Jim’s Tech Talk
By Jim Langley
We received what I consider to be a game-changer of a bike fitting tip to share today. It’s related to last week’s Tech Talk, which was about proper positioning of drop handlebars and brake/shift levers. Here’s that article: Basic Tips for Drop Bar Brake Lever Positioning.
When I read Eric’s tip it immediately brought to mind RBR reader Phil, who wrote in recently for help with hand numbness, tingling and pain. I have no idea if this tip will help Phil, but I do think it could help others with upper body issues when cycling.
When you read it, you might think it sounds obvious. But, it’s not something I’ve heard of until now. And that includes when I was fitting bikes in bike shops, which I did for hundreds of riders in the 1980s.
The tip is from bike industry veteran Eric Sampson, a name you might know from our publication, because we’ve reviewed some of the quality bicycle components and other products he’s brought to the market or helped produce over the years.
For example, we recently reviewed Event Gear’s Simplyfast waxes, both their hot wax and their Cube rub-on wax, which I carry and use regularly. Eric helped in the development of these products. Here’s the Cube review: First Look: Event Gear’s Simplyfast Cube Rub-On Wax Lube.
And in years past we reviewed his popular clipless pedals (photo): Sampson Stratics Carbon/Cro-Mo Pedals.
Eric runs Sampson Sports in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Here’s his website to learn more: https://www.sampsonsports.com.
Handlebars, Levers and Arm Length Discrepancies
This is Eric speaking:
“I noted your column today on handlebars and lever positioning. We have a measurement on our custom bicycle sizing forms for arm length, this lets us build a bike that gets the rider a good, basic position as you noted.
For a long time, we had a retail showroom attached to the shop where I did thousands of fits and set-ups over the years. In doing in-person measurements, I frequently noted that a lot of people had a pretty significant arm-length discrepancy.
Eric’s terrific tip
When there was a big difference, I would simply adjust the position of the levers so that the natural bend in the elbows was equal, and a line across the top of the shoulders would be parallel with the hips/pelvis.
This is easy to accomplish during a fitting or bike build – and a 5 to 10 mm adjustment usually keeps everything squared up and aligned to a neutral posture for smoother pedaling, and less muscle effort for staying centered.”
Eric didn’t say it, but I’m sure it makes riders more comfortable and prevents pain, numbness and injury too. Such a helpful tip.
Thanks so much for sharing Eric!
Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. A pro mechanic & cycling writer for more than 40 years, he’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Tune in to Jim’s popular YouTube channel for wheel building & bike repair how-to’s. Jim’s also known for his cycling streak that ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.
I guess I’m more of a skeptic than you are, Jim. If hand numbness is due to arm length discrepancies, wouldn’t you expect hand numbness to be different on the left and the right hands? I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody say they experienced more pain on one side than the other.
As a bodyworker of 35+ yrs ( Ortho-Bionomy). People with arm length discrepancies means they have some imbalance in their ribs and/or spine. Just a little fyi.
Thanks for the feedback Captainmux and Matt, appreciate it. Regarding an imbalance in the ribs or spine, I assume the lever adjustment/tweak would be a temporary solution until the imbalance could be addressed and used that way, wouldn’t it be a lot better than not riding?
And regarding numbness, I just used numbness as a suggestion to Phil in case he had not looked into an arm length discrepancy. I think Eric is talking about many different issues related to not addressing an arm length discrepancy. It makes sense to me that if you are sitting crooked because you’re leaning to reach one lever that’s too far away, that all kind of things might begin to ache or hurt.
Year ago, our co-founder Ed Pavelka wrote about an issue with his hips that forced him to ride with his saddle slightly askew to solve his saddle sores. Seems similar to that to me.
Appreciate your thoughts!
Jim
One more thought, or two, on hand numbness. I have a nerve in my neck that gets slightly pinched and can even cause numbness in fingers while just walking for 30 minutes or so. I had a cortisone injection in the neck and that relieved the numbness greatly. I also noticed less hand numbness when riding after the shot. My first and only shot seems to have been good for about 9 months.
My second thought is lever position and lever design. My older Litespeed with 10 speed ultegra 6700 generally did not cause numbness until I got much older and less flexible for the saddle to bar drop. I run those levers so the bar and flat part of the hood are positioned parallel to the ground. Even with the flexibility loss these rarely caused numbness. The ultegra 6700 hoods are narrow compared to some of the modern options. Fast forward to a Trek Checkpoint ALR with the GRX 11 speed levers positioned way high as delivered. Hand numbness often. I am going to move these down and see what happens. And I just recently picked up a bike with 12 speed Di2. As delivered, the bars have a slight downward slope to the flat part of the hoodsl (kind of like the old school way we used to set up our road bikes but not as severe a downward angle as back then) and the back of the hoods where hands rest are parallel to the ground. No numbness with these. So my conclusion for me is I need the top of the bars and flat part of the hoods basically parallel to the ground.
I also have a feeling that the width of the hoods for the GRX 11 speed is a contributor, these things are wide. Bottom line, between the pinched nerve and the different hoods positions and hood widths I have, it is difficult to know exactly what the interplay of the issues are, but the flat hood / handlebar seems to work best for me.