Road Bike, Cycling Forums banner

Sore Hands-- Hand Position

1K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  Peanya 
#1 ·
I haven't seen any posts about which part of your hand you are supposed to rest on when you are on the hoods. Is it on the two bones by your palm? If this is the case, then the theory of having your wrists fairly straight won't work. The problem is that I've been wresting on the outsides of my hands, but I feel like I'm smashing nerves in there and it's sore. My hoods are angled just slightly down. If anyone can help, that would be great! Thanks!
 
#2 ·
The reality....whatever feels comfortable.

I use multiple hand positions while on the hoods. Sometimes I have my hands wrapped around the hoods, sometimes I have my palms resting against the bulge on the top of my Shimano shifters and sometimes I have my hands wrapped around the bulge on the top of the Shimano shifters.

However, I actually spend the vast majority of the time in my drops.

If your hoods are slightly angled down try playing with their position. Try leveling them or angle them slightly up...this seems to help a lot with numb or sore hands. Worst case scenario...use all the different positions your bars provide and move positions every 5 minutes or so. This way your hands get lots of different pressure points and it changes all the time. So alternate from your hoods to your drops to your bar tops, etc...
 
#4 ·
kawarider said:
Hmmm.. so no magic cure. Thanks for the suggestions! :)
Unfortunately....No.

The best thing you can do is play with rotating your bar and play with where the hoods/shifters are until you find a comfortable set up.

Aside from that, it's moving around on the bars a lot using different positions to relieve pressure on your hands.

If the soreness was coming from a rough ride....you would have options. In this case, you could try lower tire pressures, bigger tires, carbon bars/stems, etc...but if it's just from positioning all you can do is try and change the position and move around more.
 
#5 ·
If you're not wearing gloves you might want to try that. There are many different types from unpadded, padded, gel padded, etc. I don't like riding without them. In addition to providing some padding & vibration dampening, they also offer some protection in a crash, and a velour type pad on the top on which to wipe your nose.
 
#6 ·
kawarider said:
I haven't seen any posts about which part of your hand you are supposed to rest on when you are on the hoods. Is it on the two bones by your palm? If this is the case, then the theory of having your wrists fairly straight won't work. The problem is that I've been wresting on the outsides of my hands, but I feel like I'm smashing nerves in there and it's sore. My hoods are angled just slightly down. If anyone can help, that would be great! Thanks!
I recently brought a non-cycling friend along on a ride and she complained about the same thing. She said that her hands were really hurting her and that she was having some numbness. Now, you do have a nerve that runs through your hand and if you're putting a lot of pressure on your palms, that might be where your "smashed nerve" feeling is coming from. That can also cause some numbness. Some of the things I suggested to my friend was 1) that she borrow my gloves for extra padding and 2) that she not lock her elbows up. If you are riding with your elbows locked straight, trying bending them slightly and easing up on how much weight you place on your hands. Try holding yourself up more with your stomach and back muscles so that you can just rest your hands on the bars instead of holding them in a death grip. You might also have some luck adjusting your bars, as others have suggested.
 
#8 ·
There are three positions I rest my hands other than the drops. I switch as soon as I remember. No more pain.
When cruising with no gear shifts I grab the horizontal part of the bar. I often put my hands on the hoods when I am shifting frequently or braking frequently. Then I move my hands to the bent area between the hoods and the horizontal area.
 
#9 ·
If your hands are sore, a good chance exists that

You have too much drop for the condition of your core (stomach muscles), or your saddle nose is tilting downward or your bars are rotated in the wrong direction or a combination of all of the above. Bottom line is too much pressure on your hands and correcting a combination of those factors mentioned should bring relieve.
 
#10 ·
I don't know how long you've been cycling but I just got my road bike last month and it took me a few miles to get my hands toughened up. Initially they were getting tired within the first 5 miles and i was sore afterwards but now I'm able to put on the miles with little thought on how my hands feel. its almost as natural as a flat bar. I also posted a question on here about tired hands with some good suggestions as well..

good luck. it sucks wanting to ride and being uncomfortable.
 
#11 ·
This comes up so frequently in here... I almost think there should be an FAQ or sticky thread.

One thing I noticed for myself, I had a stem that was too long. Part of my problem is core muscles (working on that) but part of it is body geometry. I have a long torso, and short arms. So I'm normally leaning too far forward anyway, and dumping a lot of weight on my hands. Shorter stem worked wonders.

Another thing... I'm debating the virtues of swapping to a different kind of bar.. something like a time trials bar. I do a lot of city riding, and I don't feel like I can brake as well when I'm on the hoods as I'd like. But the horned shape of the bar just looks a lot more comfortable to me. And if push comes to shove, I'm sure there's even a way to convert to a flat bar. I realize this may sound like blasphemy, people have been riding drop bars for years, blah blah... that doesn't mean they're for everyone. There's no sense damaging your hands just for the sake of looking cool in the eyes of a seriously elitist crowd.
 
#13 ·
After reading something from Sheldon Brown a few years ago, I moved my seat back about an inch and I immediately noticed that hands no longer got sore on long rides. It seems counter-intuitive that moving back away from the handle bars would work, but apparantly it actually results in less weight on the hands. In fact, when I am in the drops I barely have any weight on the hands and arms. Maybe just me.
 
#16 ·
uber-stupid said:
That makes sense in a way, which is very cool... but what does that say about the whole plumb bob thing during fitting?

Very interesting...
I think the plumb bob is a little overrated. I would look for a more comfortable saddle to handlebar position first. I've had hand soreness/tingling too, so I am going to work on my fit. If I cannot get it myself, then its time to take it in to the shop for a pro fitting.
 
#17 ·
Peanya said:
I think the plumb bob is a little overrated. I would look for a more comfortable saddle to handlebar position first. I've had hand soreness/tingling too, so I am going to work on my fit. If I cannot get it myself, then its time to take it in to the shop for a pro fitting.
I tried the teeter method of fitting. Where you keep pushing the saddle back until you can pull your hands off the drops without shifting your weight. I had to put in my FSA seatpost with some wicked setback and then still I couldn't get the seat back far enough.

I tried a couple of rides with it in this fully back position. My pedal stroke felt very disjointed, but my hands and shoulders did feel a little better. Does this mean I should try a longer stem?
 
#18 ·
I think you might be going the wrong way. Try moving it forward, or turning your stem over if it is facing down. Look at the bike fit thread in this section (it has a poll), and look at the video link where a woman gets fit at a sports medicine place. You'll see what I mean.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top