I'm finding I'm getting numbs hands on longer rides (3-6 hours), particularly little & ring fingers and more so my right hand. I've been playing around with different grips & mixing up hand positions but with limited success. I'm wondering if a heavy Camelbak could be part of the problem…though tricky on long rides as I need the fluid. Any thoughts?

I had this. I rotated the bars forward more and adjusted the air in my forks – to run plusher/less air and blow through their travel easier (not sure of the correct term).

I also fitted a layback seatpost so I'm not over the bars as much.

It might also help if you play with the positioning of your brake levers

Cheers Hora, yeah one of the things I've tried is to rotate the brake levers up a bit…which did help with my wrists. I'm wondering if some comedy handlebars might help…Luv Handles or similar.

A camelback may well be a part of the issue – I hate carrying a rucksac at all and rarely do

Try:- mary bars or ergon grips, raising the bars to take your weight off them, rotate the bars back to give a more natural wrist angle

Ergon grips are awful off road- wonderful on my commuter but anyone putting them on an MTB clearly isn't riding exciting enough trails.

Specialized gloves are great for numbing the pain. Play with bar position first though, I find rolling them forward sorts my hands out.

Try swapping grips and buy specialised BG gloves, worked for me. I ride rigid hardtail all year round and using Pace carbon forks helped

What bike is it/length top tube, your height and stem length?

You mean Ergons didn't suit you spokes?

Ulna nerve sits under the meaty bit on the outside of the palm. The same nerve as when you catch your funny bone!
This takes care of your little and next finger. Try some ergon grips! Fantastic over longer rides.

Re Ergon. What happens if your ride includes technical/rocky sections?

With Ergons your grip on the bars perhaps is not as good but I don't find it to be an issue. Ridden Laggan with them and thats pretty rocky.

Found this….and I actually cheered 'Sid' on!!

I use the GE1 rather than the GP1 forgot to say!

I don't think they suit anyone- there are better (slimmer) alternatives from Bonty and Specialized. They dramatically reduce grip on the bar which is down right dangerous. Great on hybrids and getting about bikes- I use them on my own- but not off road.

I use ODI Ruffians- great as they have a larger diameter. Good if you have mans hands so your hands aren't screwed up tight round small grips.

spokes – I have used them for thousands of miles offroad and I tell you they are not dangerous in the reduction of grip. It is there yes but if you are relying on a death grip to stay on the bike then your technique is wrong.

I certainly don't deathgrip- I'm fairly loose on the bars, but having used them offroad they removed a very fundamental part of grip- the lower outside palm of your hand.

What R2 said, I used to get exactly the same till fitting a set of grips from Decathlon that offered specific support and cushioning for the ulnar nerve, problem went away.

Shorter stem helped with my numb hands

spokes – it not they don't work its that they don't suit all. They didn't suit you. I have no issue with grip at all.

Consider ESI grips .. very comfy in the 'chunky' variant, lightweight and no bar-slippage. I am biased though.

Cheers guys. I'm actually using Specialized BG gloves at the moment, and have done for years. I've always sworn by them in the past, but now that I'm stepping up the frequency and length of my rides I'm finding they actually make things worse. About half way through a 6 hr ride yesterday I took off the gloves & rode the remainder without them which definitely did help a bit. I've also recently switched from ODI Rogues (again, used for years) to ESI chunky foam grips which again have made a small improvement. Considering that my shoulders & forearms tend to be way more tired than my legs at the end of rides, I think I'll try & relocate some of that weight from the Camelbak to the bike. Definitely sounds like some Ergons are worth trying, though I have also been worried about the control thing on technical terrain. Worth a try though.

Oh yes, and when my new "long distance" bike is built up, I'll definitely be getting a proper fitting done.

Come on now Jezza, that's no fun, I'm feeling fractious 😉

Thought of some bar ends to help vary/increase your range of positions? That may be worth experimenting… even with riser bars. Go with what works.

Put the palm of your hand against the edge of a table as if resting on a bar.
Press your hand against it and see how the pressure is distributed.
Interesting isn't it?

occaisionaly i get numb feet ?lol

I was getting the exact same thing. brought some specialized Gel gloves with the ulnar nerve padding and it has stopped all the tingling.

im with tj on this one … ergons worth their weight in gold …. only event i havnt used them on in the last 4 years was 10 under the ben last year – trashed my hands rotten and got numb fingers middle to pinky

i do how ever use the small ones despite having large hands …

i guess luke knows better than the topeak ergon race team and mr endurance jeff kerkove ?

other causes are – top tube too long , top tube too short , seat too high , bar to seat drop too much …

take a side on photo leaning against a wall in your natural position on the bike.

"They dramatically reduce grip on the bar which is down right dangerous"

your doing it wrong ……

Your position on the bike is wrong.
Never mind all that grips and gloves rubbish, you've got too much weight on your hands, and when you get tired, you make it worse. You need to sit farther back and get more weight on your bum.

I'd second the bar-end option. I find it very restrictive to keep my hands in one position for a ride. Not for everyone though. Another good choice are the spongey Ritchey WCS grips. Great for ironing out vibrations and cushioning wrist pressure.

Have a look at your saddle too. If it's a bit nose down you'll certainly feel it on your wrists.

Don't forget though, when you're enjoying knocking one out post-ride, it'll save time having to lay on your arm to make it feel like someone else is doing it for you. Bonus!!

I used to get similar problems…changed grip and gloves which helped but the real solution came with upgrading to a better fork. (Also changing from v brakes to disks made a big difference but guess you are using disks ?)

Those symptoms are exactly like mine.

I tried the BG gloves and they worked for a while, but I think I may have squeezed too hard and the pads in the gloves moved apart and became less effective.

I tried swept-back bars (Humpert "Trackers") and they helped:-

http://www.fozzie.org.uk/bike02/06.jpg
http://www.fozzie.org.uk/bike02

But the best solution for me was the Nitto 'Tache' bars:-

http://www.fozzie.org.uk/bike01/02.jpg
http://www.fozzie.org.uk/bike01

I can ride or hours without numbness now (it's my knees that give up).

I use a Brompton in my lunchbreak, it has straight bars and I still get the numbness after less than an hour.

Cheers all, lots to think about. Will be interesting to get a picture of my position on the bike, will sort that tomorrow & see if there's an obvious cause, but I'm inclined to think I need to reduce the weight on my hands, perhaps in combination with some more comfortable bars/grips.

i've got a road bike, the other day i was riding along and thought;

'this is all very nice, but i do feel a bit 'stately' with my my stem pointing up, i think i'll flip it over, flatter – for more euro points'

result: a bit more weight on my hands, a bit more stretch, and numb tingly hands after about 20mins*.

sound familiar? – how low are your handlebars?

(* it does also look very 'euro' – shame it hurts, but rules are rules)

what crikey said+1 I just moved my saddle forward a little and that did the trick

I have a motley collection of cycles and only get pain on one of them, and it's the one that I've not got race face good'n'evil grips on.
So try something different with grips?

Have a look at the angle of your saddle as well, if you have the nose tilted down it can force more of your weight forwards onto the bars.

Found this….and I actually cheered 'Sid' on!!

Poor Sid !

But funny and made even better by the comedy clip-in keel over at the end 😀