Road bike fitting question

[Andrepaul]

Hello,
After short/medium rides (20 miles) I've been experiencing some hand pain exactly where the brake handles fit against my hands and I'd like to know if there are some general "fitting" rules when adjusting a bike to a person's body. I'd like to understand information about correct saddle, handlebar, stem adjustments if possible. I'm really enjoying getting back into cycling but I need to reduce some of the pain if possible.
Thanks
Andre

[artmichalek]

In general, raising/shortening the stem or switching to a bike with a shorter top tube will shift some of the weight off of your hands. There are a few things to try first though. 1) Experiment with a few different types of cycling gloves. 2) Move your hands around on the bars. A lot of times the pain is caused not by the load so much as having your hands in the same possition for the whole ride. 3) It's also possible that the brake hoods just don't fit your hands well. You might want to try stuffing some pieces of bar tape or tire tread under the rubber parts to bulk it up to fit your hands a bit better.