BirdsHill Biker

My wife and I are new to tandem biking and I found my fingers getting numb from holding the bar. When I ride my road it also happens but I can use my aerobar for a change of position to get a break. We are going on a bike tour in Wyoming in the summer and I was worried about doing 450 miles in 6 days. My LBS told me about the Bontrager Buzzkill bar end plugs and I tried them. I can't believe the difference they made. After a 2 1/2 hour bike ride my hands still felt great. The plugs have a brass insert with a soft rubber around them that cancel out the high frequency vibrations. I am amazed something so simple and inexpensive (under $20.00) can work so well. I just wanted to let other people know about these bar plugs in case any one else has a similar problem.

Mike

NJWheelBuilder

I have to admit, I made fun of these things when they first came out. I'm surprised they work for you. Do you actually notice the bars feel different during the ride, or do you note the difference when you get back from riding because your hands don't bother you?

BirdsHill Biker

I didn't really feel a difference when I started to ride but after I had ridden about a hour I realized that my fingers weren't tingling. The time before that when I was riding our new tandem by the end of our 2 hours plus of biking I had to keep wiggling my fingers. With the Buzzkill bar plugs my fingers felt great.

I had installed on the bike when I bought it the Phat gell inserts under the bar tape and they feel good but they don't cancel out the high frequency vibrations like the Buzzkillers do.

Murrays

FYI, you may be putting too much load on your hands. If so, moving your saddle BACK might help. See: https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

-murray

zonatandem

. . . or raise the bars a bit?

Brian

I take it this is a road bike issue?

BirdsHill Biker

I also get mtn. biking.The tingling I get is mainly in my left hand, I was told it has to do with the nerves on that side being more sensitive or something. I tried all kinds of ways of holding or different positions but the buzzkillers are the first thing that really made a difference.

Thanks for all the suggestions
Mike

thedips

IM SORRY i know this thread is long gone and old.. BUT i have to +1 for BONTRAGER BUZZ KILL i have a cervelo soloist that i ride very hard during crits and touring... and the aluminum buzzing was just getting out of hand i tried the BONTRAGER BUZZ KILL being very very very skeptical...and its just amazing its like night and day i want to say i eliminated atleast 75-80% of the vibration with these things.. its not 100% gone but a huge amount very noticable buzzing has gone away... AAAAA++++++++

joe@vwvortex

Poor fit leads to too much pressure on your hands - which causes the problem.

swc7916

Amen to that.....Fix your fit, don't go for a band-aid approach.

Leisesturm

OK I'm convinced. On fit that is. I have always had a problem with numb fingers and I would like to put an end to them. According to the link on bike fit supplied in the earlier post in order to get the weight off my hands I need to be sitting further back. This seems as counterintuitive to me as imagining that at ordinary road speeds there is enough vibrational energy in the handlebar system to affect the nerves in ones hands. Motorcycles often have huge amounts of vibration from the various engine components that reciprocate at high frequencies. The bar weights were invented originally for that market. On my Coupe I imagine that weight on the bars is the single component of my distress. The front of my knee is exactly over the pedal spindle with the stock seatpost which is roughly centered in the track. I believe there is some rearward travel left. Not much I don't think but some. Seems to me that moving the seat back will require moving the handlebars back or I will be leaning even further forward to reach them and thus putting more weight on my hands not less. Moving the bars back to meet the rearward seat will just reproduce the present stretch albeit slightly more rearward than before. Simply moving the bars closer with the present seat position seems like the way to go intuitively but of course requires a new stem. The stock stem doesn't seem all that long but shorter ones are availalbe I am sure. So, which should it be? Rearward seat movement or rearward bar? TIA.

H

doctordan

even without moving the bars back will move your center of gravity towards the rear, taking some pressure off your hands. Try this experiment: Bend at the waist and knees while you rest your hands on the edge of a table. Position yourself so you put a moderate amount of weight on your hands. Then move your hips back (similar to moving the seat back) and keep your feet in the same place (pedals/BB in same position). Even though you're leaning further forward to keep your hands on the table you will have less pressure on your hands-you will feel this when you move your hips back. of course on the bike you only have a few centimeters of rearward movement compared to the foot or so you can move your hips in the demonstration. Even a couple centimeters can sufficiently unweight the hands to make things more comfortable.
A shorter stem with or without moving the seat back will put you in a more upright position and move the weight from your bars to your saddle.
Moving the seat back on the post costs nothing and takes seconds to minutes. If it's still not comfortable then you can get a shorter stem.