Arm and hand ache on new bike

tobciocc · July 2008

Hi

I'm a recent convert to mountain biking having spent 10 years as a roadie, just bought a Specialized Rockhopper. Basically my arms are really painful after about 2 hours, do I need a flat bar or bar ends, the bars on the bike rise up a fair bit.

ride_whenever · July 2008

can you hold your upper body in place without using your arms, if you get what i mean. If not then you are over-reaching. Also which parts of your hands are you using on the grips? Could be you need fatter grips to fit your hands better or something like ergon grips/barends which people swear by

Bikerbaboon · July 2008

are you using riser bars (ones that bend up towards you ) if you are then set them to come up along the same line as your arms.
i did this and it cleared up my hand ache that i would get after a ride.

tobciocc · July 2008

Yes they do rise up and it does feel a little odd I have to say, they are the standard specialized bars. I can't quite work out how I can move them in the way you describe as the raised profile won't change ... hmmm I'll have to check that

grantway · July 2008

I agree with Ride whenever try a pair of OD 's

realnumber 1 · July 2008

Are you using a decent pair of gloves?

shin0r · July 2008

Could be compression of the ulnar nerve; I had this. The solution was to install thick grips (race face good/evil) and wear padded gloves (the Body Geometry ones are very good).

Also I changed the angle of my brake and gear levers to about 45 degrees with the intention of having a straight arm when braking; this seemed to help.

http://orthoinfo.org/topic.cfm?topic=A0 ... urn_link=0

tobciocc · July 2008

Well I was thinking about trying a flat bar to change the angle and see how that felt, on another forum people seemed to think this was a bit naff. I don't really understand that as it means your hands surely rest on the bars in a more natural way, what does anybody else think?

ride_whenever · July 2008

if you have a straight bar then your wrist will be bent unless you have your hands exactly shoulder width apart, with risers you can get more backsweep which produces a more natural line through the wrist.

andrewjoseph · July 2008

tobciocc wrote:

Yes they do rise up and it does feel a little odd I have to say, they are the standard specialized bars. I can't quite work out how I can move them in the way you describe as the raised profile won't change ... hmmm I'll have to check that

Loosen the bolts on the stem cap, rotate the bars forwards or backwards slightly, ride bike. this can pull in the bars nearer to you or push then further away. Find the best position, if this is still a problem, try a shorter stem.

A new stem is cheaper and easier to fit than new bars and may be all you need.

Also try different grips, thicker/softer/thinner. this is a really cheap 'upgrade' that can work wonders, as can good gloves.

As has been said, try to get the brake levers in line with your forearms 'when in the braking position' i.e. when braking hard standing on the pedals with your bum behind the saddle. That's when you need your brakes to be most effective.

DoctorBobrick · August 2008

You'll just get used to it really, if you've just come over from the dark side then your arms won't be used to the constant hammering of rocks and roots

Arm and hand ache on new bike

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