Originally Posted by
gravelslider
So let me get this straight. Your hands are applying significant torque to support part of your torso by gripping the handlebar and applying a twisting force to support part of your upper body weight? (Torque is a twisting force of course.) I guess I have been riding incorrectly all of these years as I apply absolutely no torque with my hands at all when I ride. I am curious, how many foot-pounds of torque ("force*lever arm") do you think you apply with your hands to those handlebars?
"Twisting" isn't the word one uses. Torque is just torque. Twisting implies a torque applied to one end of a rod. For instance when one applies power to the wheels of a car, we might say that the powertrain is twisting the axle, the wheel applying torque at one end and the opposite torque being applied at the other by the differential. The axle will "wind up" a small amount as a result of these torques, i.e. "twisting.". None of that has any application to the subject we're discussing.
But to answer your question, I can lift my hands off the bars completely without sliding or falling forward, their bit of torque being compensated for by additional torque applied by my core..I'm guessing maybe 5 lbs. of force divided between my hands. Lever arm is 32", so about 13 foot-pounds of torque.
My hands haven't gotten tired, except for shifting our cabled tandem in very hilly terrain, which is just good exercise, though my longest day's ride has been only 18 hours