Forum menu
Really worth bearing in mind if you are off to the alps. Too many times have I seen people's hands start to fall apart in the first couple of days resulting in holes in your palms and you being unable to hold the bar, basically ruining your holiday!
Look out for the first signs as it won't happen to everyone! You will first get red hot spots normally on the fleshy bit of your palm beneath your thumb but the can also appear where your calaces are. Leave them and they will blister and its hard to recover from here.
To stop it make sure your hands are dry and not wet or sweaty, so when you get on the lift, gloves off, dry your hands and gloves. This is the main thing to do.
If you are worried about it, it's happened before to you or just want to avoid it carry a little bottle of talc and cover your hands and inside your gloves and repeat each time you get on the lift. It really does work!
Also worth doing is wrapping a load of duct tape around the talc bottle and if you get any sign of hot spots stick a 1" square of tape over it before talcing up. Just whip it off and renew each run!
Blistered palms that turn into holes are not the one yet every year someone in the group suffers as they don't follow the simple steps. Gloves with no padding and just a vented palm are best too
Great tips ! Well done !
First signs of blistering, get medical alchohol on your hands to dry that area out - works for me! As does disc brake cleaner when it's closer to hand*
Oh and get your brake levers in the right place! You should not have to adjust your hand position to reach your levers, nor should you be 2 or 3 finger braking!
*this also works on open wounds, but preferably not your own 😉
Like it...
The thing that surprises people is that kit that works in the UK just might not work on holiday, folks are mostly used to shorter rides, or long rides with relatively little technical content, and doing it for a day or two then resting and recovering. So you think "I love these gloves" then you do a bit more riding and you discover they're great up to a point- you've just never gone past that point before. Even UK uplifts tend not to give you that sort of constant wear. And this helps it to creep up on you- you think "Oh, that's a bit chafey, but this stuff's usually fine"
Oh, and those Compeed blister plasters for feet (that come in the wee green plastic box) are just as good on hands (or on raw spots from pads etc, or chafey crash damage). Very sticky so they stay where they're put, very well padded... I don't travel without them now, they're fantastic. I put holes the size of 50p pieces in each of my palms, the first time I did the endurance downhill, and just changing gloves and smacking a pair of these on saved my race (I did regret it for about 2 weeks after)
One additional option is to take two pairs of gloves - that way one is dry and you can wash the other one and leave it to dry out so it isn't pre-soaked in salt the next day.
The talc tip works really well - I learned the hard way after a five day riding trip.
I commented on this on the other alps thread, but I tend to wear the thinnest palmed, tightest gloves I can get on to avoid excess material from folding and creating extra hot spots.
Something as simple as taking you gloves off on the lift and airing them and your hands can help.
I always have spare gloves in the camelbak - especially useful if the ones you're wearing get covered in merde-du-vache.
If it's warm sweat bands aren't a bad idea - your riding position means body sweat will literally trickle down your arms into your gloves.
I find wrapping medical tape around blister prone areas of your hands before you get any issues works a treat at preventing blisters. My first year in the alps on a hard tail years ago ruined my hands after about a half dozen quick rides down the super Chatel down hill course. Much less of an issue on plush long travel bikes though.
I got bad blisters at the Megavalanche last year after swapping mid-week to my thinner gloves. I made some nice hand wraps out of bandages and micropore. They covered the tender bit (just under my usual calluses) and were easy to slip off and on during the day.
Meths rubbed on your hands helps to harden them up a bit too.
I was more concerned about my broken finger and damaged thumb ligaments than blisters...bring plenty of ibuprofen with you!
Yep I normally pack 4/5 pairs of gloves for a week and change every day. All good gloves that fit. Generally tested over UK uplift days.
Another vote for medical tape. That reminds me, I need to get another roll, off in two weeks!
TBH- it's never been a problem for me.
Above all else, the key is to RELAX~
...then focus on concentrating your weight through the pedals and assume 'tea party fingers'... like grasping fine porcelain.
A great coach taught me this and ever since I've suffered alot less arm pump and my hands are soft and dreamy.
Careful mucking about with tape, it's a good way to add a sweat trap, and it can ruck up and create chafes.
[quote=jivehoneyjive ]Above all else, the key is to RELAX~
...then focus on concentrating your weight through the pedals and assume 'tea party fingers'... like grasping fine porcelain.
A great coach taught me this and ever since I've suffered alot less arm pump and my hands are soft and dreamy.
Not knocking the advice above but this is the best. Fix the problem not the symptoms.
I agree with the weighing feet technique remark. Setting up you brakes to minimise effort also makes a huge difference. the sharper they are the later and less often you are reaching for the levers. Avoid nasty collared lockon grips. Treat gloves like socks and short liners: fresh every day.