QUESTION: After about 30 minutes of riding, my hands get so numb and tingly that I can’t shift gears. My handlebar is level with the saddle. Can you help? — David W.
RBR ANSWERS: You’ve already done one key thing to prevent hand numbness — raise the handlebar. Doing so stops you from putting excessive weight on your hands and compressing nerves and blood vessels. So there must be another cause.
Here are some suggestions to help you sleuth out the problem:
—Pad your hands and/or handlebar. Sometimes a pair of gel gloves or gel padding under the handlebar tape will stop numbness by softening pressure and damping vibration.
—Change your grip. Hold the bar in a way that limits pressure on the center of the heel of your hand. That’s where you’re most susceptible to numbing nerve compression.
—Move your hands frequently. Switch your grip from the hoods to the drops to the flats next to the stem, then back again. Don’t leave your hands in one place long enough for tingling to develop.
—Check your saddle position. If the nose is tilted down, it can cause you to slide forward. This puts extra weight on your hands and stresses your arms and shoulders.
—Consider aero bars. When using them, all hand pressure is relieved. Weight is borne by your forearms.
—Consider changing shifters. Some riders do better with bar-end or down-tube shifters rather than integrated brake/shift levers. When you have to move your hands to shift, pressure is automatically relieved.
—Get a medical exam. Numbness in just 30 minutes of riding is unusual. If it also persists long after rides, check with a physician to rule out an underlying cause.
Learn More About Hand Numbness and Cycling
Cycling Aches and Pains III: Numb Hands or Hands that Hurt
This geezer has covered handlebars with foam pipe insulation.
One more thing to add to that good list of ideas: work on core strength. If your core is weak, that will also put more weight on your hands. To add to the “change your hand position frequently” I would add “be aware of your tingling hands and move just as you start to feel any numbness.”
My hand tightness is about shoulder impingement, in other words, my shoulders get tight and cut off circulation in the large blood vessels that run through my shoulders to my hands. The answers are like above, use core strength to keep my entire trunk weight off my hands, that is, have less weight on my hands. Also, rotate my arms externally. This means keeping my hands flat on the bars, turn my elbows towards my belly. This flattens my back, and coincidentally opens my chest for better breathing!
Same numbness and pain crept up on me faster and faster in both hands over a period of years. At 74 years of age I finally was sent to a neurologist and was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands of varying serious degrees. I was very surprised. Had relatively simple carpal tunnel surgery and am back on my bike after a few months, numbness free. Sleep better at night as my hands were painfully going numb while sleeping also. Drugstore wrist braces helped me out some while sleeping but not on the bike. Check this avenue out if all else fails.
Another possibility is the saddle being too far forward. Also, even if the bar is high enough, the “reach” — horizontal distance from the saddle to the bar — being too long can cause numbness (especially in conjunction with a forward saddle).
I’ve had hand numbness for a few years. My attempted solution was to pad the handlebar and then buy padded gloves. When it didn’t work I tried gloves with heavier padding. Finally when I was totally exasperated I swapped my gloves with a pair of unpadded leather weight lifting gloves. I never would have guessed it but this totally solved the problem!!
Also, numbness in the hands can be caused by a “pinched” nerve in the neck. To test for this while riding, alter your neck position – lift your head/neck high, avoid forward head flexed neck posture.
I’m surprised that a bike fit wasn’t mentioned – a good bike fitter can often resolve these types of issues. The relationship between saddle height, for/aft, angle (mine has to be slightly nose up), bar height, bar distance, bar width, and other setup parameters can all play a role. I had numb fingers too – a bike fit solved this, and I can tell if my saddle has moved – numb fingers again. Good luck.