tpgdb9

Hi all,

I did my first 50 mile charity ride this past weekend, and I'm noticing weakness in my pinky and ring finger on my left hand. From what I've read, this is fairly common and is called handlebar palsy. The problem is that I'm a musician, and I really need full strength in those fingers all the time, so I need to prevent this from happening again. Obviously bike fit is a big part of it, and I've got a pro fitting next week, but are there any gloves that are particularly good for dealing with this?

velociraptor

I don't think that any gloves are going to help. Sounds like you're putting too much weight on your hands and cutting off circulation.

You need to make sure you get a good fit so you don't have too much forward weight – and strengthen your core. You should be holding yourself up primarily by your mid-section, not arms & hands.

I <3 Robots

I use the Specialized BG gloves. I really like the padding on the palm portion. Also make sure that you're not riding for extended periods of time with your elbows locked out.

johnny99

Hand and arm pain is often caused by poor posture on the bike, rather than poor fit. Try bending more at the waist and bending your elbows more. This posture will take a lot of weight off your hands. If this posture is uncomfortable to you, a series of sit-ups may help.

velociraptor

Yes, strengthen your core

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifest...f19_story.html

79pmooney

Also, change hand positions. Often. The word was (in my racing days, a long time ago) that our bike should be set up so at least three different hand positions were comfortable for long periods, but we were to change those positions frequently. (In the drops, on the brake hoods and behind the hoods.

I set all my bikes up to be comfortable in the drops all day. Only after I find that setup do I look at the brake hoods. For fine tuning, I am not above doing one or several rides with no bar tape, just electrical to hold the cables. I bring the wrenches for the brake hoods and bar clamp.

Ben

basqueonacaad

As mentioned earlier, work on core strength, bend from the waist, and the weight that you do bear on your hands, bear it on your palm adjacent to your pinky finger. If you have excessive force on your median nerve, you will experience either ulnar or radial nerve pain. In your case, you are experiencing ulnar nerve pain. This is common when cyclists grip the hoods of the bike for excessive periods of time without changing hand positions. Good luck and holler at us if you need further assistance with this issue.

basqueonacaad

Also, while you probably want to get back out on the bike and ride, if you need your strength back as soon as possible, avoid riding your bike, at least avoid riding your bike with poor hand position. Continued pressure on your median nerve will aggravate the existing problem and delay the healing process.

tpgdb9

Thanks for all the answers. Will look into some core-strengthening exercises. Picked up a book called Anatomy, Stretching, and Training for Cyclists by Lisa Purcell a while ago that looks like it has some good stuff in it.

Machka 

I developed that badly after a 600K ride ...

I found that bicycle fit was the first thing that helped ... and moving/stretching more regularly on the bicycle ... and moving from an aluminum frame to a steel frame ...

As for gloves, I need gloves with lots of padding under the heel of my hand.

Homebrew01

What style of bike ? Flat bar bikes have limited hand positions. You can add bar-ends to help a bit if that's what you have.

If you have drop bars, you can experiment with tipping them up or down a tiny bit. Bring a wrench on a few rides to tweak them as you go, until you find the right spot.