jnbrown

My wife is having problems with her hands caused by arthritis.
I have already adjusted her position to take the weight of her hands and also reduce stress on her back.
I tried several different bars before we arrived at the current Specialized women's model.
On out last ride I wrapped an extra layer of bar tape to increase the diameter, but I am thinking it might be better to have more surface to rest her hands that would be provided by a bar with wide flat top.
I found a few bars like this but not sure if her small hands would be able to grip them:




https://www.amazon.com/CARBON-ROAD-H...KEA5BHVXVHRZVW

Carbonfiberboy 

You're probably running cowhorns? Try drop bars with stoker pegs. More hand positions and more natural positions with the wrist straight. We fitted Syntace aerobars to our stoker cockpit. They offer many hand positions as well as the "down" position.

Have a look here: Handlebars, Aerobars, & Gloves - Ride Far: Ultra·Distance Cycling Advice

jnbrown

No cowhorns they are dropbars.
I like the Syntace with arm pads, it was another option i was thinking of, but the aero bars might not work since her bars are about as high as my saddle. I could cut them shorter or slide them further back. Do you have a picture?

Carbonfiberboy 

This thread shows the development of the idea and the final product which we still use:
https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cyc...ro-stoker.html

geoffs

We are using Zipp VukaZipp - Speed Weaponry | Bars | Vuka Alumina and my lovely stoker finds them very comfortable

nfmisso

Trekking bars are another option - LOTS of hand positions.

chojn1

My wife really like these. Her upper body weight is on her elbow rather than her wrist. They are more for comfort than speed, but the aero tuck is a nice bonus.

jnbrown

Saw that somewhere, looks worth considering.

Thanks

StephenH

My stoker uses pipe insulation the bullhorn bars. This is made, I think, for 3/4" nominal pipe (which is 1.05" OD) and with a little work, slides down over the handlebars. They make some that is slit all the way through, and some that is slit only partway through, use the latter. It squishes down and has to be replaced periodically, but 6' or 8' of it are like $2 at Lowes or Home Depot.

ClydeTim

I knew a stoke who used the black beach cruiser type foam for the stoker bars. Really liked it and no need for gloves.

jnbrown

Which aero bars are those? From looking at pictures am guessing Profile T3?
I was looking at Syntace XXS since they are short.

We were riding on the trainer last night and after 30 minutes her hand was in extreme pain, so I need to try something.

Brian25

Suggested progression; Try a softer and larger diameter grip area. She has her shoulder weight bearing down on her hands. Having a downward tilted seat is a hand killer, make sure it's flat. Lastly, you may need to make her position more upright. In the most extreme cases you may need to use a drop/road handlebar and flip them up and use foam padding. I use to live/ build tandems in Encinitas. Do you ever take your tandem up to Camp Pendelton (our old favorite)?

jnbrown

Yes we ride through Camp Pendleton to San Clemente all the time.

I will take another look at her position, but some ago with the help from a friend who has worked at bike shops his whole life, I made a big change to her position moving the stoker bars much closer to her and trying various handlebars. At the time it was mostly for her back. It seems to be working well but maybe I could raise the bars some more, I did wrap another layer of tape for our last ride. Pretty sure her seat is not tilted down. I am not sure the pain is caused by bicycling but it could aggravate it. She has had it occur sometimes after being off the bike for several days or more and she does have some osteoarthritis in her finger joints. I found an orthopedic hand specialist doctor this morning and made an appt to hopefully find the cause and solution to her pain.

Carbonfiberboy 

IME hand pain is reduced by:
1) moving the saddle back until it's possible to pedal with hands off the bars without sliding forward on the saddle
2) increasing reach and elbow bend.

Common wisdom is that more upright = less hand pain but not IME. If we analyze the cyclist's torso support system, we see that the torso angle pivot is the hip joint. Therefore as we increase the lever arm, the force on the hands decreases. This is particularly noticeable in bump damping. The freer the hands are to go up and down without pushing on the torso, the less impact the hands sustain. Bar height is a separate question with different drivers such as flexibility and hip angle.

jnbrown

That is an interesting idea I would have never thought of, maybe I will give it a try.