So shamefully I entered the darkside this weekend with the purchase of a Trek something or other, I honestly don’t know what. Today, I got to ride it for the first time and smashed out a quick(loosely true) 45 miles.

The question I’ve got though is; After around 25 miles, my hands started going numb from, I imagine, leaning on them so much. Other than the obvious “Dont lean on them” is there something I can do to alter this issue?

Cheers ladies, gents, big hitters.

Darkside?

*shoots self in head*

p.s Don’t lean on them.

try altering the angle of the brake and gear levers – this will alter where the pressure from …ahem…leaning on your hands builds up

also perhaps try more padded gloves?

First off, stop calling it the darkside, then you’ll sound like less of a ****, which will help your hands.

Then, ride your road bike some more, which will further help your hands as they acclimatise.

If this doesn’t happen you may need to adjust your position, but it’s rather hard for us to judge based on the information you’ve given.

raise bars, adjust saddle further back, get longer stem, do small changes though as it doesn’t sound to bad, a rule of thumb, if you place your elbow on the front of yer saddle, the handlebars should be at the end off your outstretched hand.Height adjustment is personal preference, body shape etc

First off, stop calling it the darkside, then you’ll sound like less of a ****, which will help your hands.

This…. 😆

Don’t wear gloves. Padded gloves cover up for bad technique. Don’t wear gloves and you’ll soon learn how to hold the bars properly (oh so lightly).

Also post a picture of your bike.

a rule of thumb, if you place your elbow on the front of yer saddle, the handlebars should be at the end off your outstretched hand.

😯

Never heard of that, just tried it. I can just about reach my headset, and I’ve been thinking about going even longer (both top tube and stem).

Also call it darkside more, it annoys the beardy ctc lot 😉

I thought the rule was;

If you put your elbow on the front of the saddle and your fingertips on the centre of the stem cap then make sure you’re covering the brake lever with your other hand.

i think bending your arms properly helps, you shouldn’t be straight-arming it

try your saddle flatter if you don’t normally. i actually have mine with the nose one step up

and ride more.

I posted this a while back….it’s about postions for hands on a road bike. I hope it might help…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/one-for-the-newbie-roadies-handlebar-positions

SB

I’ve heard of that rule of thumb but the fingers should go to the centre of your steerer. Works for me, any longer and I would be stretched out badly.

Is it a pain/numbness coming from between thumb and finger? get some more bar tape and put some added thickness on the top between the hoods and the curve to increase the girth. Should make it more comfortable.

I always thought that calling it the “darkside” was the one rule worth adhereing to! thinking this way makes me smile more when on my MTB and allows me to look mean and moody when on my roadbike.

nice beret stratorider !

get some suspension forks on there. its not 1992 you know!

you dont wear gloves to pad your hands .They are protection if you fall off

my advice regarding saddle to bars– is out of cyclecraft, just checked my own bikes,for the tourer its spot on,for my roadie my hand just covers the stem cap!!

trial and error is the way, do agree bout the gloves though, never use em.

don’t tend to fall off, used to when i was a child, long long ago…..

If you put your elbow on the front of the saddle and your fingertips on the centre of the stem cap

What if your saddle’s in the wrong position before you start? What if your saddle is to low?, What if his top tube is to long?

So many variants as we’re all different. Trying to find that elusive neutral position on the bars is a hard thing to find as can take an age without any experience.

If your new to it and you want to ride more then the best thing to do is ignore a lot of advise on here and get a proper bike fit done. The Retul fit is excellent and money well spent in my opinion.

You can also choose to ignore this too. 😉

Support the bike somehow then get into your normal riding position. Lift your hands from the handlebars. If you immediately tip forward and can’t support your weight with your core muscles then your riding posiiton is wrong and you have too much weight on your hands. Did you have a bike fit when you bought the bike? If the above is the case then get a few more spacers under the stem or a higher rise stem. Assuming your bike fit is not way out once you have been riding a bit and built up some road fitness you will then be able to lower the bars as your musclature develops.

And BTW its “Dark Side” two words.

Cheers for the advice gents. If it changes anything, the stem has been flipped so it lowers the bars. It was done upon purchase by the shop. Is this a common thing?

PS; Do you have to capitalise both words or is “Dark side” acceptable? 😆

Don’t start changing things after just one ride. Give yourself a chance to acclimatise.
If you still have the problem after a few rides then by all means start tweaking things.

If it changes anything, the stem has been flipped so it lowers the bars. It was done upon purchase by the shop. Is this a common thing?

Yeah, pretty common, makes you go faster.

Well it didn’t seem to help. I only averaged 12.8mph 🙁

I’ll give it a few more rides before I tweak then. Thanks for all the tips everyone. I’m actually surprised how much I enjoyed it despite how much I was hanging out by the end.

Teetosugars – Member

First off, stop calling it the darkside, then you’ll sound like less of a ****, which will help your hands.

This….

I’ll stop using ‘Darkside’ when everyone else stops using ‘Wendyball’.
Deal? 😀

smashed out a quick(loosely true) 45 miles.

I only averaged 12.8mph

I don’t believe “smashed” is the correct word to use. Maybe “pootled”? 😀

Get riding with a club ASAP, you’ll be flying before you know it 🙂

the stem has been flipped so it lowers the bars

Road bike stems generally have zero rise so if you took it off the bike and held the stem clamp vertically then the stem will look like it has a negative rise. Once fitted to the bike the head tube angle will bring the stem to the horizontal. If yours is pointing to the ground in order to make the bike fit you I’d say you have the wrong bike

@Realman; I said loosely true 😀 Well I did have some periods where I averaged 18mph+ over 1 to 1.8 miles. I’m no Lance Armstrong (can I even say that these days?) but I’ll get there. I should hopefully see gains soonish as that 45mi will be my daily commute as of next week 8O.

@uponthedowns; I’ve just had a look, it is horizontal at the moment, it was higher before the flipping, is that right?

Hold the bars, don’t just rest on them.

I’ll stop using ‘Darkside’ when everyone else stops using ‘Wendyball’.

I’ve never used wendyball, it’s only marginally better than ‘darkside’, but you carry on as long as you don’t mind sounding like a moron, no skin off my nose!

Road bike stems generally have zero rise so if you took it off the bike and held the stem clamp vertically then the stem will look like it has a negative rise

That’s not true, a zero rise stem is just that; 0 degrees, the centreline of the stem is perpendicular to that of the steerer. They’re pretty uncommon. Most stems (road or MTB) are 6 or 7 degrees, MTB ones tend to have a positive rise, whilst road ones traditionally have a negative ‘rise’.

I’ve just had a look, it is horizontal at the moment, it was higher before the flipping, is that right?

Yes

RealMan – Member
“If it changes anything, the stem has been flipped so it lowers the bars. It was done upon purchase by the shop. Is this a common thing?”
Yeah, pretty common, makes you go faster.

And looks fully Pro™

I’ve never used wendyball, it’s only marginally better than ‘darkside’, but you carry on as long as you don’t mind sounding like a moron, no skin off my nose!

Cheers, I’ll get a note of your assent tattooed on my left buttock immediately. Perhaps you’d be good enough to sign it sometime? 😀

Seriously, why does it wind you up?
I find it quite amusing, but then again I think ‘Wendyball is actually funny despite the fact I love footie too.

Funny old world eh?

It doesn’t wind me up in the least, it just makes you sound like a pillock, very different things. A bit like if you got ‘idiot’ tattooed on your forehead – I’d point and laugh at your stupidity, then get on with my life!

It clearly winds you up enough to keep going on about it. Best not look at the singletrack homepage either, they have used that naughty word on the eurobike headline. Besides, darkside is a cooler description than roadie.

Play nicely girls or you will get turfed by the Stasi.
OP – ride none handed, you girl. Hth. 😀

@uponthedowns; I’ve just had a look, it is horizontal at the moment, it was higher before the flipping, is that right?

That’s correct if the bike is sized properly for you. Once you’ve ridden it a few more times if you are still getting numb hands then try flipping the stem to get the bars up higher and see if that makes a difference. However if you stick at it then with improving fitness your core will get stronger and you’ll naturally be putting less pressure on your hands and be able to tolerate a lower position.

njee20 – Member

It doesn’t wind me up in the least, it just makes you sound like a pillock, very different things.

Aw go on, it does wind you up doesn’t it? 🙂
Just a teensy tiny bit? 😀

Have you considered aversion therapy? I believe it works very well.

DARKSIDE!

Sorry.

MrSparkle – Member

Play nicely girls or you will get turfed by the Stasi.

What, for saying DARKSIDE!?

Sorry again.

Some interesting points here although plenty are rubbish!

Question for Mulletus – assuming you had a Retul fitting, where did you go? Thanks. 🙂

Bloke here does retul fittings for 200e and even brings his gear to you.

C_G, Yes I had one done recently. I originally went to have a TT fit but ended up getting a road fit instead as from that I could establish what stack height and reach I needed for a TT frame which was the original point of the fit.

I only needed a few subtle changes. Stem length shortened by 10mm and 2° taken off of the rise. Saddle height raised by 5mm and cleat position changed. The difference has been amazing. I thought I was comfy on the bike before but now it feels like it fits even better and my power output and efficiency has improved too as I was getting flat spots at the bottom of my pedal stroke.

The place I went to was Vankru. The whole fit took about 4 hrs and I can’t recommend him enough. He is based in Southampton.

Mulletus – thanks very much for that info. 🙂 I’m now finding that following my op, upper body is no longer wonky and bike just doesn’t feel ‘right’ so may well try that place. Trouble is I’m still lacking confidence. 🙁

How’s the TT going then? Bet your mtb doesn’t get used now. 😉