Wrist and hand pain.

[531colin]

Trig, you have two offers; Bikepacker is happy to see you in Worcestershire, or I will go through a "virtual" bike fit with you on here...I think we should start a specific thread if we do that, I think we have trespassed on this thread for long enough.

[foxyrider]

.........This might seem a bit off topic, but how long are your arms, fingertip to fingertip? This can have a significant influence on your comfort if the bars are too high/low, i've learnt this by experience, having got Gibbon arms to match the long legs but a relatively short torso. I don't need a long reach provided the saddle/bar height equation is right, if i go less than about 10cm i get a sore lower back. My touring bike has about twice that and its comfortable enough for repeated full days in the saddle and i'm talking 60/70 miles here.

I wouldn't claim to have found comfort Nirvana but i'll usually have run out of energy long before there are any real comfort issues.

Is that 100 or 200mm drop from saddle to bars? Tall people with long limbs often have a big bar drop, but 200mm is huge...isn't it?

Was trying to find a picture but don't have one not confused by angle or other stuff. (i also don't have it where i am to measure either!) I didn't actually say 200mm, doing a visual guess, i'd say its actually @ 170mm, almost the same as my carbon plaything (which i've done a 3 week tour on too). The pic of that gives an impression of that offset, i think you can pick out that the slightly larger bike next to it has a lower saddle and higher bars. (sorry i can't find a flat on side image).

I said i have Gibbon arms, i'm 5'10" and my span is 6'4" (measured about a fortnight ago for something totally unrelated!) Buying anything with long sleeves is a mare, to get the length it'll be size xxl whilst i'm an m!

[djnotts]

Back to me! First pain-free 20 miles for some weeks. Difference? My much modded Trek 7.5FX with carbon forks and FSA K Force carbon flats, carbon stem and carbon bar ends. Even with x23/25 700s no shock induced hurt. Maybe answer lies in depth of pockets!

Should be "testing" front sus later.

[531colin]

Comprehensive - thank you! My current thoughts are the PX Geoff or Mike. Barcons were better than stis, but the standard drop bar brake levers remained the problem. For now switched that bike back to risers and mounted the shift ers on JTek special adaptors.

I meant to ask at the time, then we got side-tracked....On almost any bike, to get my preferred reach with flat bars I would need an un-feasibly long stem ….I guess you don't find this a problem?

[531colin]

……….
[img]IMG_20160416_104001.jpg[/img] OK, I don't know how to add the image!
…..

Yup, that's a big drop!

[djnotts]

Comprehensive - thank you! My current thoughts are the PX Geoff or Mike. Barcons were better than stis, but the standard drop bar brake levers remained the problem. For now switched that bike back to risers and mounted the shift ers on JTek special adaptors.

I meant to ask at the time, then we got side-tracked....On almost any bike, to get my preferred reach with flat bars I would need an un-feasibly long stem ….I guess you don't find this a problem?

No not really. More upright is probably "good", but my back seems happy enough at any angle! And I tend to ride on the tops of drops, so that position doesn't alter with flats. I am not a very fussy rider, but then I usually do only 20 - 35 miles per ride/day.

[Debs]

[youtube]gbFrz5FsIow[/youtube]

A very interesting vid to watch ^

I seem to have the dreaded "Cyclist's Palsy" or i think that's what it is, affecting my right hand, however my left hand is fine.

Unfortunately i can't ride my bike at the moment due to other health issues - mainly a nasty TMJ disorder flare-up

But oddly, after not riding my bike for over a week, my right hand is now even worse than when i was riding (?)

What seemed to hurt my hand more than anything was pot-holes, but expect more to it than that.

I can't wait to get better so i can try the advice on the above vid, move cleats back, lower saddle and move back a bit....

[Enigmadick]

After getting persistent neck and shoulder pain, due I think to bottoming out in potholes, I fitted a Redshift suspension stem and the biggest tyes my Enigma Etape and Open Pros could accommodate, which is 32mm without mudguards.

Result - wonderful. Just the thing for the third world roads that even the Home Counties will have in the coming years.

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Redshi ... lsrc=aw.ds]

[djnotts]

I do think pretty awful road surfaces play a significant part in my wrist problem. 26 x 2 tyres best easement I 've found do far.

[531colin]

Comprehensive - thank you! My current thoughts are the PX Geoff or Mike. Barcons were better than stis, but the standard drop bar brake levers remained the problem. For now switched that bike back to risers and mounted the shift ers on JTek special adaptors.

I meant to ask at the time, then we got side-tracked....On almost any bike, to get my preferred reach with flat bars I would need an un-feasibly long stem ….I guess you don't find this a problem?

No not really. More upright is probably "good", but my back seems happy enough at any angle! And I tend to ride on the tops of drops, so that position doesn't alter with flats. I am not a very fussy rider, but then I usually do only 20 - 35 miles per ride/day.

I have to agree....if you generally ride on the tops, and don't get on with braking or changing gear with road STIs, then theres little point in persisting with drops

[Debs]

Could always use these specially designed cyclist's anti-pothole gloves...



not only do they cushion the shock of riding over potholes, but they can also be very handy with deterring road rage incidents

[531colin]

...I seem to have the dreaded "Cyclist's Palsy" or i think that's what it is, affecting my right hand, however my left hand is fine.

Unfortunately i can't ride my bike at the moment due to other health issues - mainly a nasty TMJ disorder flare-up

But oddly, after not riding my bike for over a week, my right hand is now even worse than when i was riding (?)

What seemed to hurt my hand more than anything was pot-holes, but expect more to it than that.

I can't wait to get better so i can try the advice on the above vid, move cleats back, lower saddle and move back a bit....

If you have been off the bike for more than a week and still have paraesthesia in your hand, then I'm afraid there is "something going on". Its worth reading posts by "Richard Yorkshire" here..https://forum.cyclinguk.org/posting.php?mode=quote&f=49&p=1505975 it will give you some things to google if nothing else.
Your riding position may or may not have been the cause of your hand numbness, but its always worth revising your position every few years.
I watched your linked video, although helping my son in law lay and level six tonnes of concrete the other day has reduced my ability to concentrate...my back hurts!
I think he is saying to use Steve Hogg's balance point to get your saddle setback....he also mentions that if you get triceps pain or have to lock your elbows that's an indication of too much weight on your hands. Another pointer is when you are riding, notice how hard you have to pedal before you are pulling up and back on the bars, rather than putting weight on the bars. If you have little enough weight on the bars that you are pulling up every few miles, this gives your hands a rest from weight-bearing.
Moving the saddle back will transfer some of the effort of cycling from your quads to your hamstrings. If you don't move it much, you will in time get used to the different pattern of muscle use, but if you need to un-load the hamstrings, move your cleats back. (and that's counter-intuitive). Other than "its to do with the relative positions of pelvis and feet" I don't understand why all this happens, but it is so.
It should go without saying that before you move anything, mark, measure, note, and photograph!

[Debs]

Moving the saddle back will transfer some of the effort of cycling from your quads to your hamstrings. If you don't move it much, you will in time get used to the different pattern of muscle use, but if you need to un-load the hamstrings, move your cleats back. (and that's counter-intuitive). Other than "its to do with the relative positions of pelvis and feet" I don't understand why all this happens, but it is so!

Thanks for the feedback, i do ride with saddle more forward than i used to, but what concerns me is this maybe to compensate for an impaired knee, and i have over the past few years successfully obtained a comfortable style with spinning in the mid 90rpm zone using a lower gear and on a sensible 170mm crank, however getting this saddle position sorted in what feels like a happy relation to crank position may now be compromising the rear-front balance by putting a bit too much hand weigh on the handlebars.

In other words, if i do; slide the saddle back a bit, lower the saddle a bit, and move cleats back a bit, this may successfully lower the hand weigh on the bars but compromise my gained easy on the knee seat position.

Over the past year one of my knees has become just about noticeably larger than the other. There is a 'suspected' Chondral lesion but fortunately i have a good consultant on the case, and it gets MRI scanned every 18 months to check what develops. This type of lesion is usually benign, but it's liable to present a problem with cycling.

[pjclinch]

Without anything particularly wrong I found that my comfort limit on any upright bike to be quite clearly finite and to cut in at about 3.5 to 4 hours. Sitting bolt upright it's a numb bum, in a crouch it's wrists, elbows and neck, fiddling with positions just moves the aches around. Sitting in a crouch like Colin's picture is no problem... for a picture, but I end up leaning on my arms and getting a crick in my neck relatively soon so what works for some doesn't necessarily work for others.

I switched to recumbents over 20 years ago, on my Streetmachine I can keep rolling as long as my legs go around. People assume the comfort is about a big comfy chair cosseting your backside, but for me it's more about no weight on my arms and looking straight ahead without having to look up. I get those on an omafiets too, but a lot of aero drag with it and after a few hours, a numb bum.

As noted at the start, this isn't reaction to disability or injury, it's something I took up to make my cycling more enjoyable because the position just suits my not-very-supple body much better.

Pete.

[Jdsk]

But oddly, after not riding my bike for over a week, my right hand is now even worse than when i was riding (?)

What seemed to hurt my hand more than anything was pot-holes, but expect more to it than that.

I can't wait to get better so i can try the advice on the above vid, move cleats back, lower saddle and move back a bit....

When you're riding again could you add photos of your body position and hand positions?

Jonathan