Hand Numbness

Mezamo

Hi All,
I'm pretty new to cycling after taking it up late last year. Lately as I have been spending more time on the bike and going further I have been experiencing numbness in my hands. Sometimes it gets so bad that i can't even shift gears as my right hand becomes weak. Anyone any ideas what could be wrong? Its really annoying me THB.


Cheers,

Mez.

riparooo

Ensure that your reach isn't too long to the bars. Try moving your seat forward a bit making sure that when your hands are in the hoods that you still have a bend in your elbows. This might be the problem.

maloner

Wearing a good pair of padded cycling gloves should help too.

A friendly local bike shop should be able to help you out with your posture too. Nerve damage isn't a good thing.

Mezamo

Thanks lads for the replies. I wear padded gloves already as someone told me to try them out first. I think the saddle may be a bit far back so I'll adjust it before going our this evening and see if it helps. Could it be the handlebar height is too low aswell??

luapenak

Try not to hold the bars too tight

del_boy13

I had the same problem but it was from a combination of saddle position and the gloves I was wearing. Changed gloves and it got a bit better, adjusted the saddle position and it has gone completely.

Just to add I only got it on trips over 40km never on anything shorter.

piston

Do not under any circumstances move the saddle to change the reach to the bars.

Saddle position is set in relation to the cranks and changing it on a whim to change reach to the bars is asking for knee trouble. With the cranks on the horizontal, the bony bit just below your kneecap needs to be just above the pedal axle and with the pedal at it's lowest the leg should be almost straight with you heel on the pedal. This will give you a close approximation of correct saddle fit and you can fine tune it a little bit at a time but it's important to be in the right ball park with this or you will cause major problems.

If you need to change the reach to the bars, try a different stem.

valleyoftheunos

+1 for saddle position, you could be cutting off blood flow at the wrist.

QueensGael

You probably need a bike fit. It'll cost you ~EUR100, but two visits to the physio will be more than that...

smacl

Couple of ideas;

Are you on a flat bar bike? Being stuck in the same position can make your hands numb over time. Cheapest solution is to use bar ends if you've got them, or add them if not. Better long term solution is to move to a drop bar bike.

Do you lock your elbows out when cycling? If you do this means than road buzz gets transferred more into your joints, leading to aches and pains. Avoid locking your elbows, and take a much looser grip on the bars.

If you're on a drop bar bike, you could re-wrap the bars with gel inserts under your favourite hand positions.

If you're on 23mm tyres, 25mm will give you a smoother ride on rougher roads, which also means less road buzz hitting the hands.

superlav

I used to suffer from numb hands and sore wrists on long spins on my flat bar road bike. Tried all the suggestions here, nothing really worked 100%, somethings helped a bit, but it was still there on long spins. One thing that I did find helpful was swapping out the grips, I went for these Specialized BG ones, which seemed to give more support to the hands and also absorb some of the vibrations.

In the end I got a road bike and the old La Pierre was consigned to the shed. Pity cause it's a great bike, but road bars are just sooo much more comforatable.

I know some folks who have put road bars and shifters on their hybrids, but it can be a costly enough conversion. Unless you manage to get shifters cheap somewhere.

endacl

Unicycle.

Mezamo

Really appreciate all the replies lads cheers!!:):):)

riparooo

One other thing is shorts. Invest in a good pair (Assos did it for me). A cheap pair on long spins and your bum starts to hurt, naturally you start to transfer your weight onto arms which can lead to (for me) very sore shoulders and neck. It could be that you are transferring your weight onto your wrist - reducing the blood flow which leads to numbness in the hands.

shamrock55

I had same problem my left hand would go numb and sometimes my left foot so today i adjusted cleat on my left shoe and moved the saddle forward and i had no problems at all happy days

Mezamo

Made some adjustments to the saddle ( brought it forward) and adjusted the cleats on my shoes which made a difference!! a little bit more fine adjustment should sort the problem for good I hope. Thanks for all the advice :D

Brad768

If it still is happening, it could thoracic outlet syndrome. Basically, it's the compression of blood vessels when the blood travels from the neck area to your arm. Try stretching out your neck and shoulder area before you get on the bike. Also try stretching out while on the bike as well to try and improve circulation.

SlowMe

I'm dealing with something similar and found the following useful

http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_15_3_2.htm

My problem was a combination of position and over gripping down in the drops when descending. I'm still trying to sort it out but the info in the above link really helped to understand what was going on