Num Hands

Brad123

Have been commuting for some time, 10 miles one way and 2 miles back. At about 6miles on the way to work my left hand get very num.
What can I do?
I'm thinking new grips but what type?

estampida

so there is a nerve in the palm of your hand

specialised have worked on this problem for some time, with gloves and grips

my missus runs this type of grip http://www.specialized.com/gb/gb/ftb/gr ... ckinggrips

the grippy section can look dirty after a while, and there are many copies that are cheaper

but the spade design will take pressure of that nerve

Long_Time_Lurker

Could be a number of things - grips, gloves (or lack of), but more likely to be your set up.
Try moving your seat forward, or your seat post down a bit - you could be putting too much weight onto your hands. Will probably take a few rides, messing about with saddle height, seat position etc.

Underscore

I too suffer with this. I have had some success with the following (in order of increasing effectiveness):

• Ergon grips with integrated bar-ends - some improvement plus more options for position. Didn't work as well as I was hoping for me, given the price
• BBB butterfly bar - still got these on the hybrid. Even more positions so reasonably comfy up to 20 miles for me
• Drop bars - got these on my road bike and the big win is having multiple positions which allow the weight to be taken on different parts of the hand - still not perfect but the best option that I've found for me. Will be sticking with drops for any new non-mountain bikes

HTH,

_

Brad123

Long Time Lurker wrote:

Could be a number of things - grips, gloves (or lack of), but more likely to be your set up.
Try moving your seat forward, or your seat post down a bit - you could be putting too much weight onto your hands. Will probably take a few rides, messing about with saddle height, seat position etc.

Do were gloves one pair has padding and one dose not. Was a bit better today with the padded one today. Will try moving the seat and handle bars about and see how it goes. Have fitted bar ends on, cant say if that has helped.

estampida wrote:

specialised have worked on this problem for some time, with gloves and grips
my missus runs this type of grip http://www.specialized.com/gb/gb/ftb/gr ... ckinggrips
the grippy section can look dirty after a while, and there are many copies that are cheaper
but the spade design will take pressure of that nerve

I was thinking about that type of grips. Dose it help?

WildGooze

I'm guessing that your using flat bars?

I sometimes get this on long rides with the mountain bike, and it seems to affect my little fingers. As above I think this is due to gripping pressure which stops blood flowing to the nerves.

I'm considering adding bar ends and seeing how this works. At least it gives a second option.

I never get the same problem on drop bars.

Kieran_Burns

WildGooze wrote:

I'm guessing that your using flat bars?

I sometimes get this on long rides with the mountain bike, and it seems to affect my little fingers. As above I think this is due to gripping pressure which stops blood flowing to the nerves.

I'm considering adding bar ends and seeing how this works. At least it gives a second option.

I never get the same problem on drop bars.

blood doesn't flow to the nerves - it doesn't work that way.

The problem with numb hands is that the Ulnar nerve gets pinched when you bend your wrists back for extended periods of time.

When you are tired you tend to collapse your wrists and bend the hand back while cycling. This is one of the limiting factors of flat bar bikes when used on the road.

You can easily solve this issue by:
concentrating on keeping your wrists straight
change your hand position (difficult to do on a flat bar bike)
get bar ends and use them for a different position
get a drop bar road bike and use the flats, hoods and drops to change hand positions

If you look at the hand position of someone cycling on the hoods on a drop bar bike, you will see that the wrists are naturally held straight which relieves the pressure on the Ulnar nerve - the pads are really more for your palm and the relief to the nerve there as well - but the biggest cause of numb HANDS is as above.

Daz555

I'd echo two causes here - too much weight on the wrists and/or a sharp wrist angle when in your common riding position.