Tingling hands - is a carbon frame a cure?

ponderous

Hi All,

I have had an alloy-framed road bike (Trek Alpha, bought used) for about 3 months now. I'm quite happy with it - it goes well and is pretty comfortable. However, after an hour or so my hands start tingling, and after 2-3 hours this spreads to my arms. If the road is particularly bad I also get tingly feet. My riding position isn't really aggressive and I can't really set it up to put any less weight on my hands.

Do you think I can put the tingling down to vibration? I have heard that carbon frames are lot more comfortable - do you think that the vibration problem would be noticeably better with a carbon frame, or is a lot of this just marketing guff?

Finally, if I were to splash out on a carbon framed bike can you think any that are particularly good for minimal vibration and built for comfort, not racing? I need something that will be good for 3-5+ hours and I'm not getting any younger (50). I am pretty lightweight (10 stone 4 lbs, 5' ft 9") so light weight would win over stiffness. I also like the Campagnolo stuff that is on my Trek, so would ideally want a bike that has the option of Campag or possibly SRAM.

Thanks for any advice / recommendations, and sorry if I'm covering old ground with this.

Mark

ugo.santalucia

No, it's not a solution...

If you think it's down to vibrations, you can try to fit the gel pads under the bar tape. My feeling is that it's not the vibrations, but rather you put too much weight on your hands as you ride, making them numb... you have to try a few positions and see what works

estampida

if it is vibration

carbon might help

but so would a steel handlebar or steel fork or stem......

noiseboyfeetman

What psi are you running? Might be your tyres are too hard, especially if you're a lightweight!

jrduquemin

I'd go with the tyre pressures being too hard as well...

jordan_217

Handlebar position might be a good place to start. You might not have to spend any money at all.

Things that can help though - new bar tape, gel pads for under your tape (Cinelli and Fizik - both good IME) and some mitts with gel pads/inserts around the palm. Specialized BG mitts are good.

I would get the idea of carbon being a solution out of your head. I used to get really numb hands when I switched to a different type of bar tape, on a carbon bike. Switched back to my regular tape and no more issues.

As above, running a slightly lower tyre pressure can also help.

A google search for 'cyclists palsy' *might* give you some ideas on preventative/corrective measures. I'm not saying that's what you have but it just might help.

Graeme Jones

Carbon stem and bars would be a cheaper option. It's more to do with weight on your nerves for a prolonged periods so vibration is likely to only play a small part.

jonny_trousers

You lot suck! The OP is looking for justification for buying a flash new bike and you give him cheap solutions!

Don't listen to them Mark! Yes, a new carbon framed bike will make all the difference. Might I suggest something Italian and beautiful.

Bar Shaker

Carbon does transmit much less high frequency vibration but it's almost certainly to do with your bike fit. A fitting session should sort out the weight you are putting on your hands and this will alleviate the problem.

Alternatively, if you can get a fitting session thrown in with a new carbon bike...

rowman

I had a similar problem and solved it with a set of track mitts with gel inserts

smidsy

Double tape the bars to help take out some of the vibe and hold on less tightly.

Also ensure you weight distribution is good so that you are not doing handstands to keep you in position.

Failing that spend a load of money on a plastic bike and still have the tingling but in the knowldge that you have a lovely new steed. :-)

Bordersroadie

I love the title - we think of any way to justify n+1, don't we?!

Truth is there are 101 reasons for tingling hands but who am I to tell you that a carbon frame will not be a cure?

shane r

1. buy a carbon bike if you want one.

2. I had issues of this nature for some time. I upgraded alu bike to carbon-did not fix. Swapped alu bars for carbon-did not help. Double taped bars-did not help. Reduced tyre pressure to 90psi and bought Spesh phat bar gel pads and placed under Fizik tape. Problem solved.

Next!

charlie_potatoes

A shorter stem was the cure for me.

ETA Already had the carbon frame otherwise I don't think it would have cured it. I am sure you need a carbon frame and a shorter stem

bails87

estampida wrote:

if it is vibration

carbon might help

but so would a steel handlebar or steel fork or stem......

For a given diameter and thickness a steel tube is loads stiffer than an aluminium one. Steel bikes have a reputation for being comfortable because they were typically built with much narrower tubes, so flexed more, than alu ones.

Steel bars and stems come on £100 POS BSOs and they're horrible, extremely stiff and heavy.

MichaelW

You are putting pressure on a nerve, either at the edge of the hand or the pad below the thumb. On a good grip, the pressure falls naturally in the centre.
You can try jigging around with bar and lever position. Personally, I cant mine inwards a mite.
you can try bar padding or stuffing bits of rolled up inner tube to alter the grip shape.
ergonomic bars such as 3ttt ergo ova may help.
Use good mitts
Check that your overall riding position is good.

mamba80

You need to readjust how you hold onto the bars, raise them slightly, basically try an take a bit of weight off the wrists, saddle angle, try a 25/24mm tire up front but most importantly buy a LOOK 695, a Colnago C59, Pinarelo Dogma 2 or similar - this is the long term cure for such an affliction

desweller

bails87 wrote:

estampida wrote:

if it is vibration

carbon might help

but so would a steel handlebar or steel fork or stem......

For a given diameter and thickness a steel tube is loads stiffer than an aluminium one. Steel bikes have a reputation for being comfortable because they were typically built with much narrower tubes, so flexed more, than alu ones.

Steel bars and stems come on £100 POS BSOs and they're horrible, extremely stiff and heavy.

Steel has good fatigue properties compared to aluminium, so designers do not have to prioritise fatigue strength over yield strength in the way they do for aluminium. As a result you get a more elastic structure as you can have much more strain (i.e. give) for a given load.

Hence the narrower tubes, hence why good steel frames are more comfortable than aluminium ones.

galatzo

Bar Shaker wrote:

Carbon does transmit much less high frequency vibration but it's almost certainly to do with your bike fit. A fitting session should sort out the weight you are putting on your hands and this will alleviate the problem.

Alternatively, if you can get a fitting session thrown in with a new carbon bike...

As Bar Shaker said it's likely your weight distribution is wrong. Slight bar angle changes, stem length and tyre pressure can all make massive differences. Get a proper fit. Tell us where you are and someone will advise of a proper bike fitter near to you.

And yes you should buy a new bike.

ponderous

Thanks everyone for your advice, whether it was meant to be taken seriously or not. I think I will (in this order):

a) try reducing the tyre pressures a bit. I am running 25mm gatorskin tyres at about 95 psi. I will taken them down to 75 psi which I guess will be OK since I am light.

b) buy some Specialized gel mitts. I already bought some gel mitts, but they are cheap ones.

c) Try some gel bar pads and wrap it with some new fancier bar tape. I'm not sure about this though, since I ride mainly holding onto the hoods. Maybe it's the shape of the Campagnolo hoods that I don't get on with? I'll try turning the levers in/out a bit.

d) Fiddle around with the angle of the bars so that when I'm holding onto the hoods, different parts of my hands are pressing on them.
I don't think the problem is that the stem is too short. I already feel that the overall reach is marginal and if anything I could do with a longer reach.

e) So if all the above fails I should go for a bike fitting. I live near Kettering and work in Leicester - anyone recommend a good place to go?

f) Even if (a)-(d) work wonders, finally, I should buy a carbon bike because as you so perceptively pointed out, I want one anyway. Trek Madone look nice to me, but I feel obliged now to buy Italian since (from the advice I've seen here) they seem to offer the best cure.

on-yer-bike

75 psi may be going too far and you may get flats. Wheels make a big difference. I have a carbon bike, a steel bike (oversize) and an alu Allez. The Allez gives the softest ride with Fulcrum racing 7 wheels and Gatorskins.

symo

This could also be a symptom of something else. I know when I work in the office for long periods I get more tingling in my hands when riding, as it my lack of discipline at the keyboard that causes an issue and I have to resolve that myself.

Not saying it is, but this could be a cause.

Gladiator

Mate, you dont need an excuse like 'tingling hands' to buy a carbon road bike, if you want one just get one! assuming you have the money!

Ive got a carbon road bike but it doesnt stop the tingles sometimes. Thats purely down to pressure, the amount of riding etc and can happen anytime.

I went out for a couple of rides last week and my calves were fine, went out this week and they were cramping up every pedal turn, but thats nothing to do with a carbon frame, just me.

Just get the bike, you know you want to :-)

ponderous

A quick update. All I've done so far is reduce the tyre pressures down to 80 psi (from 95 psi) and tilt the bars up a bit so that the front is slightly higher. Things are already a lot better - I haven't really suffered since, although I might tilt the bars back down since they are a bit uncomfortable on the wrists when riding out of the saddle.

I can feel that carbon bike slipping away from my reach ...

waterford123

Tilt your bars back and flip your stem or buy a zero degree. I reduced my bar height because I thought I was a supple bike racer like I used to be 25 years ago, instead of the 46 year old with tight hamstrings I am now. This change led to tingles in my left hand, I put the spacer back and it went again. I thing your bars are too low.