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So, after a week up riding the 7 Stanes last week, I returned with a hand injury.
After the first day, I noticed my right hand, more specifically the area between the top joint of my thumb down to my wrist, was getting sore - this got progressively worse during the week but of course I carried on - we were on holiday!
Got back Saturday and had struggled a bit with steering wheel grip on the way home (safe but sore) - and decided that rides on Monday and Tuesday would be wise on a different bike with different grips to try and balance things out a bit.....turned out to be a mistake.....by this morning (Weds), I couldn't hold a pen, pick up a brew, etc - pain in the area of my hand was/is intense - so off to local Infirmary.
After suspecting a break, x ray revealed that not to be the case but did reveal early arthritis in the thumb joints which is interfering with an inflamed tendon....so got to give the hand a rest for a few days/week so now in a thumb brace....
So.......
Any advice on grips given the above? I'm especially worried this might be the start of an ongoing problem and I don't want to miss out on riding going forward (I'm a recently retired 60 yo)
I currently use ESI silicone grips on all my bikes.....I'm wondering if going with something like the Ergon GP's with the flat support for the palms might be a good idea??? Any other suggestions?
I've used Ergon grips and found they helped, don't forget to experiment with handlebar roll and height too, you may alleviate the pressure by simply having less weight on your hands with a higher bar.
SQ Labs Inner Bar Ends have helped with my arthritis.
also recommend the lightest feel vs most power brake levers- Hope for me
Bring levers up? Found that in the Alps the old straight line through the arms/hand/fingers lever position actually was causing pain. Brought lever angle up and that lessened it. If you were riding steeper than your usual stuff this might help.
I'm 61 and have OA in both thumbs, more noticeable in the right. Have been riding w Spesh grips like the ergons and they are pretty good, but I think I might like a bit more squish up around where the thumb and first finger grip, that might cushion things a bit more cos it's hard not to put pressure on the joint when descending and braking.
Have also got the SQlab inner bar ends thinking the same as Watty, and they're quite good, but now find the outside heel of my hands feel sore cos there's not enough squish at the base of the bar ends...I probs need to look at some of their grips too which will integrate better.
But ultimately I'm thinking as Stevelol says I might need to tweak my bar angle or go for a different bar as the one I'm using has minimal rise, but that might help with the wrist angle. And I'll try 100idiots' lever angle tweak as well
I fondly recall the PlanetX foam grips being kind to the touch on my Voodoo fatbike '16-'20.
I have a similar issue in my right thumb. I've tried many grips which didn't really help as my pain comes from pressure in the crook of my thumb from the bars. What has helped is switching to stooge moto bars. The different sweep has reduced the pressure.
stooge moto bars
Interesting Teenrat ...how does one work out different rise and sweep to decide which bar is gonna work....
As I was reading down the thread what sprung in to my mind was Stooge Moto Bars and Oury grips.
17 degrees back sweep, rolled back so no upsweep (this was a revelation for me, turns out I’m hyper sensitive to upsweep) and chunky Oury lock-on grips. I’m not sure on the diameter difference to most others but the extra girth is what made all the difference. 😉
Really high bars for me… 80 mm rise and making sure my suspension is balanced and doesn’t dive is my sweet spot. I had multiple thumb injuries and many years of performing manual therapy meant I experimented with lots of grips, some helped a bit, including more swept bars. Then I fractured / micro fractured pretty much every bone in my left hand, swept bars became uncomfortable and the grips didn’t cut it. Going to high rise bars means, for me at least, I can now do 120 + miles and 30,000 feet plus of descending in a week and my thumb feels fine. Tons of normal life stuff isn’t so good but hey 🙂 Good forks and brakes are pretty much a must too!
What about those Wolf Tooth 'Locked In' bar ends?
Supposed to help reduce hand fatigue.
https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/bar-end-plugs/products/locked-in-bar-ends
https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/pages/locked-in-bar-ends-user-manual
