Aching hands

echowitch

Im hoping someone can advise me on hold to deal with aching hands, specifically in the centre of the hands and in my right palm heel. I ride 6 miles each way to work and back and go out in the woods near my house as often as possible but yesterday found that my hands were aching very quickly. It normally takes a while to take effect and a shakeout of my hands tends to sort it out. Im wondering if its something I can fix on the bike.

Im 6'4" on a 22 inch customised Orbea Toubkal, (hardtail with a Dart 1, deore crank and front mech, slx rear mech.) 600mm handlebars on a 100mm stem, with Ragley Super-soft lock-on grips. The grips do seem small under my hands, both width wise and around.

Any suggestions ?

mcnultycop

Do you wear any gloves?

echowitch

Yep, normally Endura gloves, but sometimes Alpinestars gloves. Even with the gloves I get the problem. I had less of a problem with the original Orbea slip on grips, which seemed thicker.

cooldad

Superstar make some fat grips. And cheap

echowitch

Fantastic thanks, looks like they may well be perfect for me

http://superstar.tibolts.co.uk/product_ ... cts_id=437

gezebo

Ergonomic handlebar grips make a big difference. Not sure if this link will work but http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... 2157260086

ilovedirt

I do find those superstar excel grips really nice for long rides on my less-than-small hands.

Long_Time_Lurker

I went for new (fatter) grips and some bar-ends so that I could change my grip. Specialized's range of BG gloves help too.

andrewjoseph

is your position right on the bike? maybe you are putting too much weight on your hands. if the new grips don't do the trick, think about raising the bars, shorter stem with more rise.

echowitch

I put the Superstar grips and noticed a massive improvement. I'll have to see if it persists though. I need to move my gear and brake levers though. Preferably before I go to Swinley on Tuesday after work

sigorman85

i had the same problem when i had a hartail some one said to me to not have the same psi in the rear tire as the front i dont no the reason for this and it did work for me

tdougan

I'm not sure if it's the kind of thing but.
I sometimes get aches in my hands if my front forks are to hard or the rebound is to high.

Andy Dobson

I used to get the same problem. I tried wider bars, higher bars, shorter and longer stems, different grips, all to no real avail....

What cured my aches was a trip to UK Bike Skills and Tony Doyle. Turns out my brake lever position was too low putting my wrist in line with my forearm. Tony had me raise the lever position to make my knuckels level with my wrist's and in turn level with the ground. He then moved the whole brake assy inwards to make me use only my index finger on the levers.

Not had an ache or even a twinge since.

The downside is that the brakes are so much more effective, you have to re-calibrate your brain as to when and where to brake.

Hope this helps.

echowitch

Thanks all for the advice. I've been off the bike for a bit due to the grotty weather lately. (I had to cancel my first ever trip to Swinley Sunday due to the constant rain)

I've noticed a marked improvement since changing the grips, but its still not perfect. I will try a shorter stem, and adjusting the lever positions next. I have an FSA OS-190 LX 6 degree 100mm stem on a 600mm FSA XC281 riser bar. Thinking about it I do feel like Im leaning quite far forward.

Im ordering a RaceFace Ride XC Stem (60mm 6 Deg Black 1.1/8" 31.8mm) to see if its any better. On the fork front my Rock Shox Dart 1 does seem to be giving problems, so Im looking to go for a new fork as well (Rock Shox Silver Recon TK with Poploc) to see if that helps as well. (Plus the lockout may help on the road travel as well.)

felix.london

Before you start going crazy and changing your whole set-up just try riding and with all the weight on your pedals. Your hands should be very light on the bars.

I am now at the point that when I'm riding I'm saying to myself heavy feet, light hands. This is the single most advantageous tip I've picked up - it helps with everything.

Heavy feet, light hands...

delcol

try foam grips...

Charcoal

felix.london wrote:

Before you start going crazy and changing your whole set-up just try riding and with all the weight on your pedals. Your hands should be very light on the bars.

I am now at the point that when I'm riding I'm saying to myself heavy feet, light hands. This is the single most advantageous tip I've picked up - it helps with everything.

Heavy feet, light hands...

But isn't that going to prevent you from putting weight into the front wheel?..

I had a problem with my fingers aching horriiiiibly, esp worse on longer rides and bumpy terrain.
I bought some Ergon grips (which are ace btw), fiddled with my brake levers (reach and angle) and well now I've upgraded my fork to rebas, and the problem is much better.

echowitch

The Fork upgrade is a necessity really anyway. But I thought going for one with a lockout would give me the ability to see if there was a difference. I've ordered a new shorter stem, and I'll keep trying little changes at a time to see what works. It could be that I work in IT and my right hand is also my mouse hand. So it could be symptomatic of wider issues. I've had to do an annoying online training course today which has had me clicking repeatedly and I've got an achy hand as a result.

YeehaaMcgee

Charcoal wrote:

felix.london wrote:

Before you start going crazy and changing your whole set-up just try riding and with all the weight on your pedals. Your hands should be very light on the bars.

I am now at the point that when I'm riding I'm saying to myself heavy feet, light hands. This is the single most advantageous tip I've picked up - it helps with everything.

Heavy feet, light hands...

But isn't that going to prevent you from putting weight into the front wheel?..

Yes, it will. Not to mention cause some really bad lower back issues. :?

felix.london

Works for me and no back pain at all. Obviously there's times you're going to need to weight the front end to get some extra grip etc but as a rule I'm now keeping my hands very light on the bar and my weight pushing through the cranks and my riding has improved a lot as a result. And no aching hands

This book is great (well, like I say works for me)
http://thehairyrider.com/books/

YeehaaMcgee

I doubt you're actually doing what you're proposing, since that would mean actively holding your back, unaided at an angle for prolonged periods of time - which certainly isn't a good thing.

felix.london

"believe it or not, your handlebars are not for holding your upper body up. You have a lot to do with your bars- steering, pulling yourself forward, pushing yourself back, pressing down to weight and pulling up to unweight - so the less you lean on them for basic support, the better."

"Imagine yourself running along a trail. You cross ferny flats, climb rooted rises, drop into rutted ravines, and leap spongy stumps. You lean forward when you go up, lean backward when you go down, and lean sideways when you turn. As long as your weight stays between your feet, you stay balanced, and everything is fine.
Staying balanced on your bike is pretty much the same, except your feet are the wheels. The better you get at keeping your center of gravity between your wheels, the more time you'll spend smiling on your bike, rather than cartwheeling beside it.
No matter what you're doing, try to keep your feet heavy and your hands light. As long as you do that, you'll stay balanced between your wheels"

...and you wont get aching hands...maybe

YeehaaMcgee

Utter pish. When you're running, your back is generally straight, that just isn't the case on a bike. Go and try running with your body tilted forwards as on a bike, and see how long it is before you do yourself some damage.

blister pus

echowitch wrote:

It could be that I work in IT and my right hand is also my mouse hand. So it could be symptomatic of wider issues.

Here's what worked for me and would never use anything else now. And I've spent a relative fortune on grips.

Get some ESI silicone chunky grips

Get hold of some of that 5mm polyethylene foam protective packaging stuff, the stiff aerated stuff that some times gets wrapped round a frame for protection, etc. example but not quite.

Use double sided sticky tape to get the first layer stuck firmly to the handlebar, same width as the grips.

Put two strips of sellotape down the length of the packaging stuff (top and bottom).

Sellotape the bar end firmly down and taper out off the bar.

Get some rubbing alcohol and drench the inside of the ESI grips and drench the packaging and sellotape and quickly ram the grips over the lot and into position.

While the grips are still movable score with a knife the sellotaped bar end, 'freeing it'. Put back in place.

Leave over night.


Personally I think rigorous mountain biking is one of the best exercises for potential early stage CTS. But that's another thread elsewhere.

echowitch

New 60mm stem has arrived, so I'll get it fitted tonight and see if it helps. Im hoping it will change my posture to a more upright one, so less pressure on my hands. I'll let you know tomorrow

Anonymous

Andy Dobson wrote:

What cured my aches was a trip to UK Bike Skills and Tony Doyle. Turns out my brake lever position was too low putting my wrist in line with my forearm. Tony had me raise the lever position to make my knuckels level with my wrist's and in turn level with the ground. He then moved the whole brake assy inwards to make me use only my index finger on the levers.

Not had an ache or even a twinge since.

^^^ This.

Whilst not personally had a session with him yet, had this tip of another who has and tried it out. Feels a lot more comfortable and haven't had aches since. However I think this is also to aid technique.

It may depend what you ride. If you're a racing snake hunched way over the bars you probably need them pointing down more. Don't know.

Anyway, binned the ergo grips I'd previously got because of hand aches because I felt they were becoming dangerous on steep technicals. Flat surface, bumps, hand shoots off the flat because it's not actually gripping the thing other than by the thumb hooked under (potential for wrenching the thumb too).

YeehaaMcgee

deadkenny wrote:

Andy Dobson wrote:

What cured my aches was a trip to UK Bike Skills and Tony Doyle. Turns out my brake lever position was too low putting my wrist in line with my forearm. Tony had me raise the lever position to make my knuckels level with my wrist's and in turn level with the ground. He then moved the whole brake assy inwards to make me use only my index finger on the levers.

Not had an ache or even a twinge since.

^^^ This.

Whilst not personally had a session with him yet, had this tip of another who has and tried it out. Feels a lot more comfortable and haven't had aches since. However I think this is also to aid technique.

I wonder what the thinking behind that is, since it's in direct oppisition to what was taught for years.

supersonic

Could be a pinched ulnar nerve, in which case ergon type grips/gloves can halp.

But I agree with experimenting with control position - and you don't have to pay a coach for that, or one of these 'bike fitters'. And using one finger (no pun intended...) is not always best either, as two can pull harder or split the load.

Everyone is different, and like different things.

andrewjoseph

deadkenny wrote:

...
Anyway, binned the ergo grips I'd previously got because of hand aches because I felt they were becoming dangerous on steep technicals. Flat surface, bumps, hand shoots off the flat because it's not actually gripping the thing other than by the thumb hooked under (potential for wrenching the thumb too).

I couldn't get on with ergo grips either, only felt comfortable on the flat, when going up or down, I had to radically change my wrist angle to such an extent that they were painful.

As for position of the brake levers (other post), i find that most people i give instruction to find that inline with forearm works best, but everyone is different and comfort is the main thing.

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

And using one finger (no pun intended...) is not always best either, as two can pull harder or split the load.

Argument is that single finger braking is more powerful. Again, I don't know if this is true. More power for less effort I guess. Anyway, since setting it up that way though I've found it more natural and I get far less "death grip" effect. That said it could be the bigger rotors I've got too.

supersonic

Pulling from the end of the lever does create more leverage, and for some creates more control. But it does depend on your preferences, and many find 2 more intuitive, more comfortable and the feeling of more power.

What works best for the rider, no right or wrong really!