Numb hands while riding

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Shelby35
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Numb hands while riding

Postby Shelby35 » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:52 pm

I have just started riding again after a number of years. I am only doing 20 kms at the moment but my hands are going numb should this pass or is there another issue i should look for.
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KGB
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby KGB » Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:46 am

Is your seat pointing nose down?

Assuming you're changing hand grip position, even slightly, on a regular basis you shouldnt get numb hands. A common cause is too much weight on your arms/hands which can be caused by a tilted seat constantly pushing you forward.

Give us some more details about the bike and you - style, size, setup/position etc.
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outnabike
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby outnabike » Tue Oct 14, 2014 10:39 am

Some good points above.
I dont' know what you work at, but some times its just a bit of time required to build up strength if you work in an office. :)
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Shelby35
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Shelby35 » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:00 pm

KGB wrote:Is your seat pointing nose down?

Assuming you're changing hand grip position, even slightly, on a regular basis you shouldnt get numb hands. A common cause is too much weight on your arms/hands which can be caused by a tilted seat constantly pushing you forward.

Give us some more details about the bike and you - style, size, setup/position etc.
The seat position is pretty level yer changing grip position seems to be right hand more than left.

Shelby35
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Shelby35 » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:02 pm

outnabike wrote:Some good points above.
I dont' know what you work at, but some times its just a bit of time required to build up strength if you work in an office. :)
No don't work in a office i am a chef. Have only been back on the bike for 5 weeks will give it some more time and see what happens.
Thanks
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Shelby35
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Shelby35 » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:06 pm

Bike is a new Giant Defy 1 med I'm 176cm tall

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RonK
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Numb hands while riding

Postby RonK » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:41 pm

Assuming you have been properly fitted to the new bike, some good road time should see your core strength improve and reduce the pressure on your hands, but core strength exercises would probably help too.
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Tim
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Tim » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:45 pm

Do you have work related carpal tunnel syndrome? Numb thumb, index and middle fingers?
I do and it seems that on-road vibration aggravates it. More so than weight on my hands.
I ride several different bikes. The least troublesome is my steel frame and forks touring bike with wide, lower pressured 35mm tyres. Very little road vibration is transferred to my hands and wrists. I have a thick layer of cork bar tape wrapped around the drop bars. I don't wear gloves on tour, often riding down in the drops and no problems.
The other bikes are a mix of carbon and aluminium frames, all fitted with 23-28mm, higher pressure tyres. One flat-bar bike provides an upright seated position with very little weight on my hands. It still causes numbness, even wearing gloves. I presume caused by vibration through the narrow harder tyres.
Regularly moving hand position, flexing and shaking my hands, padded gloves and bar tape, engaging core muscles and most importantly wider (25-28mm for road bikes) tyres helps a little bit, but not much. Try lowering the front wheel pressure to a lower but safe pressure.
Generally I just put up with it.

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BrisBoy
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby BrisBoy » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:09 pm

Yes to vibration, Tim. I've got an alluminium frame with carbon forks. I never used to get numb hands until I moved to the bush and now all the roads I ride on are very coarse chip causing lots of vibration and numbness. Haven't found a proper solution yet but mates with fancier all carbon frame/stem/bar setups have less trouble. I just move hands around a bit and occaisonally take one off and squeeze fist and release, squeeze and release until the numbness passes.
Good luck Shelby.

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wombatK
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby wombatK » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:17 pm

Try cycling with your hands held about 1 cm above the bars. If you fall forward onto the bars, then you've got too
much weight going forward - and that will give you numb hands. To fix this, you need to move the seat
position away from the handlebars. Best way is to move the seat back on its rails. If it's already at its
backward limit, you could try a longer headstem.
A good quality glove with gel inserts, gel handlebar tape or double-wrapped tape can also help relieve
the pressure on your hands.

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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby tcdev » Tue Oct 14, 2014 1:30 pm

I too suffer from numbness in my hands and sore wrists/elbows. Only been on the bike for ~700kms myself. I've just very recently come to the conclusion that my seat angle needs adjusting, as I've tried to put less weight on the handlebar but have not been successful in relieving the numbness. I'll probably do that immediately before my next ride, tomorrow morning weather-permitting.

In the past I had my seat raised to alleviate soreness in the front of my knees. That's abated, but now I experience some soreness on the top of my knees. I suspect I need to have the seat raised just a little higher.

Hopefully once these issues have been sorted I will have been 'fitted' by trial-and-error sufficiently to enjoy many more years of cycling.
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earlybird
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby earlybird » Tue Oct 14, 2014 2:25 pm

When I first started riding I had a bad habit of riding with hyper-flexed elbows, which increased the pressure on my hands. Focusing on riding with slightly bent elbows has decreased the frequency of numbness. I also notice a difference with tyre pressure.

Shelby35
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Shelby35 » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:27 pm

Thanks for everyones replys alot of good information and things to try. Will be taking the bike to get a service in a couple of weeks will talk to them about seat positioning.

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outnabike
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby outnabike » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:38 pm

When I went from the supplied Randonneur bars to drop bars I refitted the foam rubber grips. Sort of like pipe insulation. Excellent for stopping vibration I would say. But my bike has I think size 32 tyres so probably not a good test for vibration.
Just as a try, why not tape some foam temporarily on the bars for a trial? Go along it with black tape and no one but the whole forum will know you done it.... :)
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BaldPatch
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby BaldPatch » Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:57 pm

I fixed this problem by purchasing full fingered gloves with a Gel insert in the palms.
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KGB
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby KGB » Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:02 pm

earlybird wrote:When I first started riding I had a bad habit of riding with hyper-flexed elbows, which increased the pressure on my hands. Focusing on riding with slightly bent elbows has decreased the frequency of numbness. I also notice a difference with tyre pressure.
Are you trying to say you "locked" your elbows out? That's hyper extension. Hyper flexion would make it near impossible to remain on a bicycle without smashing your face or chest into the stem!
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earlybird
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby earlybird » Tue Oct 14, 2014 9:08 pm

Yeah that's correct, hyer extension.

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solmanic
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Numb hands while riding

Postby solmanic » Wed Oct 15, 2014 8:08 am

I started getting this problem when I increased my time on the bike from 1+hr rides to 2-3hr rides. Prior to this everything was fine. It turned out my neck was out. Longer periods bent over on the bike were straining my long-ish neck and that was causing some compression of the nerves coming down through the spinal chord. I had a couple of adjustments at the chiropractor and it has gone away. The advice I got was to check my position on the bike (ie check bike fit) and periodically sit up on the bike to give my neck a rest.

Shelby35
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Shelby35 » Fri Oct 17, 2014 9:08 am

Brought some gel gloves was heaps better still a little numb might have to do more klms.

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MattyK
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby MattyK » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:01 am

I'm keen to try out some Specialized Grail gloves. Seem to have some good theory and testing behind them to minimise contact pressure on the hands, and not obscenely expensive either.

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wombatK
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby wombatK » Fri Oct 17, 2014 10:32 am

Shelby35 wrote:Brought some gel gloves was heaps better still a little numb might have to do more klms.
Nerves don't toughen up with more wear ... they get even more aggravated. It's worth looking at the fit
issues (seat, headstem positions), as well as regularly varying your hand position while riding.
WombatK

Somebody has to do something, and it's just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us -Jerry Garcia

Shelby35
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Shelby35 » Fri Oct 17, 2014 11:13 am

wombatK wrote:
Shelby35 wrote:Brought some gel gloves was heaps better still a little numb might have to do more klms.
Nerves don't toughen up with more wear ... they get even more aggravated. It's worth looking at the fit
issues (seat, headstem positions), as well as regularly varying your hand position while riding.
Thanks will do

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clackers
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby clackers » Fri Oct 17, 2014 3:16 pm

Yep, go gel padded gloves at this stage (a fingerless pair too, for summer). They'll help with road vibrations, but of course a proper bike fit is needed if the real reason is your setup and body geometry putting too much weight through your arms.

Farmer Elvis
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby Farmer Elvis » Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:57 pm

I find that fingerless gloves can give me problems, they ride up and push on the v between the fingers

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kb
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Re: Numb hands while riding

Postby kb » Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:33 pm

Farmer Elvis wrote:I find that fingerless gloves can give me problems, they ride up and push on the v between the fingers
Huh. This happened to me for the first time today. Pretty bumpy section and lots of descending probably contributed.
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