Kiss21

Hi, I am new in road bike. I start ride a road bike since Feb of this year. All this time my hands get numbness. I beleive because i put too much Pressure on the steering. I'm thinking of changing the stem of my bike from 90mm to 70mm because i can see the axes of the frond wheel in frond of my steering whereas it should be hiding from my steering. Do you think that it can help?

streetsurfer

Nerve impingement can come from laxity in the joint. If adjustments don’t resolve this, regular use of a gyro hand exercise ball will provide full range of motion support and stability needed for the wrist joint, to reduce any wear created because of laxity and parts rubbing that oughtn’t.

Iride01 

I've found recently that toning up the muscles in my hand seems to help the numbness I was starting to get in my hands. I keep a set of those grip strengtheners with with spring sitting by the chair in front of my TV. However changing the angles and position of your STI's as well as bar width might also help. But you have to play with that.

Also if you are keeping your arms straight, then your hands need to be well out in front of you and your position low and more aero. Otherwise you need to have a good bend in your elbows, and a bike with a high stack.

streetsurfer Interesting avatar you chose. I've got one of those too from long long ago...

Seems that I'm having a issue with attaching pics though I've never had an issue before. So maybe If I get it figured out I put it here.

aliasfox

I would try a taller stem (or an extra spacer, if your steerer's long enough) before trying a shorter stem. If your back feels fine with a 90mm stem, it might feel cramped with a 70mm. A buddy of mine gets hand numbness when he rides two of my bikes with ~550-560 stack, but has no problem with my bike that has a 580mm stack height. I'm fine with all three, but find myself more comfortable for long periods in the drops on the bike with the taller front end.

mawn

Check this video... it was recommended to me today!

brianmcg123

Shortening the stem may not solve your problem.

I would get a stem with at least 17* of rise, but the same length.

urbanknight

Strengthening upper back and core muscles will help you to relieve the amount of pressure on your hands.

rm -rf

You won't be able to post a photo until you have 10 posts.
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Gloves -- some gloves that don't fit my hand would have a pressure point at the center of the base of my palm -- that's not good.

Rider balance
With a good saddle position, you should have less pressure on your hands.
Are your elbows slightly bent (good) , or are your arms locked (bad)? Are your wrists bent or straight?

I see a lot of riders that have a bike that's too small to allow them to use the drops comfortably. The drops relieve a lot of hand pressure for me, and it's nice to be able to switch back and forth from hoods to drops. I don't get numbness, but my finger joints do get sore (I'm old).
I also see riders with hands on the curve behind the hoods. They can't comfortably reach that far to the hoods -- not good.

Handlebar angle and hood position
I like the end of the drops to point toward my rear rim brake area, and the hoods are angled upwards about 15 degrees (according to my "bubble level" phone app). I adjusted the hoods this way: Sit on the bike in a doorway. Shake out my arms to relax them. Reach for the hoods without any bend in my wrists -- the palm should contact the whole hood at once so the pressure is distributed.

Copied from an older thread:

Saddle position test
This bike fitter video is interesting and useful. Essentially, you want a saddle position where you aren't sliding forward if you lift your hands off the bars. That keeps the arms from having to push you back all the time.
The first part to the 4:00 mark is an interesting discussion and debunking of "knee over pedal", but since it's not relevant to fitting, it can be skipped.

How to set saddle fore aft position 3:55 mark.

This helped me make a slight adjustment that was a nice improvement.

My bike fit
I have the saddle quite level where my seat bones are, not overall level. The nose is actually slightly higher.

I have the bars set just an inch below the top of the saddle. I have a very comfortable position in the drops this way. And the hoods are still fine. Oh, it's so nice to have usable drops when I'm going fast, in headwinds, and especially on very rough roads or fast downhills. There's much more control in the drops.

My hoods are slightly sloped upward, so my wrists are straight while using the hoods. The drops are angled just like the fitter video.

GAtkins

Try a glove one size larger than you normally wear.

Glenn

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, it can help. Read my primer on bike fit, here: https://www.bikeforums.net/21296948-post3.html

and the numb hands post: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...l#post12953035

GAtkins

I had seen those posts a while back. That's how I ride with my hands. Very nice.

Glenn

Fredo76

+1 on the Numb Hands post. Overall bike fit is important for numerous reasons, but numbness in your hands is usually caused by unrelenting pressure on the ulner and/or medial nerves that come out of the wrist through your palms. Changing hand position helps. Padding helps. Not mashing on your nerves with your grip helps the most.

LarrySellerz

Yall are talking a lot about bike fit, stem lengths, and hand positions. OP said he is new to road bikes so chances are he is holding the handlebars too tightly. Thats gotta be 9/10ths of the issue.

OP try riding with one hand and then with both hands just barely touching the handlebars. Your body does the vast majority of the steering and little adjustments to keep you upright and stable. Youre simply grabbing too hard

scottfsmith

Bike Fit Tuesdays this week is on this topic:


There are lots of different potential reasons as this video enumerates.

Kiss21

No more extra spacer. My steere is on the higher possition

Kiss21

I beleive you have right. I will try do that. Thank you.

Calsun

For the past 50 years when I get a new bike I add bike wrap to the center section of the handlebar between the two brake levers. This helps a great deal by spreading the weight on my hands over a larger surface area. As I don't add more around the drops of the bars it does not impact my use of them when climbing.

It is also important to move your hands around on the bars. I will rest mine on the tops of the brake levers and then move them to the top of the handlebar and sometimes get down in the drops. This also helps me keep my shoulder and neck muscles looser.

Gloves with gel are also a big help and you can find them with various thicknesses of gel to find ones that work for you.