Hand Pain

RedRowan

Hi guys, bought myself a MTB last month in an attempt to get a little more active and raise my fitness level a bit. Been over 20 years since I was last on a bike but during the week I have been going out each morning and doing about 7-8 miles before work and then try to get out 2-3 times over the weekend.

Been enjoying the rides and certainly feel better for it but have noticed that my hands are quite sore after each ride. At first I figured it was just because I had not been on a bike for so long so got myself a pair of Endura Mighty Mitts to help. Now just on three weeks since I started riding and I still seem to be suffering a bit. Just wondering if getting hold of some wrist/power grips and using them each day to strengthen my hands will help or it is something else I need to look at?

Bike is a standard Hardrock Sport Disc if that helps.

Cheers

Steve

1mancity2

common problem with new riders and most can be cured with simple adjustments to your controls, you might be gripping on too hard to the bars so try to relax, your brake levers could be at the wrong angle, a pic of your bars would help, the grips could be too big/small for your hands.

RedRowan

Thanks for the suggestions, if i think on I will take some shots of the bar setup and post them.

Steve

RedRowan

Couple of quick picks of the bar setup taken with my iPod.





Steve

1mancity2

Levers don't look too low, try riding and not holding on as hard first, second try a different grip as they don't look very comfy to me.

It could just be your hands not being used to the positions etc, I used to get when I first started riding again.

RedRowan

Cheers for that. I think I do need to try and not hold on as tight but I may look into replacing the grips too.

Steve

d00m

Make sure your wrists are dipped!

andypandy85

I had a similar problem when I changed my bike. I rotated the bars in the stem to adjust the up/back sweep until they felt comfy and now have no problems after 25+ miles...worth a try

RedRowan

Thanks for the tip Andy.

I'm trying to relax my grip a little when out riding and have also been using the wrist/power grips each evening and that seems to be helping. My hands have certainly felt better over the last few days so I guess something is working!

Steve

blablablacksheep

I had simular problems with my bike when i started riding

You see simular issues with people who use industrial tools like hammers ect with vibration problems in the hands.
One thing like allready adviced is to try keep hands relaxed as much as possible during the ride.

Also try putting hands in warm water before going out to increase blood flow.
Another thing but takes longer to see full effects is to try strengthen your hands by doing press-ups and pull-ups which also strengthen the upper body which can reduce the hammering through your arms and hands.

This will also increase grip strength, as i found not doing pull ups leads to weaker hands and wrists

The Northern Monkey

how many fingers are you braking with?

if everything feels comfortable, possible some finger strengthening needed... I used to suffer really badly, but my setup was as comfortable as I could get it. After a few weeks of using a powerball, strength built up and fatigue got less and less.

Now I can do a full day of DH with no issues!

RedRowan

I brake using two fingers.

The powerball sounds like a good idea, someone else had suggested that too so I might see about picking one up.

Steve

YeehaaMcgee

You might just need to ride more to "harden" your hands to riding.
Like learning to play a guitar, or running, or punching people repeatedly in the face.

RedRowan

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

You might just need to ride more to "harden" your hands to riding.

During the week I'm doing 9 miles each morning before I go to work. Do the same of a weekend but also try to make at least one of them a 20 mile ride.

Once it gets a little lighter of an evening I intend to get out after work as well.

Steve