Cycling UK Forum

virgincyclist, The problem for me is that I ride a bike like Oscar Peterson and play the piano like Eddie Mercx. You do have a point though. I now have the bar phat tape on my beloved Hewitt Cheviot and because the bike is so well set up I don't even use mitts because they just make my hands sweatier than need be. I hold the bars with the lightest applicable grip and move them around a lot and suffer no hand discomfort at all these days.

Four and a half years ago, I did Dover-John O'Groats on a mountain bike and I had numbness in both my thumbs. This year I have just completed John O'Groats-Land's End riding on a bike with butterfly handlebars and changing my position of hands as often as possible with the results that I did not have any trouble with numbness at all.

Well just did the Colours of Clumber Audax on Saturday - 110km ride plus cycling from Sheffield to Clowne raised that to 102 miles. I had no change in numbness/tingliness from the previous day. The only thing I did differently was constantly changing my handlebar position.

A few months back I did the Tour de Furness a 50 mile ride plus an extra 10 miles to get to and from my parents house and the numbness had flared up again.

I'd originally done the major damage on the DA ride to Wales in May, so now I can seem to manage the problem and eventually the NHS will do the nerve conduction studies - am I a cynic or do waiting times no longer matter now the general election has been and gone.

Also found a list of exercises at
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/sma/sma_ulnarneu_rex.htm

i had this about 5 or 6 years ago, i ended up having my carpal tunnels done, it's been OK ever since.

Considered riding a 'bent? Extreme option I know, but Soooooooo much more fun!