Hands going numb...thoughts?

Well I am loving my bike , yesterday I rode 15.2 on the trail and today I rode 16.8 on the road. One issue I notice I am having is my hands going numb after awhile. I have been told it's cause of the straight handle bars on my hybrid bike. Any thoughts or tips ?


I did get pedals with built in toe clips and wow what a difference in my ride! I only had a small learning curve at first on how to start. I don't have any issues at all with pulling my foot out and stopping. It has greatly improved my pedaling.

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Originally Posted by KimV

Well I am loving my bike , yesterday I rode 15.2 on the trail and today I rode 16.8 on the road. One issue I notice I am having is my hands going numb after awhile. I have been told it's cause of the straight handle bars on my hybrid bike. Any thoughts or tips ?


I did get pedals with built in toe clips and wow what a difference in my ride! I only had a small learning curve at first on how to start. I don't have any issues at all with pulling my foot out and stopping. It has greatly improved my pedaling.

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Hand numbness happens because there is pressure on a (or some) nerves to your hands. That pressure could be coming from your handlebar, the way your holding your arms as you ride, the position of your shoulders and neck due to fit and/or a weak core. One thing is consistent between all of these scenarios. All of them usually have a component of too much weight being put through the arms. A good fitter can solve this problem.

Moral of the story is, there is no reason you would have more numbness on a flat bar than on a drop bar if your weight distribution and core strength are good.

Wahine has good advice! If a bike is fit properly to you, then there isn't any reason why your handlebar style would cause numbness. Back when I could still ride all day, I WOULD ride all day with flat bars and an upright riding position. Fit is what matters, and core strength (or a lack thereof) can certainly have long reaching and unexpected effects.

Just one question: are you wearing gloves? If so which ones?

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=43941

Yes, I am wearing gloves. They are Giro Monica's

How padded are the gloves? For some of us less padding is better. For me, more padding = numbness and tingling. You might want to try a different style and see what happens.

How are you holding your hands and arms? I'm eternally grateful for piano lessons -- I can't play piano any more but I automatically have Good Hand Position on handlebars and computer keyboards... wrists straight and not bent back...

I had the same issue a few years back when I started riding long distances on my fairly upright bike with straight handlebars. The good ladies here at TE all strongly recommended a proper bike fitting. The bike fitter re-built my handlebar/headset, changing out a straight bar for one with slightly angled ends. This made all the difference. I also have bar-ends which allow me even more options for positioning my hands, so I can move them around more on long rides.

Good luck!

Great point, I was thinking about this question over the weekend. Remember to keep your shoulders relaxed and not up around your ears, Someone on this forum used the words, put your shoulders in your back pocket, meaning think about dropping your shoulder blades. My hands going numb is a sure sign that I have my shoulders crunched and up in my ears instead of down in my pocket.

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Originally Posted by Geonz

How are you holding your hands and arms? I'm eternally grateful for piano lessons -- I can't play piano any more but I automatically have Good Hand Position on handlebars and computer keyboards... wrists straight and not bent back...

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I noticed that too with my shoulders and funny that I told that to my husband on our Saturday 100km ride that I tend to tighten and raise the shoulders soooo much that it hurt. Noticing this, I do try hard to drop them and relax. Sure not easy and such a hard habit to break as it tends to go right back up. argh!

I had this problem too. I have Izip E3 metro; Trek hybrid (with straight bars) & road bike with drop bars. I have had bike fitting & all are adjusted properly. I find that I have to change my hand position on all 3 bikes during the ride. The straight bar bike has the least options due to not much space & I have ordered aerobars for that bike. I also have tried several different wrist/carpal tunnel supports by Carpal Mate. The one that worked best came from amazon & the simplest of all & best. It is kind of L shaped with velcro around the wrist. That prevents the pressure on palm/"heel of palm." Bought larger gloves then realized I can use original gloves & just put the wrist support over the top. I tried riding today without them & definitely noticed the difference. I also have been doing more sit ups & core strengthening exercises in order to lean on bike less. I also tried different gloves with the little palm cushioning. Wasted my $$. The Carpal Mate helped more than anything else. I recommend you buy 1 see if it helps & then buy the 2nd one if you like it.

I'm having this problem too. I have very very poor core strength and I carry a lot of excess weight in my abdomen (think Apple shape). I also am large busted and have neck problems (and yes I too am guilty of shoulders up around neck syndrome).

I use gel half gloves but the problem is the rider (me) and not the equipment. I'm going to have my LBS evaluate if an adjustment can be made to the riser bars or something to help me out since I can't magically be any different physically than what I am today. Being out of shape sucks in every possible way. Not that I was ever in good shape, but there was a time when I was a lot thinner and of course a whole lot younger, with a more forgiving body. And for the neck and back issues those are things I need to address separately, starting with some specific exercises to do stretches, cervical pillow and spine stretches too. It's not just core weakness, it's also specific muscle tightness that causes these issues.

For me, weak core caused most of the "numb hands" problem. I simply wasn't strong enough to maintain proper position on the bike. Keeping shoulders down and relaxed, as described upthread, also helped.

At one point, I think I had my gloves fastened too tightly. It was winter and I had the gloves fastened over some number of layers. By the way, all these solutions came from TE folks.

For me, it was glove size and no padding. I have gone from wearing an x-small to a medium. I cannot tolerate any padding. In this search for the cause of my hand pain, I discovered that while I have small-ish hands (not tiny, though), I have very long fingers. No wonder my gloves were strangling me. I actually had an argument with the owner of one of the LBS's that sold the unpadded Botranger gloves I loved (which they stopped making). He told me that mediums would be huge on me, and that I would probably get them caught in the shifter. Then he saw me try them on, and he shut his mouth.

Have you considered changing your grips? I have ergon grips on my mountain bike and love them. They allow for a larger part of your hand to touch the surface of the grip and reducing pressure points.

http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/en/product/gp1