Hand/finger numbness

Pedro872

And before you ask I'm not Jay from the inbetweeners

It's maybe a common problem but I thought I'd still ask being a relative newbie to road cycling. While I'm out riding it's not usually too long before my hands start feeling numb I do alternate from the hoods to the tops as well as shaking it out which works but I just wondered if there was something I was maybe doing wrong that was causing the problem? Oh and I try not to grip too hard (back to Jay again).

Thanks,

Pete.

team47b

Normally caused by too much weight on your hands, which may be down to your balance which can be affected by how far back your seat is. Core strength/stomach muscles/posture etc. Try taking your hands off the bars and seeing how you balance.

ElectronShepherd

You could also consider changing the bar tape for a softer or thicker variety. Gloves will also make a big difference. Some cycling-specific gloves have extra padding specifically to address this problem, so it might be worth trying those.

nigeldoyle

ElectronShepherd wrote:

You could also consider changing the bar tape for a softer or thicker variety. Gloves will also make a big difference. Some cycling-specific gloves have extra padding specifically to address this problem, so it might be worth trying those.

Ditto. Totally agree. Also change your hand positions regularly.

I also had to start using a wrist support on my desktop computer. I spend a lot of time at the computer and this was causing numbness in my right mouse hand when I was out cycling.

DKay

Resorting to padding in gloves and thicker bar tape is just a band-aid for the real problem; that you're putting too much weight through your arms as said in the first reply. Your position needs adjusting to take some of the load off your hands. This can be done by a combination of changing the angle of your hoods and changing the height and length of your stem, assuming that your saddle position is correct.

rafletcher

DKay wrote:

Resorting to padding in gloves and thicker bar tape is just a band-aid for the real problem; that you're putting too much weight through your arms as said in the first reply. Your position needs adjusting to take some of the load off your hands. This can be done by a combination of changing the angle of your hoods and changing the height and length of your stem, assuming that your saddle position is correct.

Not just position. Lack of core strength is also a factor in this.

DKay

rafletcher wrote:

DKay wrote:

Resorting to padding in gloves and thicker bar tape is just a band-aid for the real problem; that you're putting too much weight through your arms as said in the first reply. Your position needs adjusting to take some of the load off your hands. This can be done by a combination of changing the angle of your hoods and changing the height and length of your stem, assuming that your saddle position is correct.

Not just position. Lack of core strength is also a factor in this.

Yes, but the former is a lot easier to resolve and will give more benefits, quicker. The strongest core in the world doesn't matter much if you're spending hours in the saddle in the wrong position.

hostman

I experienced this, it was caused by overreaching for the bars. You'll either need to buy a shorter stem or fiddle with the fore/aft position of the seat, without also ruining your leg position and burning your thighs after every ride.

Pedro872

Hi and thanks for the advice.

I had a little tinker with things before going out yesterday and things seemed a little better but did still have the problem albeit to a lesser extent.

I think the next thing for me it to maybe look at getting a shorter stem or getting a bike fitting but that's another thread.

Thanks again.

DKay

Before splashing out for a new stem, I'd raise it a little instead. Don't rotate your bars forward, as that will just put more weight through your hands. You want to be rotating them back a bit instead.

markos1963

I would doubt those who are saying 'too much weight' on the hands. I get numbness on my road bikes but not on my TT bike were most of my weight goes through the arms. I tend to find choosing my clothing carefully helps. Too tight arm holes on base layers and jerseys make it worse as well as too tight gloves. Moving hands around the bar positions really helps, this is noticeable on club rides when you are using your arms a lot more to signal to others.

86inch

There could also be a genuine medical reason for this; i have mild carpal tunnel syndrome which results in numb hands etc. So its also worth seeking advice, particularly if symptoms are experienced at other times such as driving a car, gardening etc etc.
As for "on the bike" i find that gel gloves only aggravate my symptoms, i use barely padded mitts (Northwaves) but do double-wrap my bars in a specific way (not just two wraps of the same tape). This helps massively.

e17blade

I had this problem for ages a few years back and tried all sorts to get rid of it. In the end it was simple - my padded gloves were slightly too small. I changed to a less padded but slightly larger pair and the problem disappeared.

gaffer_slow

Buy Specialised Body Geometry Gloves, any1 with 'contact points' issues.