On descents that are a little treacherous and scare the Sh!t out of me I tend to like to grip the handlebars and be able to apply the brakes quite liberally. After all that's what they are there for. However on longish segments (Jacobs Ladder-Peak District) my hands seize up and clamp onto the handlebars. this gets very painful.
Are my brake levers biting points too close to my handlebars?
Loosen your grip and let it go! Don't drag the brakes either. Use 'em when you need.
You need to relax brother!! If you stay loose, a) you'll not cramp up and b) you're less likely to hurt yourself if you come off.
Light but firm grip on the bars, cover the brakes with one or two fingers. Scrub off speed with the rear brake, feather the front to control your rate of descent.
If it gets gnarly (dude) lay off the front brake altogether until you're through the gnar - that way the front wheel will keep rolling, you can keep steering and you're less likely to go over the bars.
Used to get this end up with a 'claw' hand that hurts like hell for ages. Slowly learned to release my grip a bit as it had become a death grip and to try and extend my fingers a little on the smoother sections to help ease it. Also bought a motogrip ring which I use at work as a stress ball (it gets a lot of use) and that seems to have helped too.
I'm off the front brake a lot more..but guess I need to learn to relax on the bars. I just don't like the idea of slipping off them when i'm headfirst into a rock garden.
bigger/thicker grips.
it worked for me.
oh, and raise your brake levers. about 20degrees down from horizontal, not 45.
check the position of your brake levers...
when holding the grips place your index finger on the lever blade...the finger should be inline with your forearm, if not then rotate the brake lever until it is.
also slide the brake levers inwards about 20mm until your index finger rests on the curve of the lever blade...this way you can apply greater force on the brake lever with less effort...
and as everyone else has stated, relax your grip (firm but loose)!!
this explains a lot. I reckon we should have a session somewhere - on some long steps perhaps; see if we can get you to relax a bit. Remember on friday? when you loosened up and relaxed, you nailed those steps.
Might be worth asking why you're on the brakes so much too, is your suspension not working correctly, and making you feel out of control? Just had an upgrade to my fork, and i'm far more in control, and far less on the brakes (though braking too much can also upset the handling as well).
life is easier once you realise that the bars are there for steering with not holding on to...
I have had this while racing a ktm enduro bike, I sorted it by tilting the bars back slightly towards the rear, I think it was caused by pressure points between thumb and forefinger,although it was also very cold that particular day.
Try altering your bar position, consider fork set up, and front tyre pressures, hanging on to tight makes this a lot worse too.
gonzy has some good tips too hth 😉