Numb hands on longer rides

Liam.2109
Liam.2109 Posts: 12
edited July 2018 in Road beginners
I have recently got a new road bike but I’ve found on longer rides my hands are going numb, any thoughts on how I can prevent this? I’ve just tried moving the saddle back and have concdisred adjusting the Hieght of the stem but not for if this will help or make it worse.

Comments

  • kingrollo
    kingrollo Posts: 3,198
    most likely a bike fit problem - you can use the online guides or take it somewhere for a pro bike fit.

    Don't expect an immediate fix as you may have already inflamed your hand so it acts up quicker.
  • joey54321
    joey54321 Posts: 1,297
    Check the angle of the saddle too, pointed down and it'll mean your hands take more weight.

    When you say have a new road bike, do you have an old one that you were comfortable on?
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,325
    Normal...

    My little fingers are still numb 3 weeks after doing the Bryan Chapman Memorial 600 km. Nerves tend to get damaged and sometimes it can take ages for them to heal.

    Best solution is to fit tri-bars and use them every few km
    left the forum March 2023
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    edited June 2018
    joey54321 wrote:
    Check the angle of the saddle too, pointed down and it'll mean your hands take more weight.

    When you say have a new road bike, do you have an old one that you were comfortable on?


    Yea I have an old rode bike and I didn’t have this problem with that bike, the saddle on my new bike is currently level.
  • milemuncher1
    milemuncher1 Posts: 1,472
    Move your hands about on the bars and try not to ‘flop’ on the hoods too much. The more you ride, the better your core strength will get, and the less pressure you’ll put through your hands.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    Try riding no handed for for short periods. Relax on the bike, elbows bent loose grip.
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    Milemuncher1 wrote:
    Move your hands about on the bars and try not to ‘flop’ on the hoods too much. The more you ride, the better your core strength will get, and the less pressure you’ll put through your hands.


    Thank you I’ll give that a try next time I ride
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    kingrollo wrote:
    most likely a bike fit problem - you can use the online guides or take it somewhere for a pro bike fit.

    Don't expect an immediate fix as you may have already inflamed your hand so it acts up quicker.

    Thank you
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    darkhairedlord wrote:
    Try riding no handed for for short periods. Relax on the bike, elbows bent loose grip.

    Thank you
  • cycleclinic
    cycleclinic Posts: 6,865
    What tyre pressures. In fact tyres can make a difference. I get numbness on some bike but not other s. I don't get numbness on tubeless tyres but I do with continue tubs.
    http://www.thecycleclinic.co.uk -wheel building and other stuff.
  • akh
    akh Posts: 206
    It could well be down to the bike. On my aluminium Canyon I used to get numbness in my hands, but never on my carbon or steel bike. That's with the same wheels and tyres swapped between the bikes.

    I ended up getting some Fizik carbon bars in a sale, and that seemed to solve the problem. Although the feel was the same, there was presumably some reduction in the vibration. I'm sure someone will call BS, but I'm convinced. No amount of fit adjustments (within a sensible range) solved the problem with the aluminium bike, or induced the problem on the other bikes.

    Good luck.
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    thecycleclinic wrote:
    What tyre pressures. In fact tyres can make a difference. I get numbness on some bike but not other s. I don't get numbness on tubeless tyres but I do with continue tubs.


    Between 100-110 PSI I’ve currently got 700cX25 tyres on the bike
  • milemuncher1
    milemuncher1 Posts: 1,472
    Liam.2109 wrote:
    thecycleclinic wrote:
    What tyre pressures. In fact tyres can make a difference. I get numbness on some bike but not other s. I don't get numbness on tubeless tyres but I do with continue tubs.


    Between 100-110 PSI I’ve currently got 700cX25 tyres on the bike

    You can get away with 80-90 psi with 25mm tyres. That’s one of the advantages of wider tyres, you can run lower pressures without pinch flats, and get the advantage of increased comfort.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    It normally means there is too much weight on your hands or you are over stretching to the bars assuming you haven’t got any existing medical conditions. Roughly speaking your hands should be resting on the bars but not bearing any great weight.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    I use old bar tape under new from the hoodsback to half way to the top bend on my bars. If it bulges too much just run a strip along the top.
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    Milemuncher1 wrote:
    Liam.2109 wrote:
    thecycleclinic wrote:
    What tyre pressures. In fact tyres can make a difference. I get numbness on some bike but not other s. I don't get numbness on tubeless tyres but I do with continue tubs.


    Between 100-110 PSI I’ve currently got 700cX25 tyres on the bike

    You can get away with 80-90 psi with 25mm tyres. That’s one of the advantages of wider tyres, you can run lower pressures without pinch flats, and get the advantage of increased comfort.

    Thank you I’ll give that a try aswell
  • Andymaxy
    Andymaxy Posts: 197
    1. Your core isn't strong enough yet, so a lot of pressure are on your hands.

    2. Fit problem

    3. Your bike overall/bars are bad at vibration abosrbtion

    I think a carbon handlebar is a big improvement over metal bars strictly in terms of comfort(in my own experience at least), but it may or may not help your problem.
  • Wizzybit
    Wizzybit Posts: 8
    Andymaxy wrote:
    1. Your core isn't strong enough yet, so a lot of pressure are on your hands.

    2. Fit problem

    I'd agree with this, i used to get the same problem when i first started biking.

    I'd get somebody to check your position on the bike first, and then just give it some time to build up your core and just get used to it basically.

    When your core is strong enough your hands should just be lightly resting on the bars, just for steering as already mentioned, the fitter and stronger you get your core, the lower you'll be able to get while still putting out the same power again lightly resting your hands.

    You can try core exercises, planks etc, but nothing beats saddle time
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    Wizzybit wrote:
    Andymaxy wrote:
    1. Your core isn't strong enough yet, so a lot of pressure are on your hands.

    2. Fit problem

    I'd agree with this, i used to get the same problem when i first started biking.

    I'd get somebody to check your position on the bike first, and then just give it some time to build up your core and just get used to it basically.

    When your core is strong enough your hands should just be lightly resting on the bars, just for steering as already mentioned, the fitter and stronger you get your core, the lower you'll be able to get while still putting out the same power again lightly resting your hands.

    You can try core exercises, planks etc, but nothing beats saddle time

    Thank you, I’ll work on my core strength and hopefully that resolves the issue
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    Andymaxy wrote:
    1. Your core isn't strong enough yet, so a lot of pressure are on your hands.

    2. Fit problem

    3. Your bike overall/bars are bad at vibration abosrbtion

    I think a carbon handlebar is a big improvement over metal bars strictly in terms of comfort(in my own experience at least), but it may or may not help your problem.

    Thank you I’ll look into getting some carbon handlebars
  • Plantpowered89
    Plantpowered89 Posts: 10
    As a new road cyclist myself I had this problem. For me it was getting used to the proper form for road cycling. Keeping the elbows bent and weight off the hands. At first I was definitely holding on to tight. Now that I’m used to the bike and grip it a lot more relaxed it’s helped a ton. Core workouts to build core strength will help a ton! Every few miles I’ll move my grip position for a few minutes just to keep movement. These things worked for me. Hope it helps!
  • milemuncher1
    milemuncher1 Posts: 1,472
    Plantpowered89 wrote:
    As a new road cyclist myself I had this problem. For me it was getting used to the proper form for road cycling. Keeping the elbows bent and weight off the hands. At first I was definitely holding on to tight. Now that I’m used to the bike and grip it a lot more relaxed it’s helped a ton. Core workouts to build core strength will help a ton! Every few miles I’ll move my grip position for a few minutes just to keep movement. These things worked for me. Hope it helps!

    Very true. If you just rest your hands on top of the hoods as much as possible, and avoid the natural instinct to grab the bars hard, when climbing for example, and move your hands about a bit, you won’t get the numb hand problem. When you get confident enough, and your bike balance / core strength is developed enough, you can quite easily ride with the hands clear of the bars, which means you can sit upright as well, and this gives your core / back, a bit of a breather too.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,490
    One of the older generation of climbers (Bahamontes?) said that you need to be relaxed when climbing with your legs doing all the work. You should be able to have your hands like a concert pianist. Too many people fight the climb instead of gliding up.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    Plantpowered89 wrote:
    As a new road cyclist myself I had this problem. For me it was getting used to the proper form for road cycling. Keeping the elbows bent and weight off the hands. At first I was definitely holding on to tight. Now that I’m used to the bike and grip it a lot more relaxed it’s helped a ton. Core workouts to build core strength will help a ton! Every few miles I’ll move my grip position for a few minutes just to keep movement. These things worked for me. Hope it helps!

    Thank you
  • milemuncher1
    milemuncher1 Posts: 1,472
    PBlakeney wrote:
    One of the older generation of climbers (Bahamontes?) said that you need to be relaxed when climbing with your legs doing all the work. You should be able to have your hands like a concert pianist. Too many people fight the climb instead of gliding up.

    Precisely. You want to avoid any extraneous demands from muscles, whilst climbing, so ‘death gripping’ the bars, and tensing up the body / hunching the shoulders ( which are natural reactions to the exertions of climbing) will lead to you becoming exhausted / out of breath, far earlier, than you should. Relax everything, keep the shoulders down, only work with the legs, it makes it a whole lot easier.
  • Liam.2109
    Liam.2109 Posts: 12
    Kajjal wrote:
    It normally means there is too much weight on your hands or you are over stretching to the bars assuming you haven’t got any existing medical conditions. Roughly speaking your hands should be resting on the bars but not bearing any great weight.

    Thank you
  • Alfa a
    Alfa a Posts: 12
    I had this and changed my stem length after a work mate suggested to do so as i was a little stretched and putting weight on my hands. Definitely helped me, maybe worth a go

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