FAQ Hands Numb BIke Fit
We also briefly go over this subject in the clothing section of FAQ's as it pertains to gloves, Click Here to view. Here we will discuss numb or sore hands and wrists from the standpoint of bicycle fit. We state the following advice over and over, expect perfection and you should "drape " comfortably over your bike. If you are not completely comfortable bring your bike in and we can help. Before going into bike fit topics please note that one of the best things to do is continually change your hand positions. On a road bike use the entire bar and all possible hand positions. One of the main reasons road bars curve around and down like they do is to offer the rider a plethora of hand positions to ensure comfort on longer rides. Flat bar bikes do not offer the hand position opportunities that road bikes do but you can add on bar ends to help give you additional options.
Now we will tackle handle bar drop. This is the difference between the height of the seat in relation to the height of the handlebars. More drop to the handlebars places more stress on your hands and wrists. This can be addressed by changing either or both the handlebars or stem on your bicycle. The goal here is to get the handlebars higher up in relation to the seat. The cost related to this fix would be approximately $20-$40 to change the stem and about the same for the handlebars. In some cases you may have to change some or all of the cables on your bike when moving the handlebars. If these adjustments don't fix the problem your bicycle your bike could be to small .
Another possible cause of issues with your hands and wrist could be the bend (shape) of your handlebars. This is particularly prevalent with Flat Bar (Mountain Bike) style bars. What we will address here is the sweep (the amount your of pull back from straight) of your handle bars. This would likely involve a bit of trail and error to fix. Also remember that the addition of bar ends to a flat bar style bike will give you more hand position opportunities for comfort.
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