Pins and needles in hands.

[sarahale]

Today I experienced the above, I've never had it happen before and just wanted to know if any of you have had the same.

I went for a 35 mile ride on my road bike, around mile 15 it poured with rain and I got completely soaked. I kept cycling and as the rain stopped most my clothes dried and I felt quite a comfortable temperature again. As soon as the rain stopped I put on some gloves just to keep myself a bit warmer. The only part of me that felt cold the whole way home was my feet. Suddenly 5 miles from home I got intense numbness and pins and needles in both my hands, so bad I had to pull over and stop. Has anyone had this before? I'm assuming it was just because I was cold even though I didn't feel it.

It was a shock as I've been so cold on rides before I've been shivering and had forearms lock up but never this. I've been riding the bike for a couple of years and never experienced anything like this. Would like to prevent it happening again, thanks.

 

[2IT]

Today I experienced the above, I've never had it happen before and just wanted to know if any of you have had the same.

I went for a 35 mile ride on my road bike, around mile 15 it poured with rain and I got completely soaked. I kept cycling and as the rain stopped most my clothes dried and I felt quite a comfortable temperature again. As soon as the rain stopped I put on some gloves just to keep myself a bit warmer. The only part of me that felt cold the whole way home was my feet. Suddenly 5 miles from home I got intense numbness and pins and needles in both my hands, so bad I had to pull over and stop. Has anyone had this before? I'm assuming it was just because I was cold even though I didn't feel it.

It was a shock as I've been so cold on rides before I've been shivering and had forearms lock up but never this. I've been riding the bike for a couple of years and never experienced anything like this. Would like to prevent it happening again, thanks.

Googled hypothermia pins and needles. It's a symptom of hypothermia. It doesn't have to be freezing for it to happen. Glad you are ok.

 

[Globalti]

Drop your front tyre pressure by 5 or 10 lbs as well; that will help.

 

[raleighnut]

Caused by the warm blood getting back into your hands, the only cure is prevention. It is painful though

 

[Globalti]

Presumably your gloves have padded palms and your bars are broad with padded tape? If not, you could re-wrap them with Specialized Body Geometry tape, which comes with gel pads that go underneath. Specialized bikes also come with a useful plastic angle thingy that uses the under-tape cables to broaden the flat top of the bars:

 

[sarahale]

Drop your front tyre pressure by 5 or 10 lbs as well; that will help.

They are already on the minimum of 85 given I am small.

 

[Globalti]

Even 85 might be too hard, what tyres are they and have you experimented with lower pressures? A nice quality tyre with a high TPI count will ride smoother than a hard, wire bead commuter tyre.

 

[sarahale]

Caused by the warm blood getting back into your hands, the only cure is prevention. It is painful though

It's odd because I commute through winter so have had cold hands many times, nothing like that though! But I suppose I am more appropriately dressed for the cold then

 

[sarahale]

Presumably your gloves have padded palms and your bars are broad with padded tape? If not, you could re-wrap them with Specialized Body Geometry tape, which comes with gel pads that go underneath. Specialized bikes also come with a useful plastic angle thingy that uses the under-tape cables to broaden the flat top of the bars:

I don't wear padded gloves for rides of less than 60ish miles but never have. My bars have a really nice foam bar tape on which I find very comfortable.

 

[sarahale]

Even 85 might be too hard, what tyres are they and have you experimented with lower pressures? A nice quality tyre with a high TPI count will ride smoother than a hard, wire bead commuter tyre.

I have these but not the rigid ones. I fitted them about 5 weeks ago but have ridden every day without problem until yesterday http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-du...|pcrid|71714705462|pkw||pmt||prd|5360685267uk

 

[sarahale]

Googled hypothermia pins and needles. It's a symptom of hypothermia. It doesn't have to be freezing for it to happen. Glad you are ok.

I did think it would be to do with the cold, however not feeling cold apart from my toes it came as a huge shock. I will have to be more careful to dress for the weather and will get some padded gloves for everyday use too

 

[Crackle]

I've had this a few times but winter mountaineering not cycling. Perhaps vibration plays a part but I suspect you just got much colder than you thought and it's damn painful when the blood returns.

 

[Bazzer]

Had you been gripping the bar tighter than you might otherwise have been in order to maintain warmth? Or kept your hands on the same place on the bar. I sometimes get numb hands if I move them to the curve on the upper part of the drop and forget about them being there.

 

[sarahale]

Had you been gripping the bar tighter than you might otherwise have been in order to maintain warmth? Or kept your hands on the same place on the bar. I sometimes get numb hands if I move them to the curve on the upper part of the drop and forget about them being there.

I wasn't aware that I gripping tighter or awkwardly but something to watch out for if it happens again.

 

[Globalti]

I'd have thought that a lightweight tyre would suit a lightweight rider better. I've never used that Schwalbe Durano tyre but it looks quite stiff and heavy to me; I prefer to use a light, cotton sidewall tyre and run the slightly increased risk of punctures because the trade-off in comfort is worthwhile as I grow older and less flexible. My son, my cycling buddy and I all use Veloflex Open Corsas, which are reckoned to be one of the smoothest-riding tyres around. They ride with a magical smoothness at 90 - 95 lbs and the grip is absolutely amazing (I ground a chamfer on the outside of my pedal recently in an informal race, cornering hard) and although they are quite flimsy, lightweight tyres, I don't think we suffer punctures any more often than anybody else. It might be a different story if we commuted and needed reliability on glass-strewn surfaces though.

This is what we use; we get a pair for £26 each: http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/veloflex-corsa-folding-tyre-twinpack-veloflex/