painful hands - butterfly bars?

[julay]

I'm new to long rides (long by my standards anyway - 30 miles) and new to the straight handlebars on my hybrid bike. From the start I've had very painful palms and wrists. Thanks for previous suggestions which helped a bit - padded gloves, relaxing wrists, changing hand position, end bars. However still painful so I'm wondering about butterfly bars - anyone tried them? thanks. julay:(

[alpinerabbit]

Maybe. But the bar ends serve somewhat the same purpose.

but the main problem is likely that you simply have too much weight on your bars, i.e. the bike is not fitted properly; perhaps it is too big. At any rate that is what happened to me and many here.

try a steeper stem if you can.

[abejita]

I would head over to the bike shop and see if you can get your bike fitted before you started swapping out components. I had the same problem with my road bike when I started training for my century this past summer. I little tweek here and there and I haven't had a problem with my hands since.

[radacrider]

+1 on fit.

Now, that being said, when I started riding my mtb a lot, like commuting 15miles, one way, I started having issues. I tried different hand positions, bar ends and still had troublesome wrist issues.

Having been a road bike rider and not having the same problems I did some self-analysis. My road bike bars were narrower (40cm compared to standard width mtb flat bars). Also, the significant part for me was the relationship of my wrists with the road bike.

My hands/wrists were in a more natural position, not rotated, when riding the hoods or drops.

So, in the end, for me, I swapped the wide flat bars for narrow road bars and my wrists have been happy campers ever since. I believe it is just what my wrists needed to be comfortable on a bike.

Of course, your solution and mileage may vary.

All the best in your search.

[Catrin]

I have 2-inch riser (flat) bars on my bike with Ergon grips. This is FAR less painful for me over road bars - and I've been on 6 hour rides.

The important thing is to make certain that your bike is fit properly to you. My beloved LHT came with road bars that made it, basically, unrideable for me because of certain problems with my hands.

My bike conversion result was no less than spectacular. I went from not being able to ride the bike more than 2 miles because of hand pain to long distance riding. My hands do not bother me, at all. I do have bar-ends to go with my Ergon grips, but have never actually needed to use them

You might simply need different grips, or a different stem, or perhaps your saddle height adjusted - there are so many things that are involved in bike fit and can cause hand pain issues.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do and let us know how things work out. May you have many happy miles on your bike :D