StargazeCyclist

By aero hood I mean holding the hood but with forearms level. I am still figuring out how to hold the hood securely and comfortably. So far I mainly putting my palms over the hoods, griping the shift cable to prevent me from going over the bar, as shown in the pic. Most brifters don't have cables coming out nowadays, so I am interested how you guys do it.

Maelochs

Try keeping at least one finger wrapped under the brake lever if riding in a group, so a bad bump doesn't bounce your hand free, leading to the whole peloton hitting the ground.

Solo ... whatever is comfortable. I usually change my grip frequently, sometime gripping the whole brifter body above the brake lever, usually riding the heel of my hand on the bars at the base of the brifter, sometimes grabbing the brifter body with one or two fingers under the brakes and the others, over.

I have experimented a little with different angles and even different overall locations ... not as far as the 30-degree inward lean some pros are using, but on my bikes, i can play with the set-up to make it suit me.

Of course, major changes mean messing with the bar wrap ....

StargazeCyclist

I used to put the little fingers under the brifters, but after one 50-miles ride the joint at the base really hurt and it took a month to recover.

eduskator

I rarely use this grip / position. When I do, it's usually for a more aero position (leaned forward). I keep one finger on the brake lever so I can have at least some braking power in case I need it.

genejockey 

What generation of STIs are we talking about here? The 7400 generation, there's not much of a nub, I hook my little finger under the brake lever and/or my thumb under the cable and palm over the top. On the 7800 series, there's a much larger nub on top, so I just hook my little finger under and grip the top. Same for the current generation ones. I don't worry too much about braking, because I only do it when riding solo in places with long sight lines. If I'm passing people, I'll switch to drops or regular hoods to be near the brake if needed.

caloso

Ultegra 6800 hoods. I’ll put my palms on the nubs. Hands relaxed, wrists resting on the flat curve of the bars behind the levers, pinkies wrapped under the brake levers. Focus on keeping the forearms parallel to the ground, and keeping the head up. I only use this grip on good roads while riding solo.

Carbonfiberboy 

Like these riders if your hoods allow it. Thumbs hooked over the top of the nub, heels resting on bars. This is my standard going-down-the-road quickly position, solo or pulling. Very, very comfortable if your forearms are strong enough. Otherwise, more pushups.

These photos are from the should-be-famous Numb Hands post.by DannoXYZ in 2011. Gotta give credit.

bampilot06

My hoods on all my bikes are rotated inward at a pretty significant angle. It helps take pressure off the wrists when trying to ride aero on the hoods.

Eric F 

I added some inward rotation of the levers on my road bike. I wouldn't call it significant, but definitely not straight. I like it with my Camy Record levers.

bampilot06

The ritchey’s are actually straight, had an issue and the LBS re wrapped my bars, out the hoods back straight. i need to fix that.

Eric F 

You need to learn how to wrap your own bars - LOL.

bampilot06

Oh I can, it’s just painful, and I dont have patience.

genejockey 

It's not my forearms that give out first. It's my triceps.

superdex

I grip as shown, along with a myriad of other positions during the course of a ride. You're not trying to find one hand position for the entire ride, are you?

genejockey 

You do tasks like that to LEARN patience.

Carbonfiberboy 

How many pushups? I'm down to 22, haven't been doing them, don't need them for my rollers.

bampilot06

I am a lost cause on that issue.

genejockey 

Tops, corners, ramps, hoods, aero hoods, drops. The last 3 with varying amounts of elbow bend.

genejockey 

I can't do pushups since I tore my distal clavicle loose from its moorings on my right shoulder. I mean, unless I want to feel the end of it rubbing and clicking against the acromion.

superdex

agreed. I spent too long thinking about this, and I mostly grip with palm heel on the bars at the base of the hoods such that I can wrap my fingers around the hoods to shift/brake. I rarely "knuckle" the whole hood as in the OP's picture. But it happens, sometimes, over the course of a ride....

mostly like this



to this



and varying positions in between to maintain comfort.

genejockey 

It's the sort of thing which requires and allows you to cultivate a different mind space, much like riding does, where enough of your mind concentrates on the task at hand that there's not really room for a lot of other conscious thought, but it doesn't take ALL of your mind, so the unused part can run off and play.

terrymorse 

Triceps are muscles that scream out (literally) for strength training, so you can hold that horizontal forearm position without fatigue.

I do skull crusher dumbbell lifts, lying on the ground. They really help.



(not Terry)

Maelochs

I also lack acromio-clavicular ligaments in my right shoulder but I did pushups for a while after I recovered from the injury ... then I stopped and now it is hard to get re-started.

Those skull-crushers look safe .... if I overdo it I can not only pull a muscle but actually crush my skull. Might help.

ummed

I tried to take a picture of this the other day, but as you can imagine it's a little difficult to do while riding

I'm sure a lot will depend on what kind of hoods you have.

bampilot06

your hands look cold.