Ouch ! I rarely use the drops but my posture or hand position must need corrected. My pinky finger is numb and weak. I play guitar in several bands and doing so is very difficult at the moment. The pinky is more numb/dull feeling than anything else.

I am going to take motrin and try to do some stretching/massage to try to get things in order .

Anything else I can do to prevent this ? I have tried several hand positions but I always end up with "pins and needles" in my hands on my rides. Help !

Minor fit changes can make a difference. Angling up the bars slightly helped me. Raising them might help too.
Every half hour do some arm exercises.

"Handlebar palsy" is my new enemy. I am going to stop riding until it passes. I plan on taking the bike and and being fit again. I find myself riding on the horn of the seat mostly and I have to force myself to sit further back on the seat. I think this is causing me to put more weight on my wrists/hands than I should be.

I also plan on going out and buying some Specialized BG Gel gloves as well.

This has me very bummed out. I had to skip my ride today and tomorrow as well. Not happy.

Pinky finger numbness is most likely a sign of a pinched ulnar nerve. Look up Guyon's Canal Syndrome. New gloves and a fit adjustment are a good start.

Thanks Skinnylegs. I am sure I have an ulnar nerve issue. No other parts of my arm/wrist are affected except the pinky and ring finger so Guyon's canal syndrome is also very possible. I started on OTC pain meds today and will buy a wrist brace on Sunday.

Good lord I hope this is short lived and clears up quickly. I am sick to my stomach about not being able to ride. I have a boatload of big gigs at the end of August so I have to take it easy to try and get my self together so I can play my guitar again without all this pinky weakness.

Hey--I know this post is from a while ago, but I wanted to follow up with it, as I'm having a similar issue--numb/weak pinky, ring finger in my right (gear shifting) hand. How long did it take you to full recover?

I had the same issue last season. I was pretty new into long distance riding and I was doing it on a brand new bike. After every ride longer than 40 miles, I was getting numb pinky and ring finger. The longer the ride, the longer it took for it to recover.

When I started getting paranoid, I opted for a a bike fitting and handlebars with drops. Drops give you significant more positions for you to move your hands. The bike fitting made sure that I didn't have too muhc weight on my handle bars. I also opted to put a reminder in my bike computer that every 15 minutes, a timer goes off (just a beep), which reminds me to check my posture. I either change my hands, check my sitting on the saddle, drink water, etc. Remember the ulnar nerve starts in the neck and goes through your whole arm.... sometimes the blockage happens in the Elbow, so it is important to keep your upper body relax - shake it often and make sure that you are not holding those bars too hard.

These changes seem to solve my issue. I was able to do a century ride last year and ended without any pain or numbness on my fingers.

As far as recovery from numbness, if it takes longer than 2 weeks for your body to recover, you might need to see a doctor to help you NSAID/steroids shot directly into the blockage.

Hope this helps!