Severe Wrist Ache! Advise Needed

russyork

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the wrist ache / pain I have been getting when riding my new mountain bike.

I purchased A Specialized Rockhopper Comp 2011 around 4 weeks ago - http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/rockhopper-comp-2011-mountain-bike-ec024979?query=rockhopper

I initially rode the bike on some very easy going local bridlepaths and also alot of canal paths and roads with no problems to my wrists. I really like the bike

2 weeks ago I decided to take the bike for a ride around the Monkey Trail at cannock and upon completion of the trail I had mild wrist ache. This wrist pain then got quite severe the day after and didn't seem to get back to normal for about 5-6 days!

I decided to ride the trail again last weekend and the wrist pain after finishing the trail is actually quite severe and is still very painful now.

Heres some info:

I am 5ft 9 and weigh just under 13 stone. I went for a 17.5 inch frame and it seems to fit well. I have had the bike adjusted to the correct seat height by my local bike shop.

What do you think could be cuasing these wirst problems?

Could it be the fitting of the bike? Maybe if I bough some higher rising handle bars and a shorter stem it would be easier on my wrists? At the minute the Rockhopper has an 80mm stem and 25mm rising handlebars.

Maybe Im just not riding the bike properly thus pushing too much weight onto my wrists?

I noticed that the Forks (RockShox Recon Silver) had the preload amount set to almost maximum thus making for quite a hard ride! I have now reduced this quite a lot and the ride seems much softer. Could this be causing the wrist pains?

The Rockhopper is my first MTB in around 10 years and I havn't ridden off road for many years. Maybe my wrists are just weak and not used to the rough off road trail riding?

Any help from anyone would be really appreciated. Has anyone had similar experiences in the past?

i am thinking of picking up a pair of 661 wrist straps for the meanwhile to see if that helps - http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/product/28359/661_Wrist_Wrap_2010

cooldad

Experiment with the angle of the brakes levers/shifters.
Don't use a death grip.

Anonymous

Must... resist... stupid... comment...

blablablacksheep

i have some issues too when got bike and rode off trails.

It to do with either like the above said brake levers/shifters being too far away from you or angle(plenty of guides arounnd about making sure they set up for you.)


Or vibration of the bike, i had clicky fingers :P very anoying and painfull at times, to do with fluid and rubbing ect ect.

buy some gloves first with good padding will help a lot, also maybe try getting stronger wrists.

press ups work a dream to get good muscle and joints on the arms, plenty of guides too for good press ups,

shm_uk

A few comments from my experiences over the years...

Your problem may partly be due to not being used to riding, so give yourself some time to adapt.

However, also consider the following:


How tightly are you gripping the bars?
You shouldn't need to grip too tight - imagine holding a plastic cup, on average and in general you're grip shouldn't be so tight that the cup would be crushed


What's your riding position?
You should be keeping your wrists in roughly a straight line with your arms whilst riding.
Don't drop your wrists too much as this will put a lot of stress/pressure on them.

Also, you may be excessively using your arms to support the weight of your torso
Try not to lean on your arms, but use your core/back/stomach muscles to keep your torso steady.


What angle are your brake levers / shifters?
As a "Starter for 10", they should be angled down at approximately 30-45 degrees.
When you're on the bike with your hands on the bars (keep your wrists straightish), you should be able to operate the brakes/shifters without much wrist movement.

The brake levers & shifter triggers should be within easy reach without lifting, dropping or stretching your wrist/fingers to reach.


Gloves?
Might also be worth investing in a good pair of cycling gloves with padded palm/wrist sections.

russyork

cooldad wrote:

Experiment with the angle of the brakes levers/shifters.
Don't use a death grip.

Thanks for the tip. I have noticed that the brake levers and shifters are at almost 90 degrees down from the horizontal position. Basically not too far off from being vertical!

I have now changed the angle on both the levers and shifters to more like 45 degrees down from the horizontal position.

I also noticed that my saddle was pushed slightly towards the front of the bike (not tilted). I have slightly short arms so I think that this was done in the bike fitting process. I can't help but think that this will be pushing me towards the handlebars thus putting extra pressure on my forearms / wrists? If I completely center the saddle my arms are still slightly bent when in the riding position so it shouldn't be a problem moving it back?

Any other ideas are very welcome!

cooldad

shm_uk's answer was pretty comprehensive. It's a matter of getting comfortable on the bike. Fiddle around, and once right the pains will go, except for the butt.

Mental Mickey

Gloves with padding in the right places help a hell of a lot, I use these and find them great protection.

http://www.cyclesuk.com/1011/292-258103

mak3m

as above shm_uk covered it

at first i got the aching wrists all the time on long rides, fiddling myself reduced this, keep it clean yeehaacgee

any how my brother inlaw is a bit of a mtb fanatic for 30 years he looked at my set up and tutted

literally 10mm here and 5 mm there, looking at saddle height, handle bar rotation, brake position seat travel etc etc and the wrist ache is all but gone.

cant reccomend getting the bike fitted properly by a competant person enough

Andy!

I ended up with a right hand twice the size of of my left after borrowing the GFs rockhopper as my fork was away for repair.

I already have a carpal tunnel problem so use ODI rogue lock ons but the standard grips on the spesh are too small.

Also the pedals are shocking so feet just slip off - resulting in death grip from me trying to keep the bike under me.

Decent gloves and decent grips will let you relax your grip - I use Rogues because they have the largest diameter I could find and are nice and sticky. I then use gloves with minimal padding so I get the most feel and I can ride round without closing my hand most of the time. I also have MG-1 pedals so not much risk of my feet slipping off - all lets me relax on the bike and stopped my hand/wrist pain.

But 1st try adjusting the angles as advised and go from there.

russyork

Thanks for the comments and advice guys, its appreciated!

@Andy - Those ODI Rogue Lock-ons look like they may be worth a try. Are these the ones you are referring to?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/ODI_Rogue_Lock-On_Bonus_Kit_Handlebar_Grips/5360029242/?referid=frogoog&source=googleps#more

My Rockhopper came with some really bad pedals as well but I have already replaced those with Kona Wah Wahs using a pair of Five Ten shoes. I love this combo, my feet stick like glue to the pedals.

So far I have adjusted my brakes and shifters and moved my seat into a more central position. I have also loosened the pre-load amount on the forks which has made things a lot softer. but hopefully not too bouncy.

I have noticed that I have indeed been gripping the grips too tightly, especially when on trails. I guess this means that my forearms and wrists are taking a lot of the pressure from the bumps / jumps? I think I just need to become more aware of hand placement and grip strength when on the trails.

I am hoping that I will notice a big improvement on the trails this weekend after taking all of this on board

Andy!

yeah that is them.

Best thing I bought for my bike.

The Northern Monkey

Stop wanking so vigoursly!

Seriously though, I had terrible wrist a ache a while back. I bought a PowerBall which really seemed to strengthen my wrist.

The biggest difference is due to my bars. I was running 685mm wide 2" rise bars but switched to 700mm wide flat bars.'I now get zero wrist ache at all and it's made a huge difference to my riding!

cooldad

Andy! wrote:

I ended up with a right hand twice the size of of my left after borrowing the GFs rockhopper as my fork was away for repair.

I already have a carpal tunnel problem so use ODI rogue lock ons but the standard grips on the spesh are too small.
- I use Rogues because they have the largest diameter I could find and are nice and sticky. .

Just goes to show how personal it is. I have fairly small hands and like really thin grips - I currently have some Charge ?Sponge? I think. Thin and fairly hard. But no pain.
Too fat and I can't grip them and get aching hands after a few minutes.

kenan

You could always get some foam grips?

russyork

A quick update:

I got myself some Odi Lock-On grips and this has completely solved the wrist pains issue! Thanks for the advice and opinions everyone!

Russ

getonyourbike

Just to add, it could have also been your technique, you need to use your arms and legs to absorb any impact. Bend your arms and have the saddle the right height so that you can have your heel down with your foot is on the pedal with a slight bend in the knee.

xterra

would the problems above also cause the centre of your palm to ache whilst riding ?? as mine have started doing that for some reason??

Jedi

you should be riding with a dipped wrist

robertpb

There are only two things that makes your palms ache, bike set-up, or human set-up.

Try the latter first, it's cheaper, make sure your upper body is relaxed and fluid on the bike and your not hanging on to the bars for dear life.

Your arms should be acting like shock absorbers not battering rams.

If this does not work start on the above.

xterra

thanks guys