Bike fit - pain in hands

skyric

Hello,

I'm a very novice rider who over the last two months has been ramping up my activity in terms of both duration and intensity and I'm finding that pretty much my entire hands, especially the joints are starting to hurt more and more. It's almost certainly because I'm putting too much weight on my hands but I'm not really sure what I can do to remedy that.

I've tried multiple things, mostly around padding (bought some gloves) and I've made attempts to sit upright more where I find I'm not falling onto the bars so much. I've also purchased an adjustable stem and I've even tilted the bike seat back so it throws me more onto the back part of the seat. At this point the bars are very high and the seat is tilted noticeably far back...it all looks pretty ridiculous and is a reminder that I'm doing something wrong. However, if I try to measure my inseam, drop a plumb bob and otherwise get things in a more recommended setup...I'm right back on the handlebars with my hands hurting after a ride.

Does anyone have any possible tips? I know I can get a fit at a local shop but they charge a considerable amount if I'm not purchasing a rather expensive new bike.

Thanks very much!

rafletcher

Core strength exercises, you need to be able to support your weight using your back muscles, not lean on your hands.

sungod

forget measuring and plumb bobs, that sort of method is no use

tilting the saddle is typically a bad idea, keep it flat

start from the beginning and get the saddle height and position right, steve hogg's method is pretty straightforward...
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bi ... can-it-be/
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bi ... oad-bikes/

once you get the saddle height and position where you need it, you can move on to the bar height/reach (see same website), aa you've an adjustable stem it will make it a bit simpler to experiment

as above, lack of core strength may be why you are leaning, so address that in parallel

bear in mind it takes time to get used to riding

manglier

+1 for the Steve Hogg method of balance. I had a bike fit done using Retül but was not able to to ride no-hands afterwards. Since adopting Steve's method I moved the saddle back (a long way) and hey presto! no hands riding again. Plus it also makes the handling a little better, feeling more planted on fast descents.

kajjal

As above get the saddle height and position right first. When I accidentally put the saddle too high due to being tense on the bike and over stretching to the pedals I was getting minor back and chest pains. Corrected it and back to normal very quickly.

Once you have saddle right see where your hands naturally fall and start from there with the bar position. It is really down to personal preference and how your body feels. A common mistake is too much reach to the bars meaning you ride looking like superman, far too stretched out. This means you can’t naturally drop into the drops and sometimes the hoods.