numb hands

punctureboy
punctureboy Posts: 217
edited June 2009 in Road beginners
i've been mountain biking for a while now , but went on my first road ride today. 40 miles, and loved it. at the end of the ride my hands were numb. does this improve/ go away with experience?

Comments

  • pjh
    pjh Posts: 204
    Hi - get some decent padded gloves which will help a bit :D

    I'm afraid it does go with the territory a bit and you'll always get numb hands from time to time. Your ulna nerve runs down the outside edge of your hand, and resting your hands on the bars gives it a squeeze - hence the numbness.

    I try to change my hand position around as I ride (plus wear decent gloves)! You do kind of get used to it :)

    It's great to be .....
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    Yep, Gel padded gloves, Gel or Kork bar tape and look at your saddle to bar drop height.
  • scapaslow
    scapaslow Posts: 305
    In addition to the gel padded gloves (Specialized BG ones are good) and padded bar tape you could try Bontager "buzzkill" inserts which fit into the ends of the bars and dampen vibration. Certainly worked for me.
  • punctureboy
    punctureboy Posts: 217
    i have padded gloves already, although they are winter mtb ones so i guess its time i got some new ones lol.
  • Garry H
    Garry H Posts: 6,639
    Are you gripping the bars too tighly?
  • punctureboy
    punctureboy Posts: 217
    no not at all but i am pretty heavy at about 110 kgs, which will equate to a lot of weight going through my hands. it is a totally new hand position for me holding the back of the brakes. road bikes have come a long way since my 'racer' i had as a kid lol
  • Garz
    Garz Posts: 1,155
    I am experiencing this again so first will try an extra layer of bar tape then move onto other tweaks.
  • SteppenHerring
    SteppenHerring Posts: 720
    I have different gloves for MTB and for Road use and the padding seems to be in different places.

    As pjh mentions, moving your hand position around may help. If you can't get comfortably onto the drops, you may want a stem that will raise the bars a bit. And this will mean less weight on the hands when you're on top of the brake levers. If you gain flexibility (or, in my case, start losing the beer gut) you can move the bars down again by putting the old stem on.

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