Pressure on my wrists

musclebeach

Hi, I'm a keen MTB-er with a Cannondale Trail SL2, 6'1 and it's a Large frame.

Riding my bike especially on road it feels like I'm pushing down on my bars with too much force and keep having to switch positions with my hands. I've upgraded the bars to wider ones but still get the above.

Anyone had this and did you solve it?

Herdwick

I had the same problem and what helped was a riser bar, basically the closest the bar height to saddle height the more relaxed it felt. But one thing, wider bars won't help as you lean more forward thus more pressure on your wrists, also check the positiononig of your controls

musclebeach

Thanks, I'll be honest I didn't buy the bars to help I bought they so they were just wider, I have them angled so they do come back towards me as much as they can without them looking weird on the bike.
Thinking that a shorter stem with a rise would help?

Jonesinamilion

Saddle tilted forward? This will push you towards the bars adding pressure constantly... Try levelling it out or even tilting it back a touch if it already appears level.

I've always ridden with micro bar ends as it offers alternative grip positions and (for me) helps on climbs.

musclebeach

I've had a look and unlike my last trek there's no way of tilting the seat back for what I can see....it tightens and just goes into one position anglewise from what I can see

rockmonkeysc

This is one of the reasons mountain bikes aren't good on road. Off road you move about on the bike a lot more so its not a problem.
Road bikes have bars which allow multiple positions so whether you get uncomfortable you can move your hands. On a mountain bike you're stuck in one position.

Jonesinamilion

musclebeach wrote:

I've had a look and unlike my last trek there's no way of tilting the seat back for what I can see....it tightens and just goes into one position anglewise from what I can see

Unusual; is there not two hex bolts (one front & one rear) that hold the saddle on the rails?

musclebeach

Just the one I think, I know I was a bit peeved when I saw that too! I'll have another look tomorrow when I can see the bike....

musclebeach

That's part of the problem as well I think, I feel like I'm leaning onto the bars rather than sat on the seat and a comfortable bar position....probably explains how my arse doesn't get numb anymore

cooldad

musclebeach wrote:

Just the one I think, I know I was a bit peeved when I saw that too! I'll have another look tomorrow when I can see the bike....

It will adjust.

JGTR

You can buy ergonomic grips that have a flatter profile, a few people I know use these because of similar problems.

Think they are called Ergon grips but most manufacturers do a version.

The Rookie

musclebeach wrote:

Just the one I think, I know I was a bit peeved when I saw that too! I'll have another look tomorrow when I can see the bike....

Loosen bolt, tilt saddle, tighten bolt.....most have a half circle supporting the saddle in a matching 'cup' on top of the post, that half circle section rotates.

musclebeach

Well I've had a look at the seatpost mechanism. It's a bit different, just had a front and back Allen bolt, the angle of the seat depends on how much the front and the rear ones are done up, undo the back one a bit and tightening the front one brings the nose down and vice Versa...will see how I get on with that thanks guys!

cooldad

Which is very common, and better than a single bolt.

musclebeach

This is only my second proper mountain bike and my first had a single bolt, see how it is tomorrow!

LimitedGarry

The less obvious culprit might be the height of the seatpost. Try lowering it a bit.

cooldad

LimitedGarry wrote:

The less obvious culprit might be the height of the seatpost. Try lowering it a bit.

Nope, the height of the seatpost depends on the length of your legs. Lowering it to try and take pressure off your wrists will likely explode your knees instead.

JBA

What angle are your brakes set at?
Your brake levers should be set so that your hands are in line with your forearms.
If they are too high, i.e. near horizontal, your hands will be bent upwards and a lot of pressure will be on your wrists.

The Rookie

Additionally what angle are the bars at, they will have some backsweep and some upsweep built into them, I find the best position is with the maximum sweep broadly up in line with my forearms, if I have them rolled back to maximise backsweep I get wrist ache.

musclebeach

Yes that's right they're sunn riser bars I think, and have them swept back a bit only how they're generally setup in shops etc...

Yes the brake levers are at the natural position so they're in line with my forearms.
As a few said I can't lower my seat as then my legs aren't getting full power and it'll hurt... I reckon it'll be probably that I'm a bit too big for that frame.... it's an L but just feels like the geometry is more race than comfort/freeride....think I've just convinced myself I need a new bike basically haha!

ali69er

Also you could explore a stem with a rise. I now have to wear a wrist support to ride having damage one of the joints in my wrist. I went for that and big of grips.

Crazyjenkins01

Sorry, I'm getting lost!
Lot of knowledgeable guys around here who would be able to give you infinitely better help if you uploaded a pic of the bike as a whole and one of just the cockpit.

jds_1981

On my mtb I felt something similar, pain around wrists.
I reduced somewhat by rotating the bars up a bit, getting the brakes and shifters more in line with my hand angle, and moving the grips in a bit - basically for normal riding the grips were so far apart they caused my wrists to be at funny angles.
Still a bit painful for road riding, but when used as a mountain bike, as RockMonkeySC said, I don't have the same problem.

LimitedGarry

cooldad wrote:

Nope, the height of the seatpost depends on the length of your legs. Lowering it to try and take pressure off your wrists will likely explode your knees instead.

There is always tolerance for the seat post height. When I'm mounting the rear rack for camping rides, I need to put my seat about a cm higher and while it doesn't really affect my riding, it does put noticeable pressure on my wrists. That's despite having ergonomic grips.

cooldad

Er um, ok. So why is that different to what I said?

LimitedGarry

cooldad wrote:

Er um, ok. So why is that different to what I said?

Not really different. All I'm saying the seat may have been higher than it needs to be.

cooldad

That is determined by legs, not pressure on wrists.

LimitedGarry

cooldad wrote:

That is determined by legs, not pressure on wrists.

Yet some people put their seats higher than they need to (actually, lots of them). Not arguing against your point.

LimitedGarry

LimitedGarry wrote:

cooldad wrote:

That is determined by legs, not pressure on wrists.

I'm not arguing against that. Yet some people put their seats higher than they need to (actually, lots of them). If putting up the stem higher or seat lower (or adjusting it in any other way) doesn't help, then it's down to wrong frame size, implications of which are unpleasant to say the least.

kajjal

Too much pressure on the wrists normally means your weight is too much over the front wheel. Be careful with saddle position as it is purely to get your legs in the right position.

Likely causes :-

Injury
Bars too low / far away.
Saddle too far foward on rails. (Look up KOPS to help get this about right)
Saddle angled forward, find a flat surface and check with a spirit level. (Try this on a slope and you get a crazy position)

musclebeach

Wow this post has had some attention hasn't it, I will get a picture of the cockpit so to speak haha