The day after and wrist pain

h34e0f

I always seem to get chronic wrist pain the day after a long/tough ride. I did the 50km Skyline at Afan yesterday and this morning the pain in my wrists is almost unbearable.

Is this caused by a fault in my riding? Or could it be due to my bike not being suitable for the terrain I was riding?

woodytitan

Could be a sprain mate, I recently got one through riding style/shock set up and it's taken nearly 6 weeks to heal and everytime i;ve ridden semi aggressively it has put me back causing more pain and discomfort.

Sound familiar??
Go see your doctor.

h34e0f

This is both wrists, and has only happened when riding a longer ride (3+ hours). My usual ride (quick bomb around local woods) gives me no problems and I ride that pretty hard.

Last time I had any pain like this was over Easter, so a fair time for healing :? the pain last time also went away after a day

weeksy59

sounds like riding position on the wrists then ?

h34e0f

weeksy59 wrote:

sounds like riding position on the wrists then ?

So I'm taking too much weight on my wrists?

weeksy59

that would be my perception, but could be angle of brake levers, height of bars, length of stem, type of grips, geometry of bike... etc

Daz555

I'd guess one or more of:

Too much weight on wrists.
Poorly positioned brake levers meanig wrist is not in relaxed position when fingers on brakes.
Holding on too tight.

guy72277

Hi, I had this wrist pain a lot and it came from bad hand positioning. My wrists were basically at nearly 90 degrees and taking hits from every bump. I have invested in a pair of Ergon grips which are lockable so once properly adjusted, they keep your hand in an optimal position and will also give your hand a greater contact patch on the handle.

http://www.boc24.de/images/products/350/0133848-0.jpg

It will feel strange at first because you will be so used to just using your palm to counteract braking and bump forces, and you might feel your hand is going to slip off forward. Pretty soon however, you will feel confident with the reduced palm and increased thumb pressure. The Ergon grips really changed my riding because I had major pain in my palms too (especially on the edge of my hand) and the increase contact patch the grip offers stopped that.

Careful though - When I first ordered a pair I bought the cheaper Ergon grips, only to find out that they were designed for grip shift gears and were too short.

Hope this helps.....

Anonymous

Had ergon grips like that for a while, but was causing problems with steep gnarlier downs. Every bump the flat part would have my hand shooting forward, and felt it was getting dangerous. Comfy to rest the palm on, but less grip.

Went to some Superstar grips and rearranged the controls and I don't get problems now.

Lever angle is dependent on how you ride though. Some will insist they need to be pointing way down, but that's fine if you ride almost over the bars like a roadie. Trails need them less angled, and a more AM, freeride & downhill rider may be better with them higher. Basically so long as the wrist is not angled much when you ride is key, but it's more than just comfort, it's about control.

Oh, and if you can learn single finger breaking you can get more effective breaking with less vice like hand grip and subsequent pain.

h34e0f

deadkenny wrote:

Had ergon grips like that for a while, but was causing problems with steep gnarlier downs. Every bump the flat part would have my hand shooting forward, and felt it was getting dangerous. Comfy to rest the palm on, but less grip.

Went to some Superstar grips and rearranged the controls and I don't get problems now.

Lever angle is dependent on how you ride though. Some will insist they need to be pointing way down, but that's fine if you ride almost over the bars like a roadie. Trails need them less angled, and a more AM, freeride & downhill rider may be better with them higher. Basically so long as the wrist is not angled much when you ride is key, but it's more than just comfort, it's about control.

Oh, and if you can learn single finger breaking you can get more effective breaking with less vice like hand grip and subsequent pain.

I'm super fussy with where my levers go, and I'm pretty sure they're spot on, but will play around with them again. I always single finger

kinmofo

see if you can post a side on picture of you on your bike, might help us to diagnose the problem if we can see ur riding psoition and handlebars / brake levers etc.

also whats ur job? have u ever heard of carple (sp) tunnel syndrome. i had that, luckily it healed but i'd have massive pain in my wrist and it was damn near impossible to ride with it.

h34e0f

I never get the pain while riding, but the day after. It is also not very common - have only had it a couple of times in the last 6 months. Most of the time it doesn't effect me. I'm a student but interestingly, whenever it's happened it has been during a holiday, and I've been working full time doing CAD

guy72277

I could only change my wrist angle with Ergon grips. Standard round grips like the Superstars you mentioned didn't help my wrist problems, as I would just fall back to the wrist angle that caused me the pain. On long rides like the OP does, you get tired and you can't concentrate on keeping your wrists in the optimal position.

There's a happy medium between having the grips set too high so your hand slips off, and having your wrist bent at nearly 90 degrees. I have found it, and am confident riding very steep rocky sections with the grips.

weeksy59

h34e0f wrote:

I never get the pain while riding, but the day after. It is also not very common - have only had it a couple of times in the last 6 months. Most of the time it doesn't effect me. I'm a student but interestingly, whenever it's happened it has been during a holiday, and I've been working full time doing CAD

I did a 3 year course in Cad, both 2d and 3d... it was cool

although i never rode moutain bikes at the time.

h34e0f

weeksy59 wrote:

h34e0f wrote:

I never get the pain while riding, but the day after. It is also not very common - have only had it a couple of times in the last 6 months. Most of the time it doesn't effect me. I'm a student but interestingly, whenever it's happened it has been during a holiday, and I've been working full time doing CAD

I did a 3 year course in Cad, both 2d and 3d... it was cool

although i never rode moutain bikes at the time.

Not cool when you spend 8 hours a day drawing dental surgeries and equipment I can assure you! I'd go mental if I didn't have my bike :?

weeksy59

the best one i had was "see this classroom you're sitting in....draw it"

Took me about 3 months... things like the wheels on the chairs and the window handles took forever.
I think it took about 23 hours to render the gpx file...

Then spent a few weeks with 3d studio rendering it properly

kinmofo

weeksy59 wrote:

the best one i had was "see this classroom you're sitting in....draw it"

Took me about 3 months... things like the wheels on the chairs and the window handles took forever.
I think it took about 23 hours to render the gpx file...

Then spent a few weeks with 3d studio rendering it properly

get a room :roll:

have you thought about how you're handling your mouse on the computer? perhaps a mousemat with wrist rest will help u relax ur wrist whilst working? they're a bit funky but i used to use one when i had desctop pc. they do help alot when ur spending 6+ hours at the computer.

h34e0f

kinmofo wrote:

weeksy59 wrote:

the best one i had was "see this classroom you're sitting in....draw it"

Took me about 3 months... things like the wheels on the chairs and the window handles took forever.
I think it took about 23 hours to render the gpx file...

Then spent a few weeks with 3d studio rendering it properly

get a room :roll:

have you thought about how you're handling your mouse on the computer? perhaps a mousemat with wrist rest will help u relax ur wrist whilst working? they're a bit funky but i used to use one when i had desctop pc. they do help alot when ur spending 6+ hours at the computer.

Never really got on with them. I start back at Uni in 2 weeks anyway so not much point spending the money. I'll have a fiddle with my levers etc, and see how that goes for now. I'm thinking some alterations to my forks may help reduce some impact too, as I tend to keep them fairly stiff.

Meatfox

could be an RSI or carpel tunnel syndrome.
i reckon speak to the docs and get it looked at. if its unbearable it should deserve some professional attention

timpop

Have a review of your riding opssition, maybe go to a good LBS and seek advice. I'd recommend the Ergon grips, they're amazing. The GX1 would most likely suit your needs but if you're worried about really steep knarly terrain like kenny you could always get a pair of the DH/freeride grips they make. Very good grips and still give good support.

CycloRos

Daz555 wrote:

I'd guess one or more of:

Too much weight on wrists.
Poorly positioned brake levers meanig wrist is not in relaxed position when fingers on brakes.
Holding on too tight.

this man talks sense, it's almost certainly going to be one of those, or you could just MTFU!

cooldad

Or just ride and they'll get used to it and toughen up, like your butt.
But if you actually have issues see a doctor, a real one not a random online idiot.