First ride and hands are killing

jimmyboyb
jimmyboyb Posts: 28
edited December 2012 in Road beginners
Ive been a mountain bike rider for a while and just gone out for a new ride on my brand new road bike.

So first of all its brutal! Every single bump and hole really jars.

The main thing that got me was my hands hurting... now I know I will get used to this but a question please

When you have hold the bars on top of the levers do you rest on the fleshy bit under your thumb or on the other side of the hand under the little finger? Hope that makes sense?

Also do you put your weight down on your arms or try and hold yourself up using your back?

Comments

  • pauldavid
    pauldavid Posts: 392
    Pop some mtb bars on it, should be really comfy then
  • CarlosDSanchez
    CarlosDSanchez Posts: 455
    Both, I move my hands about quite a bit while I ride so they don't hurt to much. I have found using gel strips under the bar tape or even double wrapping the bar tape helps with comfort, especially if you're coming from flat bars as the drop bars will feel really small. Gloves with gel pads help with comfort as well, make sure you get road specific ones, I think that the pads are in a different place on mountain bike ones.
    - Also check the position of your brake levers, if they are to low or to high on the bars they will put extra strain on your hands and wrists.
    Dolan Preffisio
    2010 Cube Agree SL
  • elderone
    elderone Posts: 1,410
    Dont have a full answer for you,but in my personal experiance I don,t use the hoods at any time.I hold the bars where i feel comfy in any given situation.There is no hard and fast rules so just try what feels best at the time.
    Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
  • aleslie22
    aleslie22 Posts: 26
    For me the hoods rest on a line that starts between the thumb and forefinger and finishes just up from the bony bit at the bottom of the pinky side of your hand.
  • jimmyboyb
    jimmyboyb Posts: 28
    thanks...

    so a bit of trial and error and toughen up.

    will get some road gloves too.
  • FlacVest
    FlacVest Posts: 100
    http://lovelybike.blogspot.com/2012/06/ ... ction.html

    There you go.
  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    Normal hand position is on the hoods with the thumbs on the inside and the other fingers on the outside either pointing down or covering the brakes.

    Weight should be mainly on the backside with arms providing some support, not much. If you're putting a lot of weight through your amrs your wrists will start to ache quite quickly.
  • zx6man
    zx6man Posts: 1,092
    I had this going from MTB to road bike, but after a few outings it did ease up. I do still get it though for a brief bit if I have used the MTB for a few weeks then jump on the road bike.
  • Crawlinguphills
    Crawlinguphills Posts: 95
    jimmyboyb wrote:
    Ive been a mountain bike rider for a while and just gone out for a new ride on my brand new road bike.

    So first of all its brutal! Every single bump and hole really jars.

    The main thing that got me was my hands hurting... now I know I will get used to this but a question please

    When you have hold the bars on top of the levers do you rest on the fleshy bit under your thumb or on the other side of the hand under the little finger? Hope that makes sense?

    Also do you put your weight down on your arms or try and hold yourself up using your back?

    This was my biggest problem going from a mtb to a road bike. Get some gel gloves, but when riding find three positions that your are comfortable in and rotate them. ALOT. it does help trying to hold the weight off your arms more, but do it enough and your arms/hands toughen up.
  • Pituophis
    Pituophis Posts: 1,025
    Switching from mountain biking to road cycling recently, I bought a second hand bike, and didn't give enough thought to the correct sizing - I could throw my leg over the frame easy enough, and it was cheap! :oops:

    The trouble was it really made my hands ache, and by the end of every ride I had pins and needles :(
    When I weighed it up properly, the frame was too big for me, so as a quick fix I bought a shorter stem and a straight seat post (the original had a 20mm offset) this seemed to do the trick immediately. I think I was over stretching, and putting too much weight on my hands.

    Not saying that's your particular problem, but it may help someone :wink:

    (Oh, and being a tart, I've since replaced pretty much the whole bike! Expensive this cycling lark isn't it? :roll: )
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    Lots of trial and error or go and get a bike fit, if not already, your bike could be setup in a way that is putting too much weight through your arms.

    I ride an aggressive frame and have had to take a few measures to dampen out the issues; fitted Cinelli AVS gel pads, changed the bars, added a shorter stem and flipped it. Better forks, wheels and tyres might be next.. or a new frame..

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