Hands Cramping after ride

[Meowkungpow]

So I have been riding that long now, mostly just back and forth to work(8 miles of fairly hilly road). ON the days i ride for longer 15-20 Ive started noticing i'm getting hand cramps AFTER my ride. They don't feel amazing while i'm riding but they arent hurting. I don't put load of pressure on them (no back or shoulder or neck pain).

I was beginning to wonder if my shifters are just a little farther than my fingers want to reach?


Any ideas?

[Owlie]

What are you riding, again?
Are you wearing gloves?
Are you gripping the bars/shifters tightly?


It is possible that your shifters/brakes are just a bit out of your reach. On drop bars, you should be able to shim those. I believe that you can also get a bar with shorter "horns" that will help. You could also rotate the bars up a bit.

[Meowkungpow]

Giant Avail 2 Composite.
Im wearing some inexpensive gloves with "gel" padding.
I don't feel like i'm gripping them tightly, but i think its a littlebit of reach for me to the shifters.

I've been thinking of rotating the bar up but wondered what that would do to the rest of my position.

[Crankin]

You might want to see if wearing gloves with absolutely no gel or padding helps. I had excruciating hand pain until I did this.

[Meowkungpow]

I didn't think about padding being counterproductive, but i guess it def could be. And i only had like a 30 minute fit. Nothing else hurts (other than my bum after being on the bike for more than an hour). Did in the beginning, but they moved my seat a little bit forward and down and I started going to the gym.

I guess I go get fitted again and try new gloves :)

[thekarens]

You might want to see if wearing gloves with absolutely no gel or padding helps. I had excruciating hand pain until I did this.

Ditto! Padless gloves are hard to find though.

[marni]

weightlifter or general gym gloves are very similar in fit and function to bike gloves and have little padding. My local 24 hour fitness gym carries them at the front desk but I bet you could go to any large sports type store like Sports Authority or Academy sorts and find the same thing.

[ny biker]

I have some Pearl Izumi gloves that are not heavily padded. I think they are this model:

http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodPI_14241102.html

Also these LG gloves are not super-padded:

http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodLG_1481063.html

[Kiwi Stoker]

Also check to make sure if you wear a watch it's not pressing into your wrist. Gel bar tape can add padding which would work with no-padding gloves. You also need to move you hands into different positions more often.

[Crankin]

Botranger makes non-padded gloves. Pricey, but perfect.
I can't use padded bar tape, either.

[thekarens]

Hey Crankin, can you give me a link? I checked their website and wasn't able to find them. Giro also makes the Giro Zeros, but they are mens and I'm not sure they'd fit me even with the small. I love my MTB Fox gloves, but they are full fingered. I'd like fingerless for the road bike.

[Meowkungpow]

I ended up picking up a pair of full fingered gloves prior to the tour ride this weekend(it ended up being under 40 with the wind chill and raining the entire time). Did take your advice and found some with no padding on the palm! It worked well, and once I could feel my hands again no cramping. Wasn't crazy about the color but that was all there was at the LBS when I came into town. I'm pretty sure they are for mtn biking but hey whatever works.

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftr/gloves/equipgloveswomenspecials/gloveendurowmns