ganchan

My middle-aged thumbs have started to succumb to what I think is osteoarthritis. If you have a similar issue, what handlebar position and/or grip type feels best to you? (Thumb on top vs. thumb on bottom, cylindrical grip vs. ergonomic grip, etc)

Currently I'm riding on ergonomic flat-bar grips, which doesn't seem to bother the thumbs all that much. I'm just curious to hear other people's experiences.

BobbyG

I don't think I have arthritis but for the last few years I have had increasing hand numbness and general hand aches. Multiple hand positions help. On my MTB-based commuter with its big wide straightish bar I added bar-ends and an aero bar for more hand positions. Even with those mods, sometimes when I'm riding streets with little traffic I will close my hands in a light fist and rest the heel of my hands on the main grips. On my bikes with drop-bars I do better. On all my bikes I have added pipe insulation to the bars to pad my hands. On a related note, this may be a side effect of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Thanks to biking, diet and fish-oil suppliments I have been able to cut my statin dosage in half, and since then I believe my hand numbness and cramping is markedly less. I don't know if any of this would help you, but this is what I has worked for me.

Biker395 

This:

caffein8ed

I have osteoarthritis of the thumb on both hands, one significantly worse than the other. As stated by others, multiple hand positions is the key. I would add that maintaining a light grip on the bars whenever possible can be very helpful.

I wear padded gloves, and use ergo grips and bar-ends for added hand-position options. Also, as BobbyG mentions above...

JohnDThompson 

I have arthritis in multiple hand joints (and elsewhere, alas); I find drop bars allow multiple hand positions so when one joint starts complaining, I switch hand positions and give it a rest until one of the other joints acts up.

avidone1

Have experienced thumb pain at the base of my thumbs. I also ride a flatbar. Best fix for me is to ride with my thumb alongside my other fingers rather than curled around the bar. I do drop my thumb into a firmer grip when apprroaching an intersection or some other potentially hazardous situation, but mostly I ride with the thumb above the bar and have no problems.

Number400

I cannot ride a flat bar bike at all for even a minute before the thumbs hurt. I have to convert every bike to drop bars.

peterws

Some o those quickshift gear levers are not so good for arthritic thumbs. Youd use them on straight bars. Twistshift would be ok.