Specialty Brake Hoods?

[KnottedYet]

I haven't heard of any specialty hoods, but I do know that my Campy Athena hoods are very wide and flat and comfy. My Shimano brake-only hoods are very narrow with a nice offset so I'm not weighbearing on that joint at all, and they are also very comfy.

Two ends of the hood spectrum, and both feel great to me. I used to have a lot of trouble with that joint in both thumbs, so I do try to be careful. Splints and thumb exercises made a huge difference for my left thumb, but my right is still fussy sometimes. My thumbs love me more when the bars are rotated up and the hoods are nearly horizontal and even with the forward curve of the bar. (so the whole top section is flat: bars and hoods)

Maybe go to a shop and ride on a few bikes with different hoods?

[Tuckervill]

You could just tape over the hoods and build them up bigger, like we used to do with our boyfriend's class ring.

I have carpal tunnel syndrome and I usually have to make things like paintbrush handles bigger with duct tape so I can go for the long haul. It bothers me some on the bike, but I take B6 and it helps. If I were doing longer distances, I'd build up the hoods with bar tape to make them cushier and bigger.

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

How wide are your bars? If your bars are too wide, your arms end up splayed out throwing your weight forward onto your hands. So it may not be the hoods but the bars.