Hand savers? Flat Road Bike Handlebars

Hi -
I was in a bike shop recently, and mentioned my long problem of numb hands on any ride over 15 miles. The guy mentioned that the bars that have a flat part near the stem that is flat instead of round. { c--c } (those are handlebars - and the flattened part would be between the c's) He showed me one, and says that the flat style top is easier on the hands. Anyone have experience with these? See pic below. I forgot how to make pics show up on the post without you having to click on a link. hmmmmm, well, it's the FSA K-Wing Carbon Bar 31.8mm.

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/display/15555/

Well . . . . I'm getting ready to take the SL-K off my Spectrum and get another Kestrel Pro which I have on my Kelly Bonestock. I'm not sure if it is the modulus of the carbon or the different forks on the bikes, but my hands go numb on the FSA SL-K. I'm not super thrilled about that flat section because it is tilted back a bit too much placing my wrists too low. I also think the reach from the drops to the Campy brake levers is shorter on the Kestrel, a classic round bar.

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Originally Posted by cherinyc

He showed me one, and says that the flat style top is easier on the hands. Anyone have experience with these?

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I have the Easton EC70 Wing handlebars on both my Sevens. They have a flattened section at the top. I really like them. Very comfortable, lots of places to put my hands.

7rider - do the help with hand numbness or wrist pain?

I can't say that I've had any hand numbness or wrist pain.
So..I guess it helps! :p

Someone recently posted a photo of their new bike with bars like that.
They were red.
Now who was that?

Red probably means an Easton bar.

Hi,
there's a photo of my synapsi on the gear subforum:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=25814
It is a Deda elementi integrated bar and it does have a flat top.
Actually all of my bars have a flat top. The other two are a Token bar and a Deda bar. All of them are carbon.
I love the feel of flat top carbon bars - but I have never had any numbness or pain in my hands with the regular round bars either, so I cannot say...
Hope this helps.

cherinyc, you should now that a flat section on the bar top means you probably have to ride with your thumb on top (unless you have HUGE hands).

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Originally Posted by TxDoc

Hi,
there's a photo of my synapsi on the gear subforum:

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That's the one!

My feeling is that if your bike fits you well and your weight is well balanced, you should not be putting enough weight on your hands to make your hands go numb.
I used to have this problem on my other bike. I felt I had my weight falling forward somewhat and no amount of tweaking eliminated it altogether. I tried various handlebars, different padded gloves, changing hand positions frequently, gel padding under the bar tape, tilting the bars up or down, changing the hood locations, raising/lowering the bars, strengthening my core muscles to hold me up better, relaxing my arms and my grip, shoving my saddle both forward and back, etc. etc. Nothing got rid of the numb hand thing altogether until I got my new bike which has my weight nicely balanced and off my hands. Then the numbness was just suddenly gone (along with my awful elbow pain).
Basically, my biggest problem with my older bike is that my weight is too far forward it, and the result was feeling unbalanced, not getting power to my legs, elbow pain, and hand numbness.
Another side benefit of the new bike and feeling better balanced is that I find I can ride it with no hands, whereas I can't do that on my other bike.

In simple terms, numb hands are often caused by too much weight on the hands.

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

My feeling is that if your bike fits you well and your weight is well balanced, you should not be putting enough weight on your hands to make your hands go numb.

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+1, and my guess is that changing the bars alone will not solve the problem - althought it might make the bike prettier, like in my case :D.
Maybe you should go back for a pro fitting service?

And yet, I have three road bikes set up to exactly the same measurements but have different bars. Numb on one and not on the others.

It can be fit; it can be the bars; it can simply be the wrong gloves.

Fit is the place to start but not always the solution.

Yeah, wing bars are sexy, but I don't think they'll necessarily solve your problem. Do your hands go numb when you ride on the tops of your current bars? The wing bars are a bit more ergonomic for riding on the tops, and some people like to use the flat parts to go into faux-time trial mode (more support on the forearms for better control without aerobars). However, you should be able to rest the heels of your hands on your bar tops and not be numb. Maybe you need different gloves? Maybe you need to change your fit or size of bars or hoods..? I will sometimes get numb pointer fingers when I have to do a lot of hard downhill braking from the hoods, because I eventually pinch a nerve. I also tended to make those fingers numb before I put gel pads on my bars, but I think that just served to change my hand position at the corners. One thing the gel pads did is to flatten out the tops of the bars, but they were flatter all the way to the corner bend, where I apparently needed it. The flatter tops makes it more comfortable to ride on the tops, but numbness and pinching nerves in my hands weren't an issue there.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

It can be fit; it can be the bars; it can simply be the wrong gloves.

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This made me remember something. Cher, it might seem silly for me to suggest this, but- when I first started riding i used to get terrible tingling/numbness in my hands and I tracked it down to my closing the gloves' velcro straps around my wrist a little too snugly. This was a totally different issue than my weight balance hand numbness. I was amazed at how loosely I needed to close the glove straps in order to not get the tingling pins and needles thing.
Try loosening your gloves straps to the point where they seem ridiculously loose and see what happens. :o

Hmm - well, maybe I will try loosening the gloves first - then maybe go in for a fitting. This is my 3rd season riding, and I have finally rehabilitated my back well enough to go down to a 180 degree stem. When I started riding, I had to sit pretty vertical, so I had a big riser on it. I noticed this season that with the riser on, I was only comfortable riding in the drops. Now I can ride on the tops comfortably except for my hands/wrists.

I LOVE that handlebar!!! Gotta have it.

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Originally Posted by cherinyc

I LOVE that handlebar!!! Gotta have it.

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Yes, I'm very happy with it - you can go aero without those bulky (and heavy) armrests like the usual clip/on aerobars have... and it's well-conceived for a flat positioning, so you end up being really aerodynamic and move waaay faster!!!
:)
This is what it looks like when it's not taped:
http://www.glorycycles.com/desyincabar.html they make it in a bunch of different sizes starting from 90mm/40cm and up.

Ouch! They cost more than the mountain bike I just won on ebay:D

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Originally Posted by cherinyc

Ouch! They cost more than the mountain bike I just won on ebay:D

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Holy Cow!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Well, that's the MRSP... a lot of online stores have some closeout, and they occasionally show up on ebay for less than $400!
:)