My hands hurt... (not sure where to post this question)

I just upgraded several parts on my mountain bike. I got a new seat post and stem which has changed my position on the bike. I noticed that about twenty minutes into both rides this week that my hands (left one more so than the right) start to hurt terribly. It's almost like the muscles in my hands are cramping. I am trying to figure out what to change. My thoughts are:

1. Rotate the handlebars down slightly.

2. Get the bikeshop to put old stem back on.

3. Change seat height (I hate to do this because it helped make my pedaling better)

4. Change seat position forward back. (I hate to do this because I feel pretty comfortable on it as is.

Please if you have any advice or have had similar problem, post here. Thanks!! :)

Does it feel like you are putting too much weight on the bars? Like your hands are taking more than their fair share?

Not really, I'm not 100% sure though. I know my left hand hurts first and more than my right. I'm thinking this is because left hand = front brake which I use more often.

BJ, I like your idea to rotate the handlebar, or rather rotate the position of your shifters and brakes on the bar. Remember that in your primary riding position there should be no bend in your wrist, rather there should be a straight line from your knuckles up to your elbow. Use that as your guide for setting the rotational position of shifters and brakes.

How about your reach? Is the brake lever within easy reach of your fingers, or do you have to kind of stretch your hand to get to them? If it's a long reach, see if you can adjust the lever closer, or replace the lever with ones that are more adjustable.

It sucks to ride with sore hands. You'll be happy when you fix this!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

If you got a longer reach stem, then it's likely that you've increased your total reach enough to unbalance you and put too much weight forward onto your hands.

Jen, are you on straight bars, or do you have drops?