Tom Bombadil

In recent weeks I decided to take out my traditional upright bikes a few times, instead of my favorite ride, my RANS Stratus LWB recumbent. In the past I had significant hand pain problems when riding bikes with drop handlebars, sometimes experiencing significant pain in my thumbs and wrist within 5 minutes.

My upright bikes have been modified to give me a more upright riding position, wherein I would place less weight on my hands. I have ergo grips with extended palm rests, Cane Creek ergo bar ends, higher rise stems, and handlebars with 8 to 12 degree sweeps. In the past this has had some effectiveness, to the point of being able to complete 6 or 7 40+ mile rides on my Trek 7600 hybrid.

In July I rode my Fuji Absolute 1.0 three times. The Fuji is a very road-bike like fitness hybrid, essentially a flat bar road bike with carbon fork, seat stays, seatpost, and 105 group set. I tossed its low position flat bar & stem for a handlebar & stem that raised the hand positions by nearly 3". On all three rides, I began to experience hand pain after about 45 minutes.

Yesterday I got out my old, comfy Trek 7600. For about 30 minutes it was a comfortable ride. Then my left hand started hurting - through the back of my hand, up through my wrist and into my lower arm. I shook it off, but about 5 minutes later it came back. I tried a number of hand positions but eventually had to cut my ride short at the 1 hour mark. This was the most pain I've ever felt in my left hand.

It is beginning to feel like my days for riding any kind of upright bike are nearing an end. Perhaps I can continue to make 30 to 60 minute rides on them. Kinda disappointing.

But at least I have my recumbents, upon which I can ride for hours in great comfort.

Timtruro

Tom, that does not sound good, is it tendonitis? arthritis? or something else?

Tom Bombadil

I was diagnosed with tendonitis in my right thumb about 5-6 years ago. Of course it has worsened since. The pain in my left hand and wrist is new as of the last couple of months.

Retro Grouch 

Oh dear. I'm so sorry to hear that.

will dehne

Tom-
I am following your story because as I get older I do have also some issues.
A Recumbent is out for me right now because of perceived safety issues. This perception may not be real but I have it in my head. The low level of recumbent and the way they go into intersections worries me a lot.
Anyway, I have these issues of shocks from lousy pavement making me miserable. My wrists are hurting and my shoulder does not like it either. The roads I travel on are secondary roads because of traffic. The pounding is getting to me.
I found two things which helped me to keep biking:
Use fatter tires and a suspension bike.
Use strong wraps around my wrists. (Does not help the shoulder.)
These two fixes kept me biking and I am looking forward to Florida with near perfect pavement on my trail by Inverness.
I do not know if this helps you at all but this is what I know.

cyclinfool

You might want to see a doc. There might be something else going on causing this issue. I hope you find out what it is.

BluesDawg

Sorry to hear that your hand and wrist problems are getting worse to the point of threatening to end your upright bike riding days. But I am glad that you are able to ride your recumbents without pain.

George

Sounds like it's time for a check up Tom. Good luck, I hope diagnosis isn't to bad.

doctor j

Sorry to hear about the hand pain, Tom, but it sounds as if you've been wisely planning ahead. You have a very viable "Plan B" and can keep on turning pedals. Ride on!

BengeBoy 

Tom, that stinks. Hope you can find a way around this but in the meantime it's a good thing you've got the recumbents.

Tom Bombadil

Yesterday's ride was the first time I have experienced this level of pain on the Trek 7600. It has a suspension fork, I have 38mm tires on it (running at 60 psi), I have ergo grips, ergo bar ends, and the setup feels extremely comfortable for the first 30 minutes. I also have gloves that have gel padding right at the base of my thumbs, I went through over 30 pairs of gloves (in stores) before finding these.

Haven't used any wrist wraps because I didn't have any wrist problems until yesterday. I was very, very surprised when I experienced that much discomfort.

I don't think the pain is being caused by anything coming up from the bike, there is very little shock or vibration getting to my hands. I think it is due to the pressure from the weight onto my hands, even given a pretty upright riding position.

Right now the hand positions are about 3" higher than the seat. I guess I could try to raise them even higher.

JanMM

Maybe the disappointment could lead to the joy of n+1 in the form an another 'bent!

Tom Bombadil

I've already got TWO!

will dehne

Sorry Tom,
Sounds like a doctor visit and I do not like to go there either. But this does not sound too good.

Yen

Tom, as a fellow wrist-pain sufferer, I sure do empathize. It sounds like a thorough exam is in order.

I wear a wrist brace with a metal bar on the back that keeps my wrist fairly rigid while I ride. When I have wrist pain or numbness in the other hand while riding, I seldom if ever (possibly never, but I can't say that with absolute confidence) do in this hand because the brace keeps it rigid, and also offers another layer of padding.

When I rode the hybrid I was surprised how much weight I would put on the bars in spite of the upright position.

cranky old dude

Tom, I've only used an up-right bike a handfull of times since June 1st....and all within the last two weeks. I did 16 miles on my ''86 Raleigh Marathon Road Bike with drop style bars and I've returned to commuting with the '88 Trek 820 Hard Tail Mtn. Bike as our weather has become seasonaly turbulent.

I didn't experience the early window of comfort that you did. My hands, wrists, and neck were in pain right from the Get-Go. ( It used to take many, many miles to experience those symptoms) I have self- diagnosed my discomfort as... my body becoming de-conditioned to uprights due to the 2100+ recumbent miles I rode this Summer without using my uprights at all during that same period. It's been a long time...some 14+ weeks....since my hands and wrists have been called upon to support my upper body on a bike and the same goes for having to hold my head back to see. I anticipate that the discomfort will decrease as my conditioning to upright geometry returns, hopefully soon.

Is it possible that an absence from the uprights for a while has affected you in a similar way? Hopefully you and the Doc can get this sorted out soon so you can return to riding some of those faithful old steeds you've got waiting in the wings.

BengeBoy 

I edited this for you - the hand pain must be affecting your typing.

Louis

I don't have any suggestions, T-Bomb, but I do hope you find the cause soon.

maddmaxx 

I have given up the traditional SRAM grips that go with my X.9 twist shifters for the new Ergon twist shifter grips. Time will tell as at the moment, long rides aren't happening.

Trakhak

Since having surgery 15 years ago to treat ulnar nerve syndrome in my left arm, I've had to install aero bars on all of my bikes. You might want to consider trying an aero bar - takes the pressure off the hands.

Position on the bike does make a difference, though. When I ride in the normal, non-aero bar position, my hand goes numb after maybe 15 minutes on my road bike with carbon fork, but I can go an hour or so on my aluminum track bike with bullhorn bar and aluminum straight fork before the numbness begins.

Tom Bombadil

I have entertained this thought. But I've been fighting the thumb tendonitis for years and so am not convinced that more riding will help it ... it usually hurts it. But perhaps the pain in my left hand could be from holding it in what is now an unusual position.

Good luck to you in your own struggles on similiar problems.

I guess we could consider converting to crank forward comfort bikes for our upright "fix."

Tom Bombadil

I guess since both of my recumbents are LWB designs, I could consider taking a gander at a SWB bent.

It would be easier to transport too.

Hmmm ...

NOS88

Tom: I'm curious about the nature of the mechanics involved in your thumb, wrist, forearm pain. Have you been able to determine if the pain is more from weight on the hand, the physical shape your hand must take to grip the bar or something else? If this is an issue of weight on the hand you might be able to adjust fit and work on core strength to keep most weight off the hands. I've discovered that with proper fit (after 20 yrs. I think I'm finally there) and work on core strength, I'm not leaning on the bars and putting all that much pressure on my hands. If it is the physical shape your hand must take to grip the bars, perhaps experimentation with different shapes, drops, reaches, etc. will make a difference. In any case, I hope you come to some place with this issue that feels right (maybe bents are the complete riding future for you... maybe not). Good luck.

bikerbob1

i'm sorry to hear about your thumb and wrist problem. I'm in the same situation with the same alterations to my DF bike. I finished a 6 day 350 mile ride on last Saturday with some loss of feeling in my right hand and wrist. It's like the hand has fallen asleep with no feeling in pinkie and ring finger. Wrist also hurts and it's 5 days later. I going to my favourite acupuncturist for treatment. I'm serious thinking about returning to recumbents even though they are difficult to ship cross country.

JanMM

There ya go!
The V-Rex is pretty easy to transport.

I'm considering adding a V3 to the flock = not as easy to transport. (But I have a minivan and also a Thule rooftop tandem rack).