Hand problems – light at the end of the tunnel… at a cost

I thought I’d share my experiences of trying to solve some problems with my hands that may help other riders so afflicted.

I’m now in my mid-50s and have been suffering from an increasing number and growing size of hard lumps in my hands. I showed them to my GP who said that any operation to remove them would leave scar tissue which would be as much of an issue as the lumps themselves when riding. The lumps on my palms and inner fingers aren’t painful in themselves but they blister badly when I ride my mountain bike and the blisters extend to most of my palm and some fingers.

As is common, too, my finger joints are becoming more painful after years of cycling abuse. So I set about trying different things to reduce the impact on my hands so I could keep riding. I’m riding a Bronson which came equipped with Fox 34 Rhythm forks which have never been super plush but better than many I’ve ridden.

First thing I did was try new grips. I’ve generally used relatively thin grips and as I have big hands, they compromise my grip comfort whilst providing good feedback. So I went to the other extreme and tried a pair of Wolftooth Fat Paw Cam grips. The extra girth really helped provide a better grip for my hands, reduced aches and after some acclimatisation I found them great for XC riding but
, despite their chunkiness, they aren’t that squidgy and in the rocky Lake District they didn’t solve the problem with blisters. So next up I tried Deity Supracush grips, which made a significant difference, adding maybe 5-10 miles to a Lakeland ride before my hands became unbearably blistered.

Next I tried various gloves. Gel inserts help but only if they’re in the right place. Fox Ranger Gel gloves have a gap between the gel pads that actually seems to accentuate blistering. GripGrab make a range of gloves with a large gel pad that seems to really help, adding a few more miles before the blisters kick in.

So with some improvement I decided the next step should be to replace the alloy bar with a carbon one. I stuck with RaceFace so the angles were all the same but the new bar is 20mm wider at 800mm, which I like. The carbon bar certainly reduces high frequency trail buzz but accentuates bigger hits. So a bit of a compromise, but the reduction in trail buzz certainly seemed to add another couple of miles to the ride without major blisters.

So, once funds allowed, I decided to bite the bullet and go for the nuclear option and upgraded the Fox 34 Rhythm fork to a RockShox Lyrik Ultimate. Wow, what a difference! Not only does the fork track the ground as if it’s 3D mapping it but the damping is so effective that I was able to do a challenging Lakeland loop with absolutely no blisters and limited aches in my finger joints. So, sadly, the best solution is the most expensive, but it does at least make riding more fun in general and should extend my riding years, which is worth a lot.

I hope some of this information proves useful to anyone else suffering from debilitating hand problems. It’s a bit of a lottery trying to find stuff that helps but it’s worth it if it extends your riding years.

Out of curiosity, how hard do you grip when riding? I’ve never worn through a pair of grips but my son will literally wear through to the lock on “hard plastic sleeve” in 2-3 months (DMR death grips have been the latest to go this way). He also get massive calluses (aged 15) even when wearing gloves. He says it’s from BMX racing days but he just won’t loosen his grip.

It’s an interesting question and I’ve attempted to reduce the intensity of my grip to help the situation. I would say that when riding XC, I’m very relaxed, but on Lakeland rock, I hold on quite a bit harder and I think it’s a combination of sub-consciously trying to exert more control on the bike and modern bike geometry. My XC bike places me in a more stretched position and so my arms are more horizontal. My all mountain bike has my arms more vertical which in turn places more pressure on my palms. It’s certainly something I need to make more effort to resist doing, but my grips tend to last three to five years, so I’m certainly not in the same league as your son.

Whilst you haven’t said it I assume you have Dupuytren’s contractures
I suffer from them also.
It’ll get progressively worse until you can’t open your hand, and as I understand there’s not much to be done about it until it’s really bad, and then you can have the operation once.

I’m running 36s on both bikes that aren’t the most forgiving forks on ‘chatter’ but great when the going gets proper rough and fast.

Also moved to fatpaw cams, can’t use those grips on van uplift days tho as they get trashed by the straps

I’ve heard good things about Fasst Flexx handlebars to help with hand problems too.

Have you tried resting your thumb on top of the grips on climbs or easy sections
You have to relax your grip so add that to the list
I use it to help reduce numbmess
Works similar to ergon grips

I assume you have Dupuytren’s contractures

My mate who rode long distances (LEJOG several time and the Divide a couple of times) suffered from that, had one hand done about 3 years ago and the second done last year just before they were going to stop doing them locally on the NHS.
It has transformed his life.

Unless you can feel the tendons in the palm of your hand as they become affected and a finger is beginning to bend inwards towards the palm and you can’t straighten it I doubt it’s Dupuytren’s.
If your GP thought it was he would (probably) have said so.
Dupuytren’s can be operated on more than once – I have had 4 ops so far, 3 on one finger; a repeat op cannot open the line of the original scar tissue so, for example, a straight cut can be followed by a zigzag and then a skin graft.
An alternative, if Dupuytren’s, is an injection to break the chord followed by physio/manipulation.

I suffer from carpal and cubital tunnel syndrome made worse by trail chatter/vibrations and palm pressure and have shovels for hands. I found that, like you, lyriks make a huge difference! I’ve also found that revgrips are superb for damping vibration, even if the large is only the size of an odi rogue, while ergon ga2 fat provides excellent support and more damping than almost any other non-revgrips grip that I have tried. If they put the ga2 grip on the revgrips chassis it would be perfect.

Thanks for all the thoughts. I don’t have Dupuytren’s but feel for those who do. Hopefully at least some of these ideas will be useful to others who find they’re struggling with hand problems of one kind or another.

RevGrips might be a solution for some of you, suslect the grip absorbing vibration by moving relative to the bar would greatly lessen the blistering

I’ve had a few hand issues. I seem to suffer more on the road bike than mtb. I had double wrapped bars and gloves. In the end I went for some tri bars and put the weight on my elbows. It’s the exact same position as in the drops only with the weight off the hands. Seems to make my neck better too

Interesting stuff, I’ve got wrist and hand issues from working on a computer for far too long and a couple of breaks in the one arm, so been on a similar journey.

For me the two biggest things were brakes and bars. I was on zees for ages and they are perfectly good brakes in terms of stopping power etc, but I bought a set of hayes dominions and they’ve made a massive difference. The lighter lever action means I can get a lot further before things start to really hurt. The other one is vibrocore bars, which are genuinely brilliant for me. I had to get a set for hardtail as well because they make such a difference, the zees are on that now, but it’s not such a big limitation as it’s not being ridden on the really steep stuff.

I’ve settled on dmr deathgrips for grips after trying various things including the fancy ergons (which really didn’t agree with me)

Running pikes with a smashpot coil and FAST damper in then – it’s great, but I’m not sure how much of a factor it is for me with my issues. The extra performance and smoothness is more for control and confidence rather than just getting me down the hill.

I don’t (really) have hand issues but I did buy a lyrik a while ago

Man, that thing is smooth