Im having a problem in that over the last few rides i seem to be getting sore wrists and hands after riding anything pointing downhil?

whilst riding downhill i seem to be putting a lot of pressure through my hands and its getting a bit sore.

im pretty sure my stem is too long as i feel quite streched out on the bike.

would putting a shorter/higher rise stem help do you think??

cheers

steve

Rotate your brake levers up a bit.

There could be a few factors causing it, a stretched out position on the bike is one. 10mm or 20mm off your stem length can make a big difference, although it will make your bike steer a bit quicker – if it's an 80mm XC machine it could end up feeling a bit skittish.

Your brake levers should be angled so that your wrists sit at a fairly natural angle when you're using them. I sometimes see people with them pointing right up and it makes me wince! And, if you're still getting used to longer non-stop descents, you will have a bit of tiredness to start with.

could be that you're gripping the bars too tightly.

good tip with brake lever position.

Skinny grips?
Skinny gloves?
Brake lever angle?
What forks? Maybe you are exceeding their limits?

I found On-one Mary Bars helped. But make sure all the above is right first

Mary bars make a huge differnce to me – serious pain adfter half an hour or none after several hours/

Conventional bars put your wrists at an unnatural angle

Mary bars take a bit of getting used to and do impair jumping IMO – but for the rest – great

Get loose.

drop your heels, and transfer body weight through bottom bracket instead of arms.

cheers for all the replies!!

fork is a fox 36 rc2 talas so i doubt i will exceed the limits of these!!

it was my first ride for about 5 weeks in an unfamiliar place with lots of wet roots etc!!

i think i could of been holding on quite tight too!!

cheers

steve

wider bars?

Ride your bike more.

i was suffering with this and i wound the rebound off my fork a touch and suddenly i don't get it any more.

Also wound my levers in a fair bit, and try and not "death grip" the bars

bars are 710mm wide!!!

might try and play with rebound too

cheers

steve

Conventional bars put your wrists at an unnatural angle

really ? They feel just right to me – am I deformed ?

you need more power in your wrists. your not bitch slapping enough folk. 😯

SFB – Hold a pencil in your hand as you would a handlebar. Relax your wrist so the joint is straight and relaxed – the pencil will be pointing back and down on the outside and up and forward on the inside. Simple anatomy. All that has happened is you have adapted to the conventional bars and there is a good argument conventional bars are better for control.

They clearly put significant strain on your wrists thru forcing the wrist to be twisted up ( pronated) and turned in( adducted) This compresses the carpel tunnel.

Mary bars are one solution to wrist and hand pain

Carbon bars helped me

Relax your wrist so the joint is straight and relaxed

just tried it and the angle is the same…

I used to suffer from RSI till I started MTB which rapidly cured it – by strengthening my wrists I suppose.

After breaking both wrists back in may this year I have some pain/trouble occasionally on the rough stuff when using my XC hardtail (with rebas) I swapped to a carbon bar and got some Ergon grips. They've really helped.
I also use a 661 wrist brace now which seems to help as well.

The missus also got me a powerball which is great for building wrist strength

SFB – you simply are not putting your arm joints in the neutral position. Look at the crease folds on your palm – they do not run straight accross.

With you hand clasped in a fist around a pencil and your arms in front of you at waist height shoulder width apart if you put all the joints in the most relaxed position the pencil will point back and down to the outside.

This is just basic normal anatomy

SFB – you simply are not putting your arm joints in the neutral position

perhaps riding a bike all these years has deformed me ? When I really, really relax there might be a few degrees between bar angle and pencil angle, but my wrist can accomodate roughly 80 degrees rotation in that plane, so it's insignificant

wrists should be dropped slightly when riding

Somehow I can't see mary bars working on a bike that merits 36s. I get the same problem on my big bikes, I find it's worse in wet weather, I assume this is due to tension more than anything but having wet hands probably doesnt help.

I've experimented with lever positions, grip widths and am currently running carbon bars, but at the end of the day I think it comes down to forearm strength. I find kettle bells are a good way to build this but any reasonably heavy weight lifting will benefit the forearms. Captains of crush also do a range or very good hand grippers that are guaranteed to test/build grip strength.

more rebound (so the forks bounce back a bit slower)