My hands hurt/go numb when I ride what can I do?

Gloves can help especially ones that are padded.  There are different levels of padding, for maximum cushion look for glove with Gel pads.  An added benefit of gloves is the protection they offer.  Another option can be changing the grip surface on your handlebars.  For road bikes with drop handle bars you can replace your standard bar tape with gel tape or even double gel tape,  For Mountain bike style handle bars you can look into changing the grips to ones that offer additional cushion and some grip are now available with different ergonomic shapes to help alleviate issues.   For further help on this topic click here to go to the topic in the bike fit section.