Pin and needles in my hands..

Mr Sworld

When I commute in the mornings I always get pins and needles in my hands by the end of the ride. This is annoying and means that I have a problem changing gears.

However I don't get it on the way back, at all!

I, also, have a pair of Specialized BG Gell gloves on.

Is this just a morning thing due to blood circulation not at 'full wack'?

essex-commuter

Do you wash your gloves every day? Perhaps they are tight on the way in and looser on the way home!

Perhaps your morning commute is free of traffic and you just 'sit' there for the duration? On the way home you are changing gear, braking etc. more often?

Mr Sworld

No, I keep my gloves smelly, thank you!

Theres no real difference between my morning and evening commute. I follow the National Cycle Network Route 2 between Peacehaven and Brighton. The majority of it is off the road so traffic isn't really an issue, the up's and downs probably avarage out the same either way.

londonlivvy

I have two theories

1) you transport a large quantity of breakfast / lunch so the weight of your rucksack is more on the way in so more pressure on your hands.

2) you're half asleep on the way there so don't fully engage the support of your core muscles, so more pressure on your hands.

Jay dubbleU

I have a third theory - your hands don't like going to work

Mr Sworld

londonlivvy wrote:

I have two theories

1) you transport a large quantity of breakfast / lunch so the weight of your rucksack is more on the way in so more pressure on your hands.

2) you're half asleep on the way there so don't fully engage the support of your core muscles, so more pressure on your hands.

1) Lunch is already at work so no difference in backpack weight there and back.

2) Hmm... You could be onto something there. However if iI am doing it then I'm not conscious of doing it.

Mr Sworld

Jay dubbleU wrote:

I have a third theory - your hands don't like going to work

I'd have pins and needles all over if that was the case!

lost_in_thought

Yeah, what LondonLivvy said. Also if you're pootling you tend to put more pressure on your hands than if you're gunning it.

thesmellyone

I suggest that you try a pair of Ergon grips for your handle bars. They provide more support for your wrists so you get better circulation and less pain.

They're the best part of my bike!

Mr Sworld

thesmellyone wrote:

I suggest that you try a pair of Ergon grips for your handle bars. They provide more support for your wrists so you get better circulation and less pain.

They're the best part of my bike!

I have a pair of Ergon E1 grips but they interfered with the brakes and gear shifts when I tried to put them on last.

I might have to have a bit more of a fettle.....

itboffin

Mr Sworld wrote:

When I commute in the mornings I always get pins and needles in my hands by the end of the ride. This is annoying and means that I have a problem changing gears.

However I don't get it on the way back, at all!

I, also, have a pair of Specialized BG Gell gloves on.

Is this just a morning thing due to blood circulation not at 'full wack'?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIF6pneS4ro

Sums it up nicely I think

rolf_f

Better to use self adhesive bar tape

UndercoverElephant

I've got it! Times is hard, so you've taken a night time job as a tailor. This leaves you so tired at the end of it you can't aim at the pincushion correctly.

davmaggs

try resting your thumbs on top of the bar for a lot of the journey rather than wrapping around the bar. Tends to stop you over gripping (which maybe you don't do on the way home), but also changes the angle slightly so the blood flows.

deptfordmarmoset

Just wondering whether your morning journey is from Peacehaven to Brighton or whether it's the other way round. Because if it is, you're going to be cycling into the prevailing wind at the coolest part of the day at a time when your body might not be fully up to speed. (I've a friend lives west of Brighton and when I've visited him, I've always found myself cycling into a headwind.)

So, though you may not feel cold, it might be worthwhile putting your winter gloves on and covering your forearms up to see whether your circulation improves. It's a long shot but it might be worth considering.

(Obviously, if you're commuting in the other direction this theory will automatically self-destruct...)

Mr Sworld

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Just wondering whether your morning journey is from Peacehaven to Brighton or whether it's the other way round. Because if it is, you're going to be cycling into the prevailing wind at the coolest part of the day at a time when your body might not be fully up to speed. (I've a friend lives west of Brighton and when I've visited him, I've always found myself cycling into a headwind.)

So, though you may not feel cold, it might be worthwhile putting your winter gloves on and covering your forearms up to see whether your circulation improves. It's a long shot but it might be worth considering.

(Obviously, if you're commuting in the other direction this theory will automatically self-destruct...)

I cycle east to west in the morning so I'm always into headwind. However I managed 7.8 miles in just under 25 minutes thanks to the tailwind on the way back!

I'm too much of a sweat monster to even think about winter gloves and long sleeved tops until it is actually winter.

Levi_501

I had this problem (pins and needles) with my old Kona handle bars, which were thick cast aluminium.

I replaced them with thin walled Easton EA70, and problem solved.

Headhuunter

I had this for a while but I was using mostly dirt cheap LIDL mitts which have pretty much zero padding in the palm. I bought a few pairs of Specialized BG XXL size which JE James was selling off at about 30% of full retail, I wear these over the top of the cheapy gloves and both together provide decent padding and the problem has gone away.

Someone here also pointed me towards under bar tape gel pads

legin

i would just tell yourself its the bike and treat yourself to a ti frame.seriously try as suggested channging your grip to thumbs on top and dont gri so hard.

londonlivvy

Mr Sworld wrote:

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

Just wondering whether your morning journey is from Peacehaven to Brighton or whether it's the other way round. Because if it is, you're going to be cycling into the prevailing wind at the coolest part of the day at a time when your body might not be fully up to speed. (I've a friend lives west of Brighton and when I've visited him, I've always found myself cycling into a headwind.)

So, though you may not feel cold, it might be worthwhile putting your winter gloves on and covering your forearms up to see whether your circulation improves. It's a long shot but it might be worth considering.

(Obviously, if you're commuting in the other direction this theory will automatically self-destruct...)

I cycle east to west in the morning so I'm always into headwind. However I managed 7.8 miles in just under 25 minutes thanks to the tailwind on the way back!

I'm too much of a sweat monster to even think about winter gloves and long sleeved tops until it is actually winter.

AH HA! I think the reason for the pain / no pain scenario is now clear... when cycling into a headwind the tendency is to put your body weight as low as possible, to hide from the wind. Thus putting more pressure on your hands. And on the way home it's in your interest to sit up high and attract that tail wind.

This doesn't mean I have a solution, mind you...

WesternWay

thesmellyone wrote:

I suggest that you try a pair of Ergon grips for your handle bars. They provide more support for your wrists so you get better circulation and less pain.

They're the best part of my bike!

I love my Ergons too, but I stupidly got the integrated grips and bar end one. The grips are fantastic but I never ever used the ends. I got them for the Dunwich Dynamo to give me a few more positions to make the ride less tiring, but actually stayed pretty much static all the way

Mr Sworld

Put the Ergons on last night and tried them out today, didn't do much.

Got to work and looked at their webpage..... Opps! I'd put them on the wrong way round! :oops: Didn't realise the locking rings were supposed to be on the outside of the bars...

Anyway.... There was a suprising lack of headwind (the calm before the storm, I think) today so no real hunching over the bars and tried to not grip tightly but rest my hands on top.

Still got pins and needles...