Sore wrists
 

Hello, I recently purchased a new Giant Fastroad SL1. It's a flatbar road bike. I'm coming from a hybrid. I'm finding that my wrists get sore and can't seem to get in a comfortable position. I've made adjustments to my seat and handle positions, but I'm still not right. I'll be heading to my LBS for a look next week, but I thought I'd throw it on the board to get your thoughts. What kind of adjustments should be explored to reduce the stress or improve the angle of my wrists? Thanks!

When changing handlebar type or bikes entirely, often it simply takes a bit of time to adjust to everything new e.g. body position.

First, you need to find a position of things that feels comfortable to you. Indeed, maybe your LBS can assist you.
One tip I can give you, is to change hand positions regularly. Padded gloves can help a little too.

And if all fails, you could consider a more relax handlebar type.

Look at the angle of your wrists. I find that my wrists and hands feel best in positions that have my thumbs forward and pinkies back. I find that hard to do on many straight handlebars. ( One of the another reason I will probably always ride dropped bars.) As I get older, I am finding I need to accentuate the thumbs forward which i do but rotating the drops and brake levers forward and down. Seems to me you could get the same effect riding "mustache" bars. I love using handlebars where I can vary the effect and fine tune it.

Ben

Bar ends have helped me more than anything on flat bar bikes. Just gives you some options to move around your hands.

I have these, they're amazing.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...61975bf631.jpg

pull, don't push

And sit more upright

Swapping to a higher rise bar once solved the problem for me. If you go that route, consider shortening the stem somewhat at the same time. In my case, the added 10 - 15 mm of rise (I don't remember how much, but it was surprisingly little) was enough to redistribute my weight such that a painful bike became an absolute pleasure to ride.

bar ends, get and use

For me, a swept back bar with some rollback works well. The bar basically slopes down and back and out as you go out to the end. True flat bars will kill my hands very quickly.

Or get drops, especially flared ones.

How does your position on the new bike differ from your old bike? (I'm assuming the old one was comfortable)

I, too, have pain in my wrists when riding the wrong bar. Flat bars, pull back bars, bar ends, none of them work. Road bars are the only thing that works for me. Riding on the curve behind the hoods or riding on the hoods bring relief when it gets bad. Test ride some bikes properly set up for you in the road range and you might discover the same thing holds true for you.

I have yet to enjoy any bike (except a cruiser) that I don't need to change both the bars and saddle out.

https://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bars/ or
https://www.jensonusa.com/Soma-Osprey-Bar or the likes

Flat bars of all kinds give me wrist pain. I need the multiple hand positions of a drop handlebar to get through any type of ride longer than ten miles.

While riding consciously engage your core and attempt to hold your body up. Keep wrists straight. Ergon grips (adjusted properly) help with this. You may also find tipping the saddle nose up a tiny bit helps. It'll take some weight off your hands.

It seems contrary, but I've found that overly padded gloves and/or grips can make things worse. The tendency when using them is to grip harder to get a secure feel, which limits blood flow.

This bike came with a flat bar that just killed my hands, but the arc bar puts my hands and wrists in a more natural and comfortable position.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...65894e3c70.jpg

I have the Ergon2 with small bar ends... made a world of difference for me....

I've ridden 100 mile centuries on flat bars with bar ends without any pain or discomfort. You just need to make some minor adjustments and get better hand grips and bar ends. Actually the main reason why I use bar ends is not for comfort but to get better leverage when climbing hills out if the saddle.

Yep. I had this same problem on a motorcycle some 35 years ago - wrist angle was all wrong for me, causing pain after even 20 miles/15 minutes or so. I bought new bars that fixed that issue. My road bikes have bars angled in such a way so both riding on the tops and drops are right for my 'fit'. It takes a while to dial in... What fit is right for me is probably not right for someone else...

All of my bikes have swept bars now, for this precise reason.

I bent my aluminum bars so the ends are swept back a little bit. They were too straight, hurting my wrists.
Also, cutting them a bit shorter might help, bringing your hands in a bit.

Other good suggestions in previous posts.