How to relieve pressure off hands?

defdaz

Hi all, just wondering how you all relieve pressure off your hands, especially the heavier of you?

I should be receiving a road bike tomorrow and am a bit scared as even with my last bike (a flat bar hybrid) I suffered from a lot of pain in my hands and shoulders due to me weighing so much and thus having to support a lot of weight through my hands (that the seat was quite a lot higher than the bars didn't help I guess but then it'll be the same or higher on the road bike I guess).

Is there anything I can do to stop my hands hurting so much? Thick gloves perhaps? I'm hoping that the drop bars will give me more places to place my hands and so hopefully reduce pain through frequent change of hand placement?

Many thanks peeps, Daz

roger_merriman

drop bars are a lot better, they really are, but padded gell bar tape plus good gloves. i don't tend to get sore hands on my old roadie while the old MTB i'd feel it after 20 miles or so.

defdaz

Ah cheers roger, that's encouraging! I'll look into getting some gell tape. Thanks.

il_principe

Mmmm have you been fitted for this bike? If not get some advice from the LBS. There are plenty of things you can do but you shouldn't have too much weight on your hands if you're fitted properly.

salsarider79

A higher stem will also help, just ask your LBS. It will look stupid, but hell, comfort matters.

With flat barred hybrids, a riser bar helps. Just for future reference and benefit of others.

doog442

roger merriman wrote:

drop bars are a lot better, they really are, but padded gell bar tape plus good gloves. i don't tend to get sore hands on my old roadie while the old MTB i'd feel it after 20 miles or so.

what he says ..

also on a flat bar your wrists are in a bench press position, on drops you have a choice but you will be 90% on the hoods and as such you wrists are in a more natural position with thumbs pointing forwards

On my MTB i get wrists issues on my CX no such issues

Eau Rouge

As Jash says, get yourself fitted. First place I'd be looking to is the fore/aft position of the saddle. Sounds like your "falling forward" when you should be fairly balanced on it, which would relieve the pressure on your hands.

However, I'm not a bike fitter, so do as Jash says and get yourself fitted.

2Fast4Love

There was a guy in the Giro/TDF last year who had was just back racing after breaking a bone in his wrist. To relieve the pain he was resting his forearms on the top of the bars, with his palms facing the sky, and fingers gripping the cables.

I had a bash at this (as you do...) and it definitely works. For safety tho I'd restrict this to flat roads, not in heavy traffic, and no sharp bends!

always_tyred

2Fast4Love wrote:

There was a guy in the Giro/TDF last year who had was just back racing after breaking a bone in his wrist. To relieve the pain he was resting his forearms on the top of the bars, with his palms facing the sky, and fingers gripping the cables.

I had a bash at this (as you do...) and it definitely works. For safety tho I'd restrict this to flat roads, not in heavy traffic, and no sharp bends!

Or simply ride with your hands completely off the bars.... or learn to unicycle.....

They make gel-padded bar tape. Alternatively, double wrap. And there are gloves you can get with gel padding on the ulnar nerve area. All of these help. As others have said, riding on the hoods keeps your wrists straight, which is much stronger than the flat bar wrist position. The Floyd Landis "bat wing" lever position can also help (okay, not like Floyd, as his hip joint needed replacing, but higher up the bends than traditionalists would have them anyway).

How much drop is there between your bar tops and seat? (If you angle your seat, take roughly where your sit bones usually go) A drop more than a couple of inches is probably too much.

laughingboy

jashburnham wrote:

Mmmm have you been fitted for this bike? If not get some advice from the LBS. There are plenty of things you can do but you shouldn't have too much weight on your hands if you're fitted properly.

There is also plenty of bike fitting advice on various bike shop/manufacturers websites. I like what Peter White Cycles say, for example. And Rivendell have a nice take on things in their 'Read' section.

As a rule of thumb, unless you are gunning for speed and not comfort, your bars should be close to the same height as your saddle.

The saddle fore-aft position is a little counter-intuitive, because if your weight is falling forwards onto your hands, your instinct is to narrow the gap between saddle and bars by moving the saddle forward. Actually, moving your saddle backwards can help move your centre of gravity, and put the weight back on your sitting bones - but you may have to deal with other variables as well, the stem length, the top tube length, etc.

Finally, it may just be the case that horizontal bars are not as comfortable as bars that allow different hand positions. See this recent thread, for a similar discussion.

2Fast4Love

Always Tyred wrote:

Or simply ride with your hands completely off the bars.... or learn to unicycle.....

Why not triple wrap? Or wear boxing gloves?

Eau Rouge

2Fast4Love wrote:

Why not triple wrap? Or wear boxing gloves?

psst, Your sense-of-humour dial isn't turned up enough.

antfly

Nobody has mentioned saddle tilt yet,so I will.

lost_in_thought

Interestingly, the guy fitting me at Epic moved my saddle back, yes, back, which removed a good deal of the pressure I was feeling through my arms.

Conter-intuitive, eh?

defdaz

Thanks for all the responses folks, much appreciated. Moving the seat backwards, who'd have thought?! I'll definitely try it out, try not to have the seat too much higher than the bars and definitely see about the gel tape / gloves.

You lot are great, I don't care what they say!

cjcp

defdaz wrote:

Thanks for all the responses folks, much appreciated. Moving the seat backwards, who'd have thought?! I'll definitely try it out, try not to have the seat too much higher than the bars and definitely see about the gel tape / gloves.

You lot are great, I don't care what they say!

+1 for what Antfly said. You might not need to move the seat back as such, just adjust its angle. I had to adjust the angle during a short ride last winter because I had put the saddle on in a bit of a rush. Instantly more comfortable.

2Fast4Love

Eau Rouge wrote:

2Fast4Love wrote:

Why not triple wrap? Or wear boxing gloves?

psst, Your sense-of-humour dial isn't turned up enough.

:oops:

Probably right tbf... nevertheless, it's a decent tip for relieving pain temporarily at least.

Aidanw

I would also suggest making sure you don't lock out your elbows.
If you keep your elbows bent a small amount they will act as shock absorbers and the bumps won't be absorbed by your wrists. It feels more effort when you start but it soon becomes second nature and has a lot of other benefits to your cycling as you are in a better position to be ready to react to changes in the road etc.

Clever Pun

lost_in_thought wrote:

Interestingly, the guy fitting me at Epic moved my saddle back, yes, back, which removed a good deal of the pressure I was feeling through my arms.

Conter-intuitive, eh?

it makes you engage your core muscles more thus bending your arms and reliving pressure on your hands... as you get tired the arms straighten and more pressure is applied