Numb hands WHEN wearing gloves

[HorTs]

I've done a lot of searching for this but can only find help for recommendations for gloves to help numb hands when not wearing gloves. - does that make sense?

My hands are fine when no wearing gloves but numb/tingling after about 5 miles if I do wear gloves.

I've tried 2 types, some old ones with soft gel from Halfords, and some newer Specialised ones with firmer gel; I get the same results.

I would really like to waer gloves if only to save my palms if I go over.

Any ideas or recommendations?

 

[mcshroom]

What sort of bike are you on?

If your hands are ok when you don't have gloves on then maybe just try wearing normal hand warming gloves. The only reasons I think of for numbness caused by gloves are that they are either too tight or that they have gel pads in places on the hand that don't suit you.

I tend to cycle in gloves with just a chamois like palm and no padding at all.

Oh and of course, I am not a Doctor

 

[HorTs]

At the moment I'm riding a straight handle barred MTB on the road.

I don't think they are too tight and have tried them undone just in case it was pressure on the wrists.

I'll look into the chamois type, thanks.

 

[Zakalwe]

Do they fold and crease in wear, the hard ridges from gloves too big can hit pressure points. Obviously the only solution for you is a pair of £100 Rapha leather mitts. Sorry.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I changed to some Ergo GP1 grips (large palm support) when on flat bars and they helped a lot, maybe try a pair? You can get various styles with/without bar ends.

I don't have that option now as use butterfly bars, had to just try different styles till I found a comfy pair so my Mitts are Specialised BG Gel and Gloves are SportsDirect (trust me, they're comfy!)

 

[MacB]

Unfortunately it's one of those where what works for others is no guarantee. How you grip, the bars you use and the padding/grips will all have an impact. That's before you start factoring in the various types of padding offered by gloves.

For what it's worth I find that I only like padded mitts/gloves for drop bars and not too much padding, but I do add padding underneath the bar tape.

For flat bars I like ergo style grips, so somewhere to rest the heel of the hand and either no gloves or ones with no more than just a sort of leather pad(probably synthetic). I actually found that gel padded roadie style mitts gave me numb hands on my flat bars.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I have had similar issues (due to a long term left wrist injury (think 11 ops over 15 years to repair it)).
What usually works better for me is to shorten the stem and raise it slightly, so there is less pressure on your wrists and more on your ass. Add ergon grips GP1's and SJSC's own bar ends, along with full finger gloves. I avoided the short finger ones becuase my hand sizing is smack bang in between the sizes - get the ones that fit my palms and they are not noticeably too tight around the fingers until you start to ride and your fingers swell slightly - result finger ends going numb. Get the next size up and my hands move around way too much. for some reason, long fingered gloves don't give me as many issues.

I also changed the bars from flat bars to Thorns Comfort bars, only on my touring bike (I would have done on my mtb, but sold it to help pay for the touring bike). They are angled better for wrists and comfort (think they are designed by a physio) for touring and for me they made a considerable difference. My OH stayed with straight bars on our touring bike.

The difference all that made - well 2 weeks touring on a MTB left me with a numb left hand for about 6 months. 12 months touring on my touring bike using the same gloves, same grips and same raised & shortened stem has left no issues (except wearing out numerous pairs of gloves!).

Regretfully it is one of these try it out and see things. Start with the stem & grips if you know your gloves are OK. They are easy (if fiddley to replace). The SJSC bar ends, add an extra 'pad area' for the lower palm, leaving a gap between the Ergon GP1 grip and the SJSC bar end which is where I naturally found my hands - great because that is exactly where the nerves that cause my issue happen to be. I'll try to get a photo to make it clearer....

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

please click on image for larger view of my set up. It can easily be replicated on a MTB and I did have something similar, without the comfort handlebars.

My rather worn Ergon GP1 grips with SJSC's bar ends. (I needed the GP1 grips in small, my OH in large).


The Thorn Comfort Handlebars (overall view) with short/raised stem.


Worked well for me on 12 months of touring over nearly 14,000km (8,700 miles).