Dan333SP

I could fit both of our cats in that saddle bag. Anyway, are you keeping your hands in one position the entire ride with straight elbows? The aggressive upward tilt on your levers/bars would absolutely give me palm pain if I rode holding those hoods for an hour too, seems like the lever bodies would be pressing hard into the space between your thumb and index fingers rather than distributing pressure evenly across your hands.

Anyway, everyone's fit needs are different and the best advice about hand pain once your saddle issues are resolved is just switch positions a lot, ride in the drops, ride hands free if you can to shake things out every so often, don't wear constricting over-padded gloves, and try to keep your elbows bent a bit to act as shock absorbers over bumps so your hands aren't taking all the force.

metropical

Close. 65. The saddle is ~4.25" above the bar top. I've always ridden saddle level and I'm reluctant to tilt. Although I suffer no back pain, I'm thinking more upright is what I have aged into.
I mostly stay on top of the handle bar and seldom use the drop.

metropical

Owen couldn't even get his head in there.

big john

The bike must not be level because it looks like the saddle is pointing up.

metropical

definitely not level. Saddle is indeed flat.

metropical

would you please point to some? I have not been able to find, but perhaps my goog is off.

BTinNYC

in AMZ, search for Bike Stems. Tons of different angles and lengths, adjustable stems, just make sure the openings fit your stem and handlebar diameter.

metropical

wow, beezees is the last place I'd have thought to look. thanks.

cyclezen

Don't be such a cheapskate. Thats some of the worst bar tape condition I've seen in a while.
No wonder you have numb hands.
Go to your LBS and look for some quality, cushion bar tape. Add an underlayment layer of cushion tape or do what I do, use an old tire tube, split down the middle, as the underlayment of the top layer of quality bar tape.
​​​downtube42 noted, don't ride with the bar directly in the center channel of your palm/wrist - that's where the unlar nerve and most of the important blood vessels are.
Position your hands on the hoods so the bar is on the meaty outside of the palm. Level the bars, the tilt up does nothing positive.
Bends your elbows when you ride, and the bend will help absorb shocks which come up thru the bars.
Do things which improve your core strength and flexibility - Not doing anything will guarantee quicker aging and that will impact, negatively, everything! Not just riding a bike.
If you ride 1x or 2x a week, you're butt will hurt on rides an hour or longer. Ride a bit more.
Ride On
Yuri

rm -rf

Using both the hoods and the drops
I'm in my 60s. The top of the bars are about 1.5 inches below the top of the saddle. I have the hoods angled up slightly, so that my palm rests on the hood+bars without bending the wrist.

I never get numbness, but I do get sore hand joints. With bars this high, I can easily ride in the drops, and that spreads the pressure across my palm, way better on bumpy roads. And better control too.

This setup is perfect for me.

~~
I have the seat bone area of the saddle quite level -- the nose is slightly higher. My reach is good on this bike, I don't have any "sliding forward on the saddle" difficulties.

metropical

yea, the bar tape is pretty sad. just about to order some cork tape. split tube for extra comfort is a good idea.
I mostly ride the bar or hoods, seldom the drop. I yoga, stretch and do weights every day, though I'm sure I could do more.
It may just be that I have aged out of the CAAD geometry a bit.

genejockey 

You might try taking a picture of the whole bike, so we can see the whole cockpit better, and see what the real drop is.

Fit problems and numb hands can be counterintuitive. You get numb hands, you think, "I'm putting too much pressure on my hands. My bars must be too low", but it might be the opposite! I got a new bike a couple years ago, a Canyon, so I had to set it up myself. I set the saddle height and setback to match my other bikes, but the handlebar I left as it came, with all the spacers under the stem. I went out for the maiden voyage and my hands started going numb almost immediately, and the saddle was the most uncomfortable thing I'd ever had my ass on. I thought, "Oh, man! Did I just waste $2400?"

But I couldn't face the idea of having wasted so much money! So, I measured the other bikes carefully and confirmed that the Canyon's bar was actually an inch HIGHER than theirs. I moved 25mm of the spacers to ABOVE the stem, putting the bar at the same height as the other bikes. I also swapped the torture device for one I knew works for me, and ever since then, no matter how far I ride, my hands neither go numb nor hurt on that bike. So, it isn't always that the bar is too low.

Another thing about tilting the saddle. I have to run mine level. SLIGHT nose down and I feel like I'm being thrown onto the bars. SLIGHT nose up and I feel like I have to reach way out for them.

metropical

genejockey 

Dude. That bike is too small for you.

metropical

I am a dude, but what makes you think it's too small? I bought it from a 6' friend. He road it for a couple years. I'm 6'. I'm riding it 10 at least.
I just think aging and saddle change is mucking it up. But I had to change the saddle to protect my bony ass and junk. But I'd think this is still a usable bike for me.
It's not like I'm doing 100mi/day.

GAtkins

1mm of saddle tilt doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. I can feel it. My original fit was nose down 2 degrees, and like you I felt like I was being chunked onto the bars.

I've got about 50 miles after an adjustment up to nose down only 1 degree. I may go up another 1 degree to level.

This gizmo is really handy for relative saddle tilt.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MFADV8S...roduct_details

genejockey 

You have a gazillion spacers under the stem, AND it's turned up, AND it's still, what 4.25" below the saddle? Also, you have a setback seatpost with the saddle pushed back almost as far as it will go. Also you have a lot of seatpost showing.

aliasfox

That bike looks like a 56cm. Even if you were younger and more flexible, a 56cm with relatively racy geometry would feel a bit aggressive. Example: I'm 5'10", and I'm quite comfortable on a 55cm Bianchi and a M/L with a 55.7cm top tube. An extra two inches and I'd probably want to look at a 57cm or 58cm.

A more angled stem would be a good place to start. I would nix the Amazon route, actually, and go straight to an LBS that will let you try out stems they have in stock. With all the different bar-clamp sizes out there, I'd be frustrated buying and returning different stems until I found the one with the right clamp, length, and angle. A good shop ought to have a few different options on-hand.

metropical

cool device GAtkins. I can see myself going thru the whole house and driving myself batty. giggle, giggle, giggle.

metropical

OK, but besides that.
I think the 56 frame was prolly OK for me for the 1st decade I had it. Never bothered me even with the original San Remo saddle.
But now the geometry is getting to me.

metropical

@ aliasfox; I'm a very racy person. Not.
Found a couple LBS that I haven't tried before.
Hopefully one of them will be a bit more helpful.
I realize I should get a more age appropriate bike, but right now, since this is a quality bike though it's worth nada, I'd like to make it work.
And I don't want to end up on a sit upright bike nuther.
If I can find a less acute shorter stem, then perhaps I can get a little more drive time.

aliasfox

Yeah, keep the bike - this is something that should be able to be corrected via cockpit tweaks. In fact, this was Giant’s whole deal with compact geometry - using stems and seatpost a to get a limited number of sizes to fit most people.

I don’t know where you are in NY, but good luck with the LBS. I ride in Dutchess County, and can’t say I’ve found a shop I love yet. A bit better luck in NYC, but even then, a lot of shops have given way to Trek factory owned stores…

metropical

suffolk. same same. but 2 remain reasonable close I've not tried.

terrymorse 

Just looking at the position of those levers gives me a pain.

GAtkins

It's nice because you can zero it out to any angle it's sitting on, relative to itself, like a bicycle seat. Almost like a "tare" on a scale. Sit it on your saddle, zero it out, raise your saddle 1 degree, torque it down. Good to go. Your bike could be 15 degrees downhill and it wouldn't matter, just hit the zero. No tip of saddle to crank measurements or whatever, no worrying if the floor is exactly level and so on. No need putting a carpenter level from seat to stem. Awesome.

Glenn