Hand pain

[Black knight]

Had my Boardman SC now coming up to a year. Still suffering extreme pain to my hands and considerable to my rump.

I've replaced the standard bar tape with some gel stuff. I usually wear thin gloves but after my last ride I took them off as it felt like my hands were going to blister.

Seat, I 'can do 50miles+ but I'm pretty sore afterwards. Using tight shorts with a pad in. Moved the seat forward ( as it feels a stretch to the bars) and tilted the front slightly higher.

I'm waiting until York cycle rally in June to pick up a seat but is there anything I can do in the meantime. Can the bars be raised?

I have reasonable tool kit but little knowledge of cycle mechanics. Any advice appreciated.

Rick.

 

[TVC]

Have you thought about taking it to your LBS and getting a proper fitting? They will determine if your bars are too low, the stem too long, or the saddle anatomically difficult. They will, I'm sure, be able to give you the parts you to fix the problem in exchange for a quick go with your credit card.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

What kind of pain is it? Numb outer fingers is caused by pressure on the ulna nerve and can be relieved by 1/gloves with good padding around the "mound of Venus" area of the hand and 2/ shanking out the offending hand every so often. Changing hand position on the bars is also a great help.

As for your saddle muscle having ensured your saddle is in the correct position in relation to the peddles the only thing to do is get some more padded shorts and tough it out until June.

 

[Black knight]

Thanks,

Not been to LBS as yet, happy to pay for comfort but want to check if there are any easy (free) fixes I should be doing first.

Hands, yes a little bit of tingling in little finger but the main pain is at the base of my hand where my weight is on the bars. Just in the little dip between the muscle at the base of my thumb and the outer part of the hand, prob about an inch up from the wrist.

I do try different positions but I get pain from maybe 5 miles or so, by the time i'm finished my hands are in agony.

Thanks.

 

[aberal]

If it feels like a stretch to the bars, then it could be that your bike is too big for you. It sounds like you might be leaning forward too much and putting too much weight on your hands - you should be "balanced" on the bike. So a visit to the LBS to check fitting is a good idea. If you are properly set up and the bike a good fit, then regardless, the advice about getting properly padded mitts is good. Specialized do a good one, see here but obviously there are others around.

 

[Black knight]

That line in the middle, the bottom half of it is where I get the pain.

Just seems to be a lot of pressure on the bars. Not heard about thumb on outside before, will try that.


Doubt bike is too big, it's feels big but correct, (XL iirc) I am 6'1" and do have long arms


Thanks.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

This is just next to teh Mound of Venus. Good padded gloves will be an excellent place to start.

That line in the middle, the bottom half of it is where I get the pain.

Just seems to be a lot of pressure on the bars. Not heard about thumb on outside before, will try that.


Doubt bike is too big, it's feels big but correct, (XL iirc) I am 6'1" and do have long arms


Thanks.

 

[Apeman]

You could be suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome given that you have tingling in fingers and pains in that area of the hand. I had this several years ago and it was not pleasant. I went to the doctor who diagnosed CTS and then had to wait for the operation on both hands and was off work for 10 weeks but it was a complete success. Go get it checked out before it gets worse.

 

[cyberknight]

I always point people at this for basic fitting advice ...

http://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bikefit.html

Sounds to me like you really need to look at your basic set up or get the LBS to sort you out , i was suffering with chronic back pain till i moved the saddle down by a few mm and actually dropped the stem height by maybe 1.5 cm.

 

[zacklaws]

I used to get exactly the same pain, and found the solution in "Sheldon Browns" website, it was caused by riding on the top corners of drop bars where the bend is, now I just rest my hands on the straight part, on the hoods either in front or on top, or just on the straight part of the bar in front of the hoods. Frequently I will also just hook my middle finger over the front of the straight part with all the rest of my fingers behind, that way none of my palm is resting on the bars.

As for being uncomfortable on your saddle, are you constantly moving on it and also getting out of the saddle to ride to allow blood flow. I can easily do 100+ and have no problems riding like that, but this past two weeks I have been doing very steady rides to keep the heart rate down so no climbing steep hills or pushing hard stood up and mostly sat down and within just over two hours, I am in agony

 

[BentMikey]

<------------ The solution to both sore hands and bottom is thataway.

 

[Fran143]

<------------ The solution to both sore hands and bottom is thataway.

Not the cheapest of solutions tho BM.

 

[MacB]

You can sort it yourself but not always as cheap and easy as it may seem - to get an idea of starting point measurements then I find these two sites pretty good:-

http://www.prodigalchild.net/Bicycle6.htm
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO&INTRO_LINK=NOREDIR

The first gives you ideas around your height, footsize and inside leg, the second really needs a friend to help with the measurements and then gives a table of 3 fit setups. They are starting points and further tweaking may be required, personally I'd not assume anything until you've tried some variation, certainly not around saddles. The problem is all the bits interlink so each adjustment influences other parts, the order I'd follow would be:-

1. saddle - height, setback and tilt - height is the easiest for me to do, use the rough guide of leg straight when heel of shoe is on pedal extended to furthest point. Can be tweaked further, I like my saddle slightly lower than the highest point at which I can put it without my hips rocking while pedalling. Saddle setback is trickier as various amounts can feel fine for shorter distances, I've ended up using the middle part of the overall range suggested by the Competitive Cyclist table. Measuring setback is easy, stand bike with back wheel against a vertical wall and measure from wall to saddle nose and wall to BB centre, difference is setback. tilt I'd use a spirit level and set flat until all else has been tried.

2. once the saddle is approx where you believe it should be then look at reach/drop to bars and pay close attention to the angle of your wrists in your regular riding position. Also imagine try bending from the waist and you should find that your bum moves back as you bend forward. You want to try for balance around that pivot point, bars too close/high can be more uncomfortable than too far/low. With the bars too near/high I find that my upper body wants to be lower/further forward so I'm constantly forcing it upwards/backwards via hands and arms. It's possible to diagnose this as too much weight on hands and actually move bars even higher/closer when the reversewould alleviate the problem. For the tilt of the bars, and positioning of levers/hoods, it's more trial and error I'm afraid, with each other change again affecting this. My goal is to keep my wrist as natural as possible on the hoods, main ride position, and accept what that does for other ride positions.

It comes down to how much you want to learn, how willing you are to tinker and it can cost if you make errors and end up buying multiple stems, bars, saddles, etc. I like working it out for myself but I can see the attraction, and possible cost saving, of going for a proper bike fit.

 

[Black knight]

Thanks all,

Enquired about A 'fitting' at my LBS. They suggested twisting both the bars and the seat back a bit.

If I were to start spending, an 80mm stem was suggested as my next purchase.

Or a fitting service at £25... though as I understood it they just take the measurements and put them into a website, www.bikehut or something like that.


Didn't escape quite that easy, parted with £25 for a Gatorskin rear as they noticed some damage to my oe Ultra sport. Shame on me for not noticing.

30 miler planned for tonight so hopefully the adjustments he made will bear fruit.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Moving the seat rearwards is IMO is usually the best method to take the weight off your hands. Explained here:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

You may want a slightly shorter stem, or flip the one you have to get a different position for the bars - slightly closer to you or slightly higher. It's a simple enough job, a set of allen keys or a good multi-tool will easily get you sorted.