Those of you of the half rice/half chips persuasion* Your recommendations please ladies and gents.
My hands are getting a bit numb, despite the gel track mitts. What's the solution. Other than flat bars, suspension and 2.5" tyres 😉
*road/mountain bike - I'm not casting aspersions about your sexuality
What about double wrapping?
spesh bar phat is nice
I like the specailzed BG stuff and the bogo bonty stuff, the latter I had on my SS lug for a year and never got numb hands even with no gloves.
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/cinelli-bar-gel-cushion-kit-463-p.asp
Stick some of this Cinelli get stuff under the tape for a comfort time.
I have used them for years under all types of tape. I have a history of damaged hands from cycling to scotland and now need these on drop bars. Great stuff.
Numb hands is usually a sign of a poor position, and gloves or bar tape are only a temporary fix. It's usually the case that you are sitting too far forwards, supporting too much weight through your hands. Using thicker tape and or padded gloves tends to move the problem to your shoulders and neck. I'd look again at your saddle position, and see if you can go further back. Best tape is the padded cork style stuff, and you can overlap it more than usual to thickening it up where needed.
Lizard Skins DSP is properly lovely bar tape.
I've double-wrapped my commuter roadie bike bar tape, much more comfortable for me.
Not speaking from personal experience, but my work partner has recently fitted some Lizard Skins bar tape and he reckons it's fantastic. He too wanted some comfier tape and he's been through a few brands before settling on Lizard Skins.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Plenty to go at there. The way my hands feel at the moment I'm thinking Charlie's gels and some lizard skins. Would that be overkill? 😀
Crikey - I think you've got a fair point there. I'm fairly new to this roadie lark and I'm making it up as I go along. I know how I like my mountain bikes set up as I've been doing it for years, but this is all new. I'll have a try with altering the riding position A bit and see how I get on
Thanks for the words of wisdom folk, as ever
simondbarnes - Member
Lizard Skins DSP is properly lovely bar tape.
Yup, I run this on my road, and CX bikes..
Great bit of kit.
Wished I'd found Lizard Skins DSP before now. It's not the cheapest but your hands will thank you.
binners - I've concluded that gradually road riding decreases sensitivity...
.
.
.
...in the hands, and so thin tape and rock hard tyres doesn't seem to bother me.
Quite like the Charge U-bend one, best bit is it's a perfect colour match for their spoon saddles.
I have the Spesh roubaix tape + gel pads on one bike, Stella Azzurra on another and recently stuck Lizard Skins DSP on a third. I like them all really (haven't ridden far on the DSP though). DSP + gel pads would probably work but it would give you a pretty fat bar so not great if you have small hands. You could always try just DSP and if you want more after get gel pads (DSP seems to unwrap and rewrap pretty easily to me).
No worries there FuzzyWuzzy. i've got hands like shovels 😀
Going to order some Gels from charlie and some Lizard Skins methinks
Not just about position, core strength and weight come into it as well. I'm a big bugger and suffered when I first started the road bike as well, But it seems to be getting better.
If your core ain't strong enough to support a big upper body, then you'll be piling a lot of weight onto your hands.
+1 for sort your position, you shouldn't get numb hands. Double wrapping or Bar Phat will take the edge off if you ache on long rides, but that's not numbness.
Saying that, mine were pretty numb at 6am today - brrr! 🙂
Fizik gel pads and the bar tape that come as a kit seem alright to me.