Straight elbows some times, bent elbows other times.

Look at how Lance's face isn't directed very far ahead. His head is directed 4 feet ahead of his bike. That happens too.

^ Most people can direct their eyes alone. But the point was "straight" is fine as long as the elbows aren't locked. Locked jars the body and makes steering a little twitchy, slightly bent provides suspension and suppleness.

Looking at this picture my saddle is farther back and I am stretched out more reaching the bars. I don't sit over them like this.

Thanks

I should have just cropped the elbow part. Nothing else in that pic is relevant. My saddle is further back than his too, but I'm not proportioned like him so I'm fine with that.

For me, if I get lazy my hands go numb.

By lazy I mean letting my abs relax and leaning forward on my hands.

If I keep my stomach tight and shoulders back I don't have any numbness problems.

Try raising your handlebars. You should have very little weight on your hands. You can get one of these for $35 and sell it on e-bay if it doesn't work out.
https://shop.sunrisecyclery.com/item/14302/

I'm no expert. But what has helped me is:
--Enjoy yourself first of all. Have fun, and don't let all your riding be so incredibly focused on the (many) particulars.
--Let your legs do the work
--Let your lower body support most of the upper body.

This may sound stupid, but at one point I had to tell myself: "Let go. Give yourself to the bike." You'll feel the difference when it happens, and you'll know it. Don't stress about it.

Top tube length too long? Wouldn't expect that with a "professional fit", but then again define "professional". I had the unfortunate experience of having a reputable bike shop owner put me on a Raleigh Pro Mk IV that was easily four centimeters too big for me (I suspect that he was trying to unload the bike) back in 1977. I suppose he had bills to pay . . . it happens.

Rough guide for seat fore/aft position (and pedal cleat position): Spin a few times on a trainer, stay in the cleats and gradually roll to a stop with one foot in the "3 o'clock" (pointing forward) position. Have an assistant drop a plumb bob holding the top of the wire/string on the little bump just below your kneecap. The plumb bob should point to about 5-10mm aft of the pedal shaft. The old "standard" was to drop the plumb bob right from your kneecap, and it should point right to the pedal axle. Either measure should get you close.

Another possibility - wrist angle? Based on the angle of the brifters on the bars (presuming you ride on the hoods most of the time). While in the saddle with the bike on a trainer, let your arms hang down to your sides, or forward toward the bar, and pivot your wrists "up and down", as if shaking hands with just your wrists, and try to find the "neutral" position, where you're not really "pulling" it either up or down. NOTE: this may NOT be the same position as your hand visually "straight" relative to your arm. In my case, my wrists feel "neutral" when my hands are slightly "down" (toward the pinkies), maybe 10 degrees. Anyway, try to hold your hand in that position relative to your lower arm, and lean forward to put yourself in position, with your elbows at the angle you think is right, to put your hands on the hoods. As you put your hands on the hoods, if you have to rotate your wrists "up" or "down" at all to get your hands to rest square on the hoods, that means you're holding your wrists in that non-neutral position for much of your ride. If it's "down" a bit, it's might be an issue. If it's "up" a bit, you can get numb and/or tingle-y pretty quick. You can demonstrate this yourself just by moving your wrists in this plane up and down as far as it will go; you'll notice as you approach the "up" limit, you can feel it start to pinch.

To adjust, you can rotate the whole bar up or down to change the relative angle of the brifter hoods, or, if the bar was taped properly, you can move the brifters up or down a few degrees on the bar.

Still, 45min is pretty short time to experience numbness no matter what riding style.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...sional-fitting

Guys,

Thanks for all the help. I think I have a few issues I need to look at and work on. Several have mentioned "core". I don't think mine is as strong as it needs to be. I think my saddle is back a little farther than it should be but am afraid to adjust that myself do to my lack of knowledge and experience. I am a little too stretched out. I am putting way too much weight on my hands.

I am pretty confident I have the right sized bike and just need to get some adjustments and then work my own core strength and riding habits (skills). The LBS didn't try to sell me something in stock. We spent time over 3 days trying different bikes and sizes and ordered the one I finally settled on. I'll go to the shop for some adjustments this weekend and then come back here in a week or so with an update.

Thanks again.

When it comes to a 'fitting' my LBS said there is a comfort fit and a race fit. His thoughts were a comfort fit will make a faster biker for us non-racers. Check to see what version if he/she fit you to.

lechwe,

Come down here to Wichita and I'll put you up. Hand numbies happen on well-fitted, correctly-sized bkes. I'm a doctor, MD. I don't tell people that. People call me "Mister" that's good. But I know some things about anatomy and physiology.

You get numb. You're getting too much pressure on your neurons, shutting off blood flow. There are lots of ways to make this not happen, including using bike components that you eventually dump as your body reshapes itself.

Right now, you have too much pressure on a small part of your hands, cutting off neuronal bloodflow. That's an easily fixable problem.

I'd have thought the opposite. If you exaggerate and say the bars were right next to your crotch, your butt would support virtually all your body weight, with no weight required to be taken on the bars, via the arms. Conversely, the further you are away from the bars the more upper body weight has to be supported by the arms - otherwise you'd fall forward.

Anyway, try gloves OP... at least they'll cushion your hands if you slip back into gripping too hard.

This is exactly what I would have thought as well but I'm not a professional either. I do wear gloves.

I am definitely putting too much pressure and I think most of it is on the heel of my hands. I know a diagnosis is not really possible without being seen but could you explain a little about how it's an "easily fixable problem"? I really enjoy riding....................until hands start going numb and then I just want off. I'd like to be able to ride longer and just enjoy being out there.

Thanks for everyones help.

I have same numbness problem with my hands, especially the right hand. I've tried all of the suggestions listed above and nothing helps very much. I believe, for me at least, it's a congenital physical problem. I have radial-ulnar synostosis, a condition where my radius and ulna are fused together preventing hand supination. I had surgery to remove a radial head when I was nineteen (the radial head knocked against the humerous when I bent my arm). Now I'm almost 50, and perhaps I need more surgery to alleviate some pinched nerves when I bend my arm. Anyway, I believe my numb hand is a consequence of my congenital defect (a result of thalidamide). Likewise, I have pain on the left side of my neck when I ride too (much more painful and irritating than my hand). I believe this is also related to my congenital defect (my right arm is bent when I fully straighten it which likely creates a posture misalignment when on my bike).

Right now I put up with numb hands (mostly right hand) and a sore neck despite daily 50 mile rides. My solution is to try and ignore the problem. I'm tired of making bike fit tweaks and other adjustments when nothing really helps. Like my wife who has arthritis, I just bear the pain.

+1. worked for me. Or get a pair that is just a glove with no padding AT ALL. That in conjunction with getting fitted, riding more, a stronger core, and a relaxed upper body (like Botto said) will cure your issue.

Oh yeah and try flipping it. Being more upright will put less weight on your hands. When your core gets stronger you can flip it back......

45 minutes in the same exact position is an eternity.

I have been having the same problem. I am a bike noob so I never realized it was the bike crippling my left hand until my wife suggested it. Problem for me is that I play guitar semi-professionally and at the beginning of July my pinky on my left hand was not functioning very well. My ring finger was also partially numb all the time. I took 5 days off from bike to give my hands a rest and I bought some Specialized BG gloves to help protect my median nerve in my left hand. I rode 30 miles yesterday and did not get any numbness or tingling on the ride. I made a conscious effort to stretch my left wrist and do resistance stretches at every red light or stop I had to make. I rotated my hand often and forced my rear end further back in the saddle to shift the weight to my core.

My hand feels fine today but I really won't know if I have solved my problem until I ride another couple hundred miles in the next few weeks.

you have a poor bike fit. you have to get fitted properly - then make micro adjustments yourself whatever feels comfortable... you should be able to ride 8+ hours without any soreness anywhere except legs getting tired.

I would not move the saddle forward in your case. That puts MORE pressure on the hands (read the Peter White link I posted previously). If you feel too stretched out, get a shorter stem, but moving the saddle should be dictated by your knees and power, not by your hands.

As for core strength, I noticed that I can't spend a long time in the drops and get shoulder pain if I get too lazy on my exercises. Seated row and lat pull down were my favorites in the gym, and I'm going to try modified pull ups now that I've quit the gym.

OK, I read the article. I understand a little more now. Some of the things he mentions that are nonsense are exactly what were looked at when I was Professionally fit. Looking down through the bars to the hubs, knees in particular position over the peddle axles and a couple other things. The good thing is I am no confident the frame size is fine and can be made to work the way I want.

Thanks

Sorry if this has been covered before.

How long does it usually take for the numbness/tingling to clear up?

I went on 1 ~40 mile ride around NYC on Sat afternoon for about 4 hrs... Forgot my gloves...

Since then, the pinkie and ring finger (on my left hand only) have been numb/tingly.

Today is Monday, and it seems to have let up a little, but it's still very uncomfortable/annoying. I hate it.

Lechwe:

Just to throw something else in the mix -- double-check your saddle angle. It should be pretty close to level (take a clipboard, slap it on top of your saddle, and throw a level on top of that, assuming your bike is on level ground). If it is angled down too much, say more than 5 degress declination, that will definitely shift your weight forward to your hands even if your fit is perfect otherwise. A lot of folks tilt their saddle down to alleviate perineal pressure . . . the real problem is that they need a different saddle, not a ridiculous saddle angle. FYI, I run a 1.3% declination angle on my saddle (I think level to 3% is a good target range).