cyclezen

agree with jrobe, having the onset so early in a ride, like under 30 min. of saddle time may point to a condition which started at some earlier time/day. If it was there before the fit session, then it might be an injury. And is now being exacerbated everytime you ride, regardless of the position changes.
Not to be dire, but worth considering as a strong possibility.
Are there ANY hand positions which don;t bring on the tingling?
nerve damage is a long term recovery if it goes far enough.
IE - I was a long term sufferer of piriformis syndrome (form of sciatica) almost 15 yrs. and to this day I'm deathly afraid of another 'attack'.
After the initial 'attack', which lasted almost 3 weeks, I think I was able to pinpoint when I started/caused the whole thing. Knowing that didn;t help much, except the realization of how I caused it...
It would certainly be worthwhile to find what hand positions cause issues and which don't. And you may have to compensate in your position until the condition has healed.
maybe try gripping the bar top flats without allowing the wrists to 'break' - keeping the forearms inline with the hands as they grip - sortta like how one might grip and push a lawn mower...
If this position is more friendly, then you'll have more info on whats goin on.
maybe jrobe might have more reccomendations for diagnosing any possible carpal tunnel issues...
BTW, ridin hard is not weird, its a great stress relief, allows me to forget everything else and focus on the moment. Its a point when everything seems in balance, tis all good.
and like a see saw, there is also balance in an easy bimble at the wife's pace

Hulley

I never hand hand numbness when riding motorcycles or any other activity that I can remember.

Hulley

I move my hands all over the place but thats a common spot for my hands to be, just behind the hoods. I have tried the "lawn mower" grip but thats usually after my hands go numb.

Hulley

I really appreciate the input. I'm taking mental notes and gonna try some different and positions. I could very easily have an injury that is causing me problems. I'm only 38yr but I have aches all over from all the physical activities over the years. Hopefully I can ride again this afternoon and I try the lawn mower grip from the get go and see what happens. The only problem is that is pretty hilly where I live and I'm constantly changing gears.

bbattle

I'd get a stem with more rise, at least as a temporary fix. A better fix would be to buy a new fork and leave more of the steerer when it is cut.

Can you post pics of your bike? Maybe some with you on the bike?

Hulley

I'll try and post a pic tonight. I have all the spacers under my stem that the bike came with. I've tried flipping my stem and diferent spacers and now I'm back with the original rise but a shorter stem, 110mm to a 100mm, although I think the new stem is a 0degree stem.

Nick Bain

can you go back and have them fix it or do they want to charge you more money, this is why I don't get "pro" fits they charge you a lot and then they want to charge you a little more if there is a problem. at eriks anyway.

Hulley

There is the initial charge and adjustments are free, for a time peroid though. Its supposed to be 30 days but if it takes longer he said it wouldnt cost extra. Yeah, I wasnt thrilled about the amount spent and no major improvement, but there is an improvement and I understand that these things can take a little time.

oldbobcat

The cause of your tingly fingers could be a nerve pinch in the arm or shoulder, not the pressure you're putting on the hands. This would be especially so if you aren't putting a whole lot of pressure on your hands.

Try some arm stretching exercises before your ride.

Hulley

I stretch my legs/back/hamstrings before every (well mostly) ride. Maybe I'll try stretching my hands/arms/shoulder tonight.

charliekeri

pad-less gloves. FLIP IT. move seat back. less reach and drop bars (compact bars), ride more. solved my problem.

the aero benefit of a flipped vs. non-flipped stem is negligible for 99% of riders, but it's the Fred factor that is hard to get past. Once you do your hands will be happier.

nscrbug

I have the exact identical problem...only difference is I am a 44yo woman. Hand numbness/pain is something I deal with on every single ride, regardless of mileage or intensity. Mine generally kicks in at around mile 10. It gets so bad, that I literally cannot feel my shifters/brakes. I wear gloves, I change hand positions constantly, I shake out my hands often...short of slapping on aerobars, I'm doing everything possible to alleviate the pain and numbness with no success. I recently had a bike fit done (my 3rd different fitting) by a RETUL certified fitter who is also a licensed physical therapist with an extensive cycling background. He has coached, trained, and fitted many of the Garmin-Cervelo team members. I was very impressed with his credentials and physio background (I have a chronic back problem), which is why I was so willing to pay a considerable amount of coin to have yet another fitting done. Because, obviously the first 2 fittings did help much at all.

The fitter made a few significant changes to my set-up...mainly saddle adjustments and cleat adjustments (also added a shim in my right shoe). The entire process took 2.5 hours, and I was confident that the changes that were made would resolve my pain issues. For the most part, they did...resolving my neck/shoulder fatigue, as well as toe pain in my right foot. But the big disappointment came when the hand numbness/pain didn't go away. I ride a Cannondale Synapse Carbon Fem 3, which is a relaxed geometry bike already. My stem is an 80mm, 17-degree rise...if I go any shorter, the handling gets too twitchy. I haven't tried going any steeper on the rise yet, as I'm not totally convinced that it would help at this point. Due to my back condition (I have spondylolisthesis at L5/S1, which means my L5 vertebra has slipped forward over my S1) my core is not as strong as I'd like it to be. Core work is difficult and painful for me...I do what I can, but I know it's not nearly enough. And unfortunately, I didn't have the option of getting a fit adjustment after I discovered that my hands were still hurting because this fitter is not from my area and was only in town doing fittings for a limited time.

I love to ride, but sometimes my hands hurt so damn much...that it sucks the joy out of riding. I rode close to 7,000 miles last season...and there wasn't a single ride that I didn't have the hand issues. I wish that I could say I enjoyed all of those 7,000 miles...but sadly, I can't. I'm still holding out hope that someday, I'll resolve my hand issues and can actually look forward to riding.

Hulley...I hope you figure out your hand problems soon, too! If you or anyone else have any ideas or suggestions for me...I'm all ears.

Linda

Nick Bain

I just remembered when my jersey got too small in the arms it seemed to cut off circulation and affect entire arms btw I didn't get fat I got ripped, ok maybe a little of both.

Hulley

Damn Linda, sounds we are in the same boat. I'm trying different things and my fitter said he was going to do some homework and hopefully come up with a solution. I'll update the thread as I go. Hang in there, I know I'm trying too!

Campag4life

More saddle setback takes weight off the hands. How much drop you have from saddle to bars?
You don't need gloves to ride. Its all about:
1. Saddle fore aft position relative to BB. Your leg position relative to body CG determines how much weight is falling forward. If your legs are more behind you as you pedal your weight will fall forward.

2. level rear portion of saddle where your sit bones rest
3. Horizonal distance from bars
4. Vertical height of bars.

I am an older rider and either too high or too low a bar will hurt my neck and back.
You need to find your sweet spot. No fitter can put you there. You have to experiment.
I rode 30 miles with my bar too low last night and am paying for it today.

An adjustable stem is a good way to tune your position.
Adjust your position a bit behind KOPS if you have too much weight on your hands.
Core strength is overrated...nice to have but not essential.

Good Luck.

Hulley

I mentioned this to my fitter, and he ended up moving my saddle forward 31mm and shortening my stem 10mm, now i'm slightly ahead of KOPS, my knee is lined up with the end of the crank arm, not pedal spindal. My legs feel fine but the hand numbness/pain comes in earlier in the ride. The pain used to not start until the 7-9 mile mark, now its coming on around the 4-5 mile mark. I dont have back or butt pain, only arms. My feet were going numb but now I'm using orthotics and a different saddle.

WHOOOSSHHH...

I have had the same problem fovever. I have been up, down, back, forward, long stem, short stem, you name it. Yes there is to much weight on my hands. I think my body is top heavy having been a powerlifter for many years...just a guess. Picture is for effect, I'm no VELO GATOR..... I wonder if that is a possibility? Hell my hands are still numb from yesterdays ride! PS..that's a real bike there PCAD!! Rice burners..

Hulley

Nice bike! I'm kinda stockey but I dont lift weights like I used to. I more or less go to the gym to keep the rust off. Cycling is my major form of excercise. I think I'm pretty well balanced excpet for a little gut, if I lose ten pounds I'll be at my highschool weight.

jrobe

If he moved your saddle forward, your center of gravity is more forward and you will have more weight on your hands to keep from falling forward (and less weight on your saddle). This is a mistake given your complaints. You want the exact opposite (per the Peter White fitting system).

I would forget this "professional fitter" and start making some changes on your own starting with moving your saddle back to get less weight on your hands. This seems pretty obvious to me. For example, you could move it back far enough where you would have no weight on your hands (except to balance yourself) although this would be unnecessary.

fa63

Are you saying that you had your saddle moved forward after the fit (as in, closer to the handlebar)?

It has been mentioned many times already, but numbness is hands is usually caused by being too forward on the bike and/or too much saddle to bar drop. Also, you need to learn to rotate your hips on the saddle (requires core strength) and bend your elbows a bit while riding, all of which are made a lot easier when you have achieved the right amount of setback.

Hulley

I agree 100%, I've been trying to accomplish this on my own before the fit. I'm only trying this out because I'm trying to trust his ideas seeing as nothing else has worked yet. I cant help but to think I wasted money. I'll go back one more time to see what he says.

Hulley

I have good hip rotation and my back alignment I believe is pretty good. My wife and the fitter says I have a nice flat back when riding.

Hulley

Its like the fitter did everything ass-backwards to what makes sense. I think the only thing I got out of the fit was that my right tibia is 5mm shorter and I have high arches (which I already knew). I get pissed the more I think about it.

fa63

If the re-fitting doesn't work, download this spreadsheet, fill out the information it asks for, and give what it says a try:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/5xnxny...gv8english.zip

As basic as it is, it seems to work well for quite a bit of folks.

Hulley

Very cool thanks! I'll look this over when I get home, my work computer is not letting me save the spreadsheet.