Just come back from an hours ride on my road bike and I have been suffering from pins and needles in my left arm and hand, it only happens when I ride my road bike. All 3 mountain bikes are ok and I have no problems at all on them.
It's always happened on my road bike, only ridden it a dozen times, but every time be it 1/2hr or 3 hours it always happens.
Any ideas or possible ways of altering stuff that may alleviate the problem?
Ta
Dave
My guess would be that you are getting muscular spasm in your neck / back which is causing pressure on the nerves. Raise the bars a bit? Check your riding position?
[i]Check your riding position?[/i]
how?
I don't know what to look for
I could swap the stem over to raise the bars a bit.
I believe there are websites that show riding positions and also folk with the expertise.
The other thing to try is to deliberately stretch your neck and drop your shoulders - what can happen is you hunch your shoulders up towards the ears and this sets off the spasm.
I am not saying it is that - only that it is one of the possible causes and perhaps a likely one.
Do you wear different gloves on your road bike? If I don't wear gloves with the right padding, I get tingly arm.
I do this stuff for a living. Difficult to sort without actually seeing you and the bike, but can you answer a few Q's:
1.How tall are you?
2.What length top tube is your road bike (top centre headtube - horizontally to centre of seatpost) ?
3.What length stem are you using in mm?
4.Whats the present bar height (centre of front hub to centre of stem bar clamp)
Ta.
If you don't know what to look for go to a decent roadie shop and get them to have a look at your riding position. Chances are you'll get 2 or 3 differing opinions but it'll give you an idea of what needs changing or what you can try before you go throwing money at the problem or changing 6 things at once and not knowing which solved the issue.
FWIW, I sometimes get slight pins and needles in my left hand (only the left) on very long road rides but it's just a matter of changing between drops, hoods and tops reasonably regularly and that sorts it.
Are you wrestling the bars?
very common cause of arm/neck/shoulder/hand pain in MTBers riding roadbikes
i'm 5ft 4"
TT is 535mm (Ribble 46cm horizontal TT Audux/Winter frame)
it's a 90mm stem
and 530mm for number 4
and yeah the same gloves for both sets of bikes Brant
are you just soft?
Too many cobbled roads up North?
Will help you if required
LOL at Junkyard!
I think you need a 52 or 52.5cm top tube bike. We usually (but not always) expect a rider 5ft5"-5ft8"ish to ride a 53.5 top tube when set up correctly. How is you saddle positioned in the clamp? Is it quite far forward?
Can you put a static pic up here of you sat on the bike, clipped in with pedals level, with your hands on the hoods? Promise we won't laugh! It will help me visualise anything thats wrong.
I'll have a go.
maybe Junkyard can pop round and take the piccie.
give me a few minutes.
I did go to Ribble and they said that, that bike and stem was about right.
and the saddle is quite away BACK in the clamp.
Here's a U.S. bike shop's website with reasonable tips on home/self fitting to your bike:
http://orangecycleorlando.com/page.cfm?pageID=84
Pay particular notice to saddle height 1st, then saddle fore/aft positioning, before looking at cockpit adjustments of stem length or height.
If the height and saddle fore/aft are done correctly to position you over the pedal well, and you then find you need a stem shorter than 80mm to feel comfortable, chances are the frame is too big for you.
Ben
I wear padded gloves.If i didnt my hands go a bit numb
I know others say its position,and i expect in 90% of cases it is.However ive been through a dozen or so bikes all different sizes,and the problem has persisted throughout
here you go Epic
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Right! Much better to see these things than just talk about them!
Drop a plumb line (homemade will do!) down from your knee to the centre of the pedal axle. Is the front of the knee cap inline when you're clipped in with the pedals are level, hands on hoods? If so that's good. If the knee is still forward of the plumb line then the saddle needs to be yet further back etc.
If you can pop the bike in a turbo trainer then try putting it into a very difficult gear and ride it with a high cadence. Then try taking both your hands off the hoods at the same time (only just an inch to the side), and see if you can still support yourself. If you fall forwards, it could be a sign of too much weight on your hands because either the stem is too long &/or top tube is to long, &/or bar height is too low.
Your arms look locked out in the photo, and they should have a very slight bend. have you tried flipping the sten over into it's upright position? Try that and take it out for an hour or so to see if things have improved.
If you do change anything make sure it is only one thing at a time, so you isolate the problem. Changing everthing at once will only mess you up more.
Ben
Cheers Ben, i'll sort out as per that website you posted, and try the stem.
If the seat has to go further back still, then I asume a layback post is required.
It looks on the photo that the front of the knee is still quite away fwd of the pedal axle.
your help is much appreciated.
Just another thing, my palms are also very sore (almost feels like a blister) after riding this bike, even after only an hour. Could this be a sign of too much weight on the hands?
It looks a fraction on the small side to me. A useful guideline (not an accurate measurement) is if you can see the front hub from that riding position in the photo. It should be hidden by the bars. If it's in front of the bars, the bike is too short/small (or the stem too short), if it's behind the bars then the bike (or stem) is too long.
As Epic says, you should be able to take your hands off the bars and still support yourself in that position using just the muscles of your back, if you can't there's too much weight on your hands.
Try relaxing a bit more on the bike, drop the elbows a bit to bend the arms slightly and try shaking your elbows - it sounds weird but so many people ride with very tense shoulders/neck and it translates to stiff arms and lack of blood flow to the hands.
Thats a very strong sign on excess weight on your hands. Some people feel like their hands are hot, followed by pins and needles later in the ride.
Do you slide forward on your saddle during a ride? If so, your knee might be forward of that vertical path to the peday and may need that layback post.