Hand Issues

[vkai]

So, as my previous post mentioned, I've been trying to transition to a road bike from a comfort bike. I went for a short ride today (3 miles, but the longest I've done on this bike so far) and my hands were killing me after a mile. The bars just seemed so "hard." I'm guessing that this is mainly due to the fact that I'm putting more weight on my hands than I was with the comfort bike's more upright position. It wasn't any sort of achy wrist pain or anything, just a feeling that the bars were too hard, if that makes sense. My bars are wrapped with cork tape and I did have some cycling gloves on. Do my bars need to be padded or something? Or will I get used to it as I ride more?

thanks!

[zoom-zoom]

My Cannondales have both had flat-topped bars, instead of round tubes. LOVE! Our tandem has round tubes and my hands hate that.

[Cataboo]

You can put bar gel underneath the handlebar tape to make it feel pretty plush. You can also wear padded gloves. YOu should also move your hands around while riding - Don't keep a death grip on the handlebars - you can ride up on the hoods, you can hold the handlebars next to the stem, whatever, just move your hands about. As you build up your core, you won't lean forward so much and put weight on your hands. Keep your elbows slightly bent while riding.

I don't know if you've had the bike fitted to you or not - but it's possible that raising the height of your handlebars will make your position a little bit more upright and get some weight off your hands.

[indysteel]

In my experience, hand issues can be hard to sort out. It could be a simple matter of finding the right handlebars or gloves, changing out the bar tape to something that's a little more padded, or changing the tilt of the bars or their rise. As counterintuitive as this may sound, moving the saddle back a bit can take pressure off your hands. And, as others have suggested, the proper posture and core strength on a bike are also important.

Start with a professional fitting before doing anything else, especially if you're experiencing any numbness or tingling. Having experienced cycling related nerve issues in my own hands, it's serious stuff.

[nscrbug]

I completely agree with indysteel on everything she wrote above! I have, what I would call, chronic "hand issues". I do believe that I have some nerve damage, so with that, it's very difficult for me to totally eliminate all of my hand pain/numbness. So now, my main objective is to "lessen" it as much as possible. I too, ride a Cannondale with a flat-top bar. I just had my hubby retape my bars (my tape had started to tear and unravel), and we used gel pads underneath the tape to make it a bit "cushier". I have also discovered during my ongoing experiment with various types of gloves, that my hands seem to prefer a glove with thinner padding. I've tried heavily padded gloves, I even have several pairs with the "U-bridge" padding which is supposed to keep your hand nerves "happy", but they seem to bring on the pain & numbness more quickly for me. I have to switch my hand position frequently (like every 5 minutes) on my bars, to keep my hands from going numb. I also have to shake them out every so often, to get the blood flowing freely again.

Linda

[indysteel]

With my first road bike, I had no real issue with my hands after getting a professional fit. With my second bike, it was a whole other story. Durong ridesn my hands were painful and bright red. After, they were bruised and sore. I tried nearly every fix known to man and two fitters before finally hanging the bike up. While a few of the tweaks helped marginally, they did not help me ride pain free. I think the bike was just too small for me. I'm back to riding my first bike. I had to ease back into yoga after taking a break when my hands were at their worse.

Hopefully, the OP's issues are nowhere near as difficult to solve. But, if the issues persist, please consult with a hand specialist. Like I said, nerve issues with your hands can be quite serious.