Do people tend to use fatter bar tape or some kind of padding to help absorb shock into the hands?

think i got some cheapy easton bar tape which doesnt offer much shock absorbing, which is ok for an hr in the rough, but on rough ground for a few hours it seems to be making my hands ache and slight numbing..
I’m no pansy rider and dont need to mtfu, never had this issue on all day rides on the mtb with foam grips and rigid forks..

Different riding position than an MTB. consider tweaking your seat / post / stem / bar heights / angles. Specialized do some gel insert tape, or you could double it up.

I cut the old grips off my myb and taped over them so that I have more padding under the flats as I use the top levers a lot

I think the main problem you are facing is that CX bikes are only really intended for 1hr blasting about in the rough!

More helpfully though, i got some PRO gel bar tape which is fatter than normal and much better than the specialized gel pads i have used in the past. The gel pads are a bit thick and can squish about a lot, as well as being awkward to tape the bars with.

I got it here

CX bikes are a bit less forgiving.

mtfu

Just put some gel under the tape – fi’zik or specialised or bontrager.

,,,,,or double tape the bars.

I double-wrap my bars, but my hands are absurdly massive.

Tom Boonen does it all year round.

What? Boonen double wraps his bar? Ooh er.

i use the cx for road miles, cx races and mtb riding.. setup feels fine, dont think to much weight is on hands, but it is a lot harsher than my rigid mtb. i think its probably just my bar tape thats a bit crap, was only about £6 didnt really so will probably try that pro gel bar tape, thanks for that matthew

who is Boonen exactly?

Tom Boonen. Note the jersey colours indicating that he was at the time the photo was taken, the national road race champion of Belgium. Also note the rainbow stripes on his sleeves denoting his status as former road race World Champion…in road terms, this man is harder than nails. He also seems to quite enjoy the crash-fest that is Paris-Roubaix as he’s won it at least three times.

There was some drugs trouble a while back but I think he’s racing again now.

And for a change the drugs were recreational rather than performance enhancing iirc

they’re all at it!

wasnt racing this year due to knee injury.

As RID says…”hard as nails”

dobo – Member

who is Boonen exactly?

Expect the STW “serious” posse to be on your tail for not being real cyclist. 🙄

Just double tape your bars with a couple of rolls of cheap stuff. Nice stuff will just get ruined by mud.

Don’t use any shiny bar tape as in the wet your hands slide about (its the brown Charge stuff).

Nice stuff will just get ruined by mud.

thats what i thought and bought some cheap black stuff, though the pro gel stuff is only £9, better not be shiny, wont look right on my bike.