Numb hands after riding

larkim

On every bike I've ridden off road, I get numb, sore hands after about 90mins of "hard" riding (i.e. not just pootling about).

I suspect one or more of the following:-
- putting too much pressure on arms
- holding on too firmly
- extending fingers too much over the brake levers

I always wear padded gloves.

Any hints on how to resolve this (I suspect most hints will be "don't do any of those three things above"), but would appreciate any thoughts!

Matt

cooldad

Does MTFU help?

Otherwise possibly any or all of the above, plus riding position/grip/bar position.

Maybe girly hands - that's my excuse anyway.

JGTR

Friend had this, cured it with those ergonomic grips with the flat section to spread the load, can't think what they are called but quite common

cooldad

They are horrible for proper mountain biking though as you can't grip the grips properly.

Chunkers1980

My hands hurt all the time after about 10 mins if I don't do anything about it. Just move positions when you get the chance and get the blood flowing.

Mister_g

You can usually rotate the bars slightly to even out the pressure between the inside and outside of your hands (or reduce one or the other) if you feel this would help.

Different grips may help (bigger?)

...and don't do the 'death-grip' thing.

photonic69

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19732355#p19732355]larkim[/url] wrote:

On every bike I've ridden off road, I get numb, sore hands

Matt

Do you get any tingling sensations down the outside of your arms and little fingers? If so it can be the nerve getting compressed, either in the wrist or in the neck area as riding a bike puts your head in an unnatural position for a very long time.

davidradar

I bet your rebound is set wrong. I have had this happen to me before, new bike and I actually slowed the rebound down and even let down the tyres to soften the feedback. It was only when I got home I realized I should have sped the rebound up (more like a po-go stick).
This fixed my problem - hope this helps!

larkim

Thanks all for the responses. I'll try out some of the proposed resolutions and hopefully post back if any prove successful!

Thewaylander

I also find padded gloves actually often make matters worse to be fair, the padding seems to put the load in one place for me.. could be an individual thing though.

nasha48

Anyone tried those gloves (Specialized, I think) with the "central" gel pad that is supposed to fill the void in the palm?

rockmonkeysc

Could be anything from riding position to bar set up or crap forks.
If you have adjustable compression damping in your fork try winding off a couple clicks to see if it helps.

lostboysaint

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19734350#p19734350]Thewaylander[/url] wrote:

I also find padded gloves actually often make matters worse to be fair, the padding seems to put the load in one place for me.. could be an individual thing though.

That. I've never had an issue on MTB because I always wear "ordinary" gloves but I bought a pair of Endura Gel mitts for the road bike and had awful problems. If I wear my MTB gloves on my road bike I have no issues at all!

brianbee

when I was having not dissimilar problems with my left hand I went to the doctor and explained that if I cycled hard over rough terrain I got excruciating pain in my hand she paused for thought, mussed for a short while and then gave the considered medical advice of '' well stop cycling over rough terrain then'' rest it for a few weeks and then do some exercise to increase the strength and flexibility of your wrist and then build up the duration and intensity slowly After being somewhat upset that there wasn't a miracle cure available, I took her advise and now a few months later the problem has all but gone

Oh Marone

Two things helped me to reduce numb hands, not doing the death grip and some new thicker grips. Old grips that came with bike were rock hard and were to thin for my hands. Got some RaceFace strafe grips which are thicker and also slightly squidgy so absorb some of the harshness of the terrain. Made a big difference compared to the stock ones but are a bit pricey. Simillar types are available from other manufacturers though.

The Rookie

+1 for grips with a bit more 'meat'....

brianbee

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19735327#p19735327]The Rookie[/url] wrote:

+1 for grips with a bit more 'meat'....

The answer might be that quick and easy, OR it might be carpel tunnel issues in which case it will just alleviate slightly whilst the damage increases. Its the numbness rather than the soreness that causes me concern Numbness in what a presume to be an otherwise fit and healthy young man is never a good sign

poah

grips that fit your hand, bars that are a good fit, not griping to tightly, brake lever at the right angle, and building up muscles.

paul.skibum

I alleviated a tendancy for my right hand to go to sleep on long descents by adjusting the brake angles a little - actually took them from a downward angle of around 45 degress to around 25 degrees down and helped a great deal.

gregwari

What pressure / sag do you run your fork, and with how much rebound? Check that, it may not cure your issues but it could be contributing (especially if the pressures too high and the rebounds too fast)