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In article <
[email protected]>, bbaka <
[email protected]> wrote:
>Ken wrote:
>> I just started riding a hardtailed mtb with flat bars and I have far more
>> pain while riding this bike than when riding a road bike, but I like the
>> wide bars and the more upright position of the flat bars. My thumbs go numb,
>> my left more than my right. I have tried with cycling gloves, without
>> cycling gloves. With my elbows kept low and bent, with them straight and
>> locked. With hands in several different positions, on the bars, on the end
>> bars. I am running out of ideas. There is only a couple of other things I
>> can think of to try. (1) new grips? The ones I have are the originals I
>> think, not to high quality. (2) raising the bars higher using a stem
>> extender that I have hanging around.
>>
>> Any suggestions?
_ The first thing to check is the angle of the seat. It may be
tipped to far forward so that you are forced to push yourself
off the bars. There are lot's of other positioning hints about
this problem here.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/pain.html#fingers
>>
>> Ken
>>
>That sounds like my experience with long trips on a MTB. If I can find a
>good stretch of road I just sit up and ride no hands for a while during
>which time I shake my hands to get some blood going again. Our road bike
>friends may have a point that more positions are better but I don't want
>to put those silly looking horns back on the bike. Some of my numbness
>comes from having a death grip on the bars on some of my off road stuff
>but I still get it when just pedaling down the asphalt. On the other end
>I have had to pedal fast then stand while coasting back down to get
>blood going there too, so maybe it is an individual thing. I normally
>have fairly cold hands and feet, according to my wife, so it may be
>genetic, who knows?
>I'm still going to ride, numb or not.
_ That's a really bad idea. You can do permanent damage to the
nerves in your hands. Numb hands are a warning sign that should
not be ignored. There are a few common causes, too much weight
on the hands, bad angles or overgripping too thick a
bar. Regardless, you need to figure it out and fix it ASAP. It
won't go away and it won't get better.
>
>BTW, you might want to try some of those way over padded bar grips if
>you can find them or make some so you won't be forced to wear gloves in
>the summer.
_ Over padding will probably make it worse not better. I would
suggest trying bar ends to get a different grip, narrower grips
and getting weight off the handlebars. Pay attention to how hard
you are gripping the bars, with a new bike in new situations you
make be gripping when you really don't need to. Bars with some
sweep angle to them will also help. You can get riser bars to
test with fairly cheap at places like
www.cambriabike.com
_ Lastly, you might try a pair of trekking bars. Nashbar sells
them dirt cheap and they work with all your current shifters
and levers.
www.nashbar.com
_ You can get a wide grip and upright position with drop bars,
most bikes just don't come that way out of the shop.
_ Booker C. Bense
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