Handlebars

[wooster]

Thank you people. Having pondered this a bit more I can see the sense in not chucking money at more bars, especially without the experience to decide which direction it should be thrown!

I was coming to the conclusion that I'd put the stock bars back on and put a pair of ergonomic grips on them. I really do feel the current grips are not helping and whatever bars I get I will need to replace them.

I am considering the GP1 Ergon grips with maybe a pair of SQLabs 411 insiders. Total spend is £55 but I feel these would be something I'd want to use anyway.

Bear in mind that my main aim is to reduce pressure on my hands and wrists. I am inclined to believe the innerbarends or whatever they're called would give me a more upright, less aggressive position and achieve this. Good idea? Yea or nay?

PS. Can you buy the horns for the GP series separately and swap them around?

 

[freiston]

I have to confess to not reading your opening post carefully enough. If you are putting too much weight on the hands, this could be caused by "bike fit" rather than handlebar type. As strange as it might seem, setting the saddle back can take weight off the hands (but a change in seatpost extension might also be required in order to maintain the correct saddle height). The reason putting the saddle back can take weight off the hands is because it shifts the centre of gravity back, meaning less weight to support with the hands.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you've been off the bike a long time and your power & "core strength" will not be what what they were, meaning that you will not be able to support as much of that weight through the pedals - this is something that can improve with time.

There is an excellent guide to bike set-up written by a bloke who posts on a neighbouring forum - he's not a bike "fitter" but he does design frames for Spa Cycles (touring specialists). Here's a link to the guide. Your sort of bike is designed for a more upright (short reach) riding position than a drop-bar bike but, bearing that in mind, the principles are the same. Remember that "correct" saddle height is more accurately the correct saddle distance from the bottom bracket and in fact there is effectively an arc of "correct" saddle positions - set-back combined with reach to the bars determines your balancing point and centre of gravity - which determines the share of weight between saddle and handlebars. As seat tubes are angled & not 90° vertical, the more you raise the saddle, the more the set-back increases - so a combination of seatpost height and saddle rail position in the clamp will determine set-back.

 

[wooster]

Thank you very much for your detailed reply. I am discovering that achieving the quiet pleasure of cycling isnt always straightford.

I obviously need to get my set - up right and I will read the material you linked later today. My hand issues are long -standing though, going back to my early 30s and so might not be easy to resolve. I'm also considering getting wrist supports and gloves.

 

[wooster]

I have to confess to not reading your opening post carefully enough. If you are putting too much weight on the hands, this could be caused by "bike fit" rather than handlebar type. As strange as it might seem, setting the saddle back can take weight off the hands (but a change in seatpost extension might also be required in order to maintain the correct saddle height). The reason putting the saddle back can take weight off the hands is because it shifts the centre of gravity back, meaning less weight to support with the hands.

Another thing to bear in mind is that you've been off the bike a long time and your power & "core strength" will not be what what they were, meaning that you will not be able to support as much of that weight through the pedals - this is something that can improve with time.

There is an excellent guide to bike set-up written by a bloke who posts on a neighbouring forum - he's not a bike "fitter" but he does design frames for Spa Cycles (touring specialists). Here's a link to the guide. Your sort of bike is designed for a more upright (short reach) riding position than a drop-bar bike but, bearing that in mind, the principles are the same. Remember that "correct" saddle height is more accurately the correct saddle distance from the bottom bracket and in fact there is effectively an arc of "correct" saddle positions - set-back combined with reach to the bars determines your balancing point and centre of gravity - which determines the share of weight between saddle and handlebars. As seat tubes are angled & not 90° vertical, the more you raise the saddle, the more the set-back increases - so a combination of seatpost height and saddle rail position in the clamp will determine set-back.

Good link. Thank you. I had a read of it and then looked at my saddle height using the "leg straight with heel on the pedal as it's fully down technique" and I also had a bit of adjustment to the handlebars. I'm really not 100% happy with my wrist position on the swept-back ones I have on it and might go back to the stock bars. I also read that Ergon GC1s might solve this issue of angle.

After all this, I went for a 20-minute ride today. I found I could take a lot of weight off my hands: actually, they were applying virtually no pressure to the bars. I'm not sure if I could do this on a long ride or not. I am hoping this is me getting used to riding the bike but I am aware that it might mean I'm actually riding in a position which is too upright or using bad technique.

I saw a pair of the GC1s on sale for less than £20 so I ordered them. It didn't seem like a lot of money to potentially solve a problem. Anyway, I will try them and if they don't work will just sell them. I will give them a go and then perhaps try a pair of innerbarends or similar.

 

[freiston]

Very little weight on the hands in your preferred riding position sounds good to me.

 

[iandg]

I have polymyalgia rheumatica and associated shoulder/hip problems. I've converted to flat bars - On-one Geoffs on the Cross -Check and Velo Orange Crazy Bars on the LHT. The bars are level with the saddle and I use Ergon grips. Photos show GP1 but I have converted to GC1 which are more suited to swept back bars. The position allows me to sit more upright, taking weight off my shoulders, arms and lower back and helping me to continue cycling.

 

[gcogger]

The trick to being comfy on a bike is to spread your weight evenly across all contact points (bum, feet, hands) - if you have it right, nothing should hurt.

Very little weight on the hands in your preferred riding position sounds good to me.

I get confused by these discussions, as both of the above seem to be common advice. I'm not picking on those 2 specific posts - they're just examples, and I hear both statements frequently.

• There shouldn't be much weight on your hands - it indicates a problem with the riding position.
• The weight should be equally distributed between the 3 contact points (bum, feet, hands). That seems to me like a lot of weight on the hands.

???

 

[Oldhippy]

I would suggest going to a good cycle shop with your bike asking them to help set it up for comfort before messing about switching bars on and off when this might not be the actual problem. They will probably charge a small fee but it will be worth it I think.

 

[Reynard]

I get confused by these discussions, as both of the above seem to be common advice. I'm not picking on those 2 specific posts - they're just examples, and I hear both statements frequently.

• There shouldn't be much weight on your hands - it indicates a problem with the riding position.
• The weight should be equally distributed between the 3 contact points (bum, feet, hands). That seems to me like a lot of weight on the hands.

???

Well actually, your weight on a bike is distributed across six points - two feet, two hands and two ischial tuberosities aka sit bones. So really, the load on each is only a sixth of your body weight. Each contact point is relatively large, so that load is spread quite nicely.

We're used to the pull of gravity anyway, so we only feel that load when we're tired and less able to support it - on a bike, you'll feel that in the bits that hurt i.e. hands, feet & bum. If you're not balanced, some bits will hurt more than others and can become quite painful.

I'm (for the ease of maths) 54kg. So if that is spread evenly, that's 54/6 = 9kg per contact point. Which isn't much in the scheme of things.

Might sound rather maths-y, but it's the same principle behind being able to lie on a bed of nails without being punctured.

 

[DCBassman]

54kg

Jeepers, I'm no biggie, and struggling to get below 80 before the two major ops...
***must work harder***

 

[Reynard]

Jeepers, I'm no biggie, and struggling to get below 80 before the two major ops...
***must work harder***

Umm, I'm 4ft 11"

 

[wooster]

I would suggest going to a good cycle shop with your bike asking them to help set it up for comfort before messing about switching bars on and off when this might not be the actual problem. They will probably charge a small fee but it will be worth it I think.

The Bike Shop I bought it from fitted it for me, but it was pretty rudimentary I must confess. I wonder if it's worth going to a pro fit place?

 

[wooster]

I'm (for the ease of maths) 54kg. So if that is spread evenly, that's 54/6 = 9kg per contact point. Which isn't much in the scheme of things.

Might sound rather maths-y, but it's the same principle behind being able to lie on a bed of nails without being punctured.

I'm afraid I'm a little larger. I am 101kg /styles/default/xenforo/smls/ohmy.gif

If I have most of the weight on my bum and feet this should be all right though? I agree with @gcogger that it is a little confusing sometimes.

 

[Fredo76]

Once the bars are angled back more, rotation makes a bigger difference in effective wrist angle, and getting it right becomes more important. I would try different rotational positions on your angled bars before giving up on them. Pointing down slightly worked best for me to relieve a tendency towards numbness. It looks like you could get a bit of height difference with that adjustable-angle stem, too, but they will affect each other with regard to the resulting wrist angle. Deviating too much from flat bars on a suspension fork might not be a good idea on bumpy trails, however, dunno.

I haven't tried any bolt-on grips that give a bullhorn-like hand position, and I hadn't tried my Ergon grips for long before I tried a butterfly bar instead. It has solved the single grip position problem handily.

 

[CharleyFarley]

I bought a cruiser two years ago and didn't like the wide upswept bars so I put new bars on which were raised about three to four inches, four inches narrower, and swept back. Being a cruiser, and with the saddle as far forward as it would go, it was still a stretch to hold the bars, so I put an adjustable quill stem on it, and now the bars are right over the stem, itself. I could even bring them further back toward me if I wanted to. It's great, and well worth the price I paid, around $26. Of course, if you have a threadless steerer it won't work.