Sore hand between thumb and fingers??

[greasy reas]

Im only new to trials on my 2nd week, im riding a mod rhino raceline trials bike, I have found that after riding for about 1 hour i struggle to pull the brakes in due to it pain between my thumb and fingers where you hold onto the bar, Is this to do with reaching to far to reach the brake lever? does this occur if you lever is to far from your hands or is this just a beginner thing(as lack of smoothness)?

I have scrooed the scew in all the way that makes the levers as close as possiable to my hand but the levers are still quite a distance away.
Would it be worth finding some smaller levers for the bike and giving it ago?
Im running V brakes

 

[Grip]

Yes you want the levers in as close as possible to the bars. If you're riding ANY sort of real trials stuff you need your finger/s on the brakes ALL the time... you should never have to actually reach for the lever... your fingers should just be there.

Your pain is most likely due to a combination of the bar and lever position... especially if you're new to riding mods (although the Rhino isn't a particularly "long" frame compared to UCI specific frames). Try playing around with bar position. You want it set up in a way that doesn't have you leaning so far forward onto the bars that you can feel the pressure in your palms. You're looking for a neutral position.

 

[gbowen444]

Is it just a skin/blister problem or is it a muscle soreness? Do you wear gloves? Also what finger do you use? You should have your index finger on the lever all the time and the other 3 gripping the bar.

I would suggest if you have only been riding a week you may just not be used to riding trials and it will improve but try adjusting you bar/lever position to see if it helps. If the brakes are still too far out at maximum adjustment then maybe some new levers are in order.

I have been riding for over a year and I still get sore hands (skin/blister/callus not muscle) if I ride for more than a couple of hours.

 

[starship303]

So you mean "sore" as in pain, as opposed to "saw" as in the rotating cutting off fingers kind (you may want to amend that in your title).

Anyway how is your weight distribution? Too much weight on the hands? Harsh front wheel landings?

The part of the hand you are refering to is where a lot of your forward body weight is transfered into the bars. It could be a combination of your riding style, bar position, weight distribution or even gloves. I find low speed technical style riding like trials is super harsh on hands...it may just be that your hands still aren't coping with the rigours of trials riding. It will definitely take longer than two weeks for them to adjust. Make sure you give them some time to recover.

Cheers,

 

[---Matt---]

The first trials bike I rode for more than 10 mins gave me really sore hands. So bad that after 1hr I couldn't pull the brake lever It was an Onza T-Raptor 26" (Same as a Rhino 26") and it almost put me off buying a trials bike. However my current bike, while it is longer in the top tube, doesn't give me anywhere near as sore hands. I'd say what you're getting, along with the lever position, is mostly caused by your handle bars. I'd strongly reccomend trying different bars or just try a mates bike if you know anyone who has one to see if it helps. I'd say you'll probably be able to feel the difference straight away.

 

[greasy reas]

Im going to chase up some brake lever off friends and play around with them.
I have been riding with gloves, as alot of my riding is on concrete and from dh riding couldnt ride with out them.
The bars that are on the bike is 700mm wide, think they are monty brand and the stem is about 100mm long. Do you recommend thinner bars?
I do hold the brake levers with two fingers and leave them over the brakes the hole time, so you guys reccomend only sticking one on each lever? ill train myself to do it.
Dont have friends bikes as the other guys are doing it on the off road unicycles.
IM following the art of trails dvd and i can do all of phase one comfortably as iv been mtb riding for several years and alot of the moves are essiential in mountain biking.
Gee i tell you what giving them time to recover dont know about that im so hooked into the bike and trying new lines, and trying to get up high tables,chairs and rocks. I work by the sayings "go hard or go home" and "no pain no gain"

Cheers for all of the feed back!!!!!

 

[jda]

710mm wide bars is the minimum I would use, wider the better.

You should only use one finger for braking, if you feel you need two then your brakes are either not set up correctly or you need to upgrade the pads or the whole brake, what brakes are they? & which pads?

You will build strength in your hands with time and some good calluses, I get sore hands too if I don't ride for a while.