Hand issues on roadie

[Dozer]

Howdy folks, I'm getting a pretty common problem on my roadie, that being numbing and tingling hands after around twenty minutes of riding. I've done a fair bit of reading of other threads but it all relates to mountain bike bars, not road drop bars.
Here's my scenario:
-Giant Defy XL (58cm frame)
-I've run a shorter than standard stem in the aim of getting the bars closer to me.
-I've added a second layer of bar tape in the hope of cushioning a little more.
-My saddle is flat and I'm quite comfortable on the bike, my posture is comfortable and I can use all the controls easily.
-I don't wear gloves on my roadie but will when it gets colder.
I move my hands around on the bars a lot, every minute actually. I don't feel as though I'm leaning on my hands too much at all. It seems I get numb and the tingles happen in any scenario but the first time I felt it was when on the lower point of the drop bars. It now seems as though it is happening more frequently in any position.
Does anyone have any suggestions or tips to help out? I've tried adjusting my position of the bars, the seat height, the stem length and padded the bars more but nothing seems to be taking the effect away.

 

[Plankosaurus]

weird, completely the opposite to me. i get tingling fairly quickly on the MTB but can go for hours with barely a hint of it on the CX bike. you've covered all the bases i can think of other than gloves (and even then the double tape should take care of it). is it localized? i know theres a nerve on either side of the hand thats commonly compressed by cyclists, cant rememebr the names of them but one will see the middle to pinkie all numb and tingly and the other will take care of the pointer and thumb. i get issues with the middle to pinkie nerve and searched around till i found a set of gloves that protect that a little, it helps but moving around on the bars does a better job still.

possibly looking at it from the wrong angle though, it might not be compressing, might have something to do with joint angles and positions or something. do you bend your wrists or lock your elbows or anything?

 

[ForkinGreat]

..... i found a set of gloves that protect that a little, it helps but moving around on the bars does a better job still.

possibly looking at it from the wrong angle though, it might not be compressing, might have something to do with joint angles and positions or something. do you bend your wrists or lock your elbows or anything?

+1 on keeping elbows unlocked. If you are riding with your hands on the brake hoods or on the drops, your hands/forearms & upper arms will be in a different position to what you are used to on the MTB. - knuckles out vs knuckles up.

if stem can be flipped to get a bit more rise out of it, that can sometimes help. shorter stem not always better, IMO

Bike fit may be worth investigating. also worth asking on http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/index.php or other roadie-centric forums

 

[Cuthbert]

Where is getting numb - mainly in the little finger and down the outside of the hand? If so, this is pretty common, its a nerve thing caused by pressure at the base of the thumb. I suffer from this quite a bit and found once the sensation starts (mainly from riding on the hoods) it tends to persist despite changing areas of grip. Changing the angle of the hoods helped me, and also wearing gloves with a bit of gel padding in the palm. Using an ergo bar which is flat on the top can help too, as it dissipates the pressure over a larger area of the hand. But it still comes and goes though, and when riding on rougher roads its something I just have to put up with.

 

[mad greek]

Try a thinner bar wrap. You may find the thickness is causing grief on your hand position causing you to get tingles.

For what it's worth, I can't ride with thick tape for that exact reason.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Theo


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scblack]

I've had the same issue many times over the last five years I've had a roadie. I've tried gel gloves, moving hands, locking/unlocking arms, hard bar tape, soft bar tape, moving bars, different hand grip positions - all the above.

Nothing seems to work.

I reckon its just the relentless thrum through the bike sets some blockage off. For months I'll not have the issue, then it recurs every ride for a while.

To me its just something to work through, and can't seem to stop it.

 

[moorey]

Try riding a mans bike? :whistle:
Or, it might be a variation on what your mum said would happen if you did 'that thing' she caught you doing....

 

[SlowManiac]

Try angling this nose of your seat up a bit, this can help move your weight back a little

 

[Dozer]

do you bend your wrists or lock your elbows or anything?

My wrists are fairly firmly locked when holding the closest section of the bar for climbing etc, I may relax that a little.

Where is getting numb - mainly in the little finger and down the outside of the hand? If so, this is pretty common, its a nerve thing caused by pressure at the base of the thumb. I suffer from this quite a bit and found once the sensation starts (mainly from riding on the hoods) it tends to persist despite changing areas of grip. Changing the angle of the hoods helped me, and also wearing gloves with a bit of gel padding in the palm. Using an ergo bar which is flat on the top can help too, as it dissipates the pressure over a larger area of the hand. But it still comes and goes though, and when riding on rougher roads its something I just have to put up with.

It's coming through the ulnar nerve which is the one that runs below your pinky finger.

Try a thinner bar wrap. You may find the thickness is causing grief on your hand position causing you to get tingles.

I will try this, I'm hoping to get something similar to a mountain bike grip circumference and replicate that somehow. I'm also thinking gloves with the right gel padding will help but it may also have the same effect that the extra roll of bar tape has had.

I reckon its just the relentless thrum through the bike sets some blockage off. For months I'll not have the issue, then it recurs every ride for a while.

To me its just something to work through, and can't seem to stop it.

I tend to agree with this theory. I say that because it seems to get a lot more evident on a course type of surface or even a really rough surface.

Try angling this nose of your seat up a bit, this can help move your weight back a little

I'll try this too, a little bit may help.


I've also just read that the nerves in your hands connect back to the nerves in your shoulders. Like I said, I feel comfortable and quite relaxed all round but maybe I'm keeping my shoulders too tight and that is slowly transferring the forces to my hands?

 

[moorey]

Everyone gets a gernsey except me... out:

 

[Dozer]

Everyone gets a gernsey except me... out:

Just rehashing a terrible childhood memory for you mate.

 

[The Duckmeister]

Try playing with bar angle and perhaps even position of the shifters on the bar. Angle them so your wrist angle is as straight as possible.

 

[RB 24]

Had such a similar issue I was driven nuts with trying different things to do.

went to my physio to get my usual monthly rub down and mentioned my tingling like pins and needles in my fingers from extended time in the drops.

Luckily my physio rides and does bike fitting as part of their gig.

Brought the bike in and adjusted the roll of my bars as where I was tending to grab during a 50min crit was too low and down on the drops. Brought the bars around and adjusted the hoods to roll back so I was in the right roll of the dropped section. this unlocked so much pressure through my neck and left my arms unlocked in a rigid position. Now only time I get pins and needles is through road vibration after a duration of time. I also found just through racing that I tensed up too much when trying to make an effort or to stay on the rivet.

Hope that helps with the suggestion of rolling the bars and adjusting the hoods.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I'll plus one on the rolling of the bars which can set the brake hoods to function a bit like bar ends but it also sets the drops to point downwards which sets your wrists in a more natural alignment when in this position. The 'other' thing that has helped me is to use a short riser stem (I use a Zipp 80mm 17 degree) which has made the cross bike far better. The short riser brings the bars both in and up so that when on the flats I wasn't resting as hard on my hands and when on the drops I wasn't as body stressed and could stay there for longer which helps no end on the rough sections.

It's something I'll now have to do for the new grinder build after this morning's commute experience as I also had the ulnar nerve numbing up despite thick Lizard Skin DSP bar tape - I figure the stem is too long and at 6 degree +ve, too low. I can't hook my thumb easily around the brake hoods without reaching - I find they sit naturally about 20 mm back - same with the heel of my hands which sit on the flat rather than my fingers (which would be better).

The other advice you've already been given is something you also need to take into account and I think the 'be the suspension' idea of not locking your wrists, elbows and shoulders will help no end as well. I actually find it hard to do unconsciously - I often realise my positioning is actually locked at times and its an effort to fix.

 

[Matt C]

Try moving your saddle back a bit as well. This will stop you "falling" forward and putting too much weight on the bars.

 

[DMan]

I'm with RB. How old are you? It might be worth seeing a chiro. I had a lot of issues like that with numbness in my hands. Depending on your job if you do a lot of repetitive work with your hands/ arms, not like Moorey thinks unless your eyesight is failing too :whistle:, you might need some tweeking? She did an "alignment" on my elbows and I noticed the numbness was lessened. After a couple of times I'm much better. You can muck around with your bike all you want but if it's a body issue first then changing the bike around won't necessarily fix it.

 

[moorey]

Chiro's are witch doctors at best. If they do anything beneficial, they are doing something other than chiro :tsk:

 

[Dozer]

I'm with RB. How old are you? It might be worth seeing a chiro. I had a lot of issues like that with numbness in my hands. Depending on your job if you do a lot of repetitive work with your hands/ arms, not like Moorey thinks unless your eyesight is failing too :whistle:, you might need some tweeking? She did an "alignment" on my elbows and I noticed the numbness was lessened. After a couple of times I'm much better. You can muck around with your bike all you want but if it's a body issue first then changing the bike around won't necessarily fix it.

I see a chiro very regularly and have done for years. Luckily for me he's a rider as well and knows me outside of the trade. I'm very well aligned, even after having shoulder surgery and having whiplash corrected, I'm in good shape posture wise.
I'm going to shift the seat back and change my hood positioning, see how that goes.

 

[Dozer]

Chiro's are witch doctors at best. If they do anything beneficial, they are doing something other than chiro :tsk:

..............hmph, Hippy.

 

[DMan]

Another terrible childhood memory Moorey?