Handlebar Shock Absorption

[531colin]

If you want the full nine yards on saddle setback, its here....https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/05/seat-set-back-for-road-bikes/ edit....sorry, somebody already posted this
If you haven't the patience to read it all, scroll down past the pictures to "point of balance"
Don't forget, Steve Hogg is fitting racing cyclists....that is cyclists who actually race. For general recreational cyclists such as myself, I think we should aim for Steve's "point of balance" to be when we are on the hoods. This means I have very little weight on my (arthritic) hands when I'm "just riding along", and as soon as I put in a bit of effort (eg rising road without changing down) I am pulling on the hoods.

Childrens party game........
Stand up straight, then reach forward for an imaginary pair of handlebars.
You WILL fall forwards.
Try again reaching forward for your imaginary handlebars, this time stick your bum out the back.....better?
Anybody STILL confused about whether to set their saddle forward or back to take weight off their hands?

[breakwellmz]

What a brilliant explanation 531Colin!
It has always seems counter intuitive to move a saddle back to take weight off the hands.
I assume core strength becomes more relevant the more extreme the `stretch`?

[MikeF]

and as soon as I put in a bit of effort (eg rising road without changing down) I am pulling on the hoods.

Me too. Drop handlebars are ideal for this as the hands seem in the right position for pulling, but I find it's much more difficult with flat straight bars, and watching other riders who are riding strongly with flat straights they don't look as though they pull much. Somebody tell me I'm wrong??

[foxyrider]

Could it be that as you get more fatigued towards the end of a longer ride you are putting more weight onto your hands? I sometimes get numbness, usually when i'm pretty tired, sitting up for a bit usually sorts it and I can continue.

I've tried just about every brand and thickness of tape and yes i've used gel pads too. TBH none of them have made any significant difference, in fact I found the wider diameter on the bars to cause more discomfort than they relieved! I've now settled back on standard Bontrager cork tape - seems to work even on extreme long days.

[Audax67]

I find that the shape of the bars matters as much or more than the padding. My old bike had plain round bars, and I was forever mucking about with gel underlay and gel HB tape, and never getting it quite right. My current bike has slightly elliptical-section bars with the cables led quite closely to the top front instead of lower down as usual, and once taped they have a broader top surface that spreads the load much more evenly than with the older bike. I'm perfectly comfortable with the bars like that, even though they have only a single layer of tape which is getting now to the end of its life.

Another consideration is that thick padding will penetrate nerve channels more effectively than thinner padding, the way a thickly-padded saddle will compress urethra and pubic nerve.

[fausto99]

... My current bike has slightly elliptical-section bars with the cables led quite closely to the top front instead of lower down as usual, and once taped they have a broader top surface that spreads the load much more evenly than with the older bike.

Do tell. Which bars are those?