. Gloves don't make any difference for me.

When I am pushing the pace all the discomfort there goes away...and replaced by another kind of discomfort in the lungs and legs.

Inpd

IN theory your right, but I found even with my touring bike which has a very upright position and most weight is on my butt, I get this condition if I ride 200+ miles in a week.

I guess I've got big nerves!

WhyFi

Or it's still a matter of core strength and fatigue. The problem is worst for me at the tail end of a long and tiring ride or when cumulative fatigue, such as you may be experiencing with your longer mileage weeks, keeps me from putting more weight in to the pedals (which then shifts that support to the arms/hands, instead). Can you ride your touring bike with only fingertips on the bars while your torso is still in its normal position? Just because it's more upright doesn't mean that you're not putting weight there, 'specially when fatigued.

Z953

When I first started riding I got the numbness that you described after about forty minutes of riding. That crap sucked... I got shallow bars and went from a +6* to a +16* stem and my hands have been great since. I think that your hands have taken to the padding in your gloves but I bet that if you start riding longer distances, you'll experience the same numbness. I think that the other members are right when they suggest that you work on core strength (if you decide to ride longer distances).

Trakhak

Working on the "core," so-called, is fine, but setting up the bike to relieve pressure on the nerves in the hand as soon as possible is crucial. Because of a nerve problem that did not originate from but was exacerbated by bike racing, I had to have surgery at my hand and elbow to fix numbness in my ring and little fingers on my left hand.

Even with the surgery, 25 years later, the numbness isn't completely alleviated. Not an outcome I'd wish on anyone.

tarwheel 

I used to have a terrible problem with numbness in my hands after riding, bad enough that I considered buying a recumbent bike. I tried different gloves, thicker handlebar tape and other remedies that helped but didn't solve the problem. What finally worked for me was raising my handlebars higher. Problem cleared up immediately.

softreset

Yeah, I'll second this. We routinely get people coming into the shop looking for more rise on their stem, padded gloves, double wrapped bar tape, etc., because of reported numbness. Only to come back a few weeks later upset that it's still persistent. Sure enough when I put them on the trainer, they struggle with our basic "core strength" test after a few moments/minutes.

faulker479

What do you have them do for the "core strength" test?

andr0id

You should be able to sit in a normal riding position with you hands on the hoods. Then raise your hands to be about an inch above the hoods. You should be able to pedal slowly on a trainer and maintain that position.

If you can't, you have either a weight distribution problem with the fit on your bike, or a core strength problem. Either will result in too much weight and pressure on your hands resulting in numb hands, fingers and sore upper body an shoulders.

if you have good balance you can do it on the road too, but be careful.

softreset

Pretty much exactly what was said here. My approach is that I'll dial in a fit by the book as a "baseline" and then let he individual ride on the trainer for as long as they'd like (usually between 3-5 minutes, some ride for as much as 10 minutes). We'll then talk about what feels good and what doesn't feel good and I'll tweak from there.

The only modification to what andr0id mentioned is also have them drop their hands and basically support their entire upper body with zero support from their arms/hands. I'm looking to see how strained they look to hold the same position.

If I can make equipment modifications I will. My approach is always "make what you have, work" before going into add-on sales like wider/narrower bars, stems, grips, etc.

My philosophy is that gloves are a "crutch." I have no issues with gloves, I wear them when it's cold or really humid and I know I'll be super sweaty. But a bike's comfort for the rider should not rest solely on a pair of gloves. I understand and acknowledge that gloves can assist in comfort but if you have to wear a pair of gloves or worse, a certain type of gloves to be comfortable riding your bike there's a bigger issue that you're masking and should address.

softreset

To also add (to what I just posted). I'd say 80-85% of the bikes I sell are to individuals who could use a lot of their work on their core strength. Heck, myself included. In 2015 (just looked it up) I sold 33 sub 100mm stems with rises in excess of 15 degrees to individuals. I can just about guarantee that most of those were sold to individuals who wanted the bars to be higher because they lacked core strength.

Several years ago I was in the same boat. Uncomfortable and miserable due to lack of fitness. I'm still uncomfortable on longer rides but I'm well aware that my own lack of planning and physical fitness is the root of that problem and I'm willing to admit that.

fietsbob

Feel a tingle take your hand off the Bars, for a Little while..

Spenco Made gloves with a shock absorbant Pad. with a gap , so there where the carpal tunnel of tendons and nerves were,
that space was Un Compressed ..