…ignore this, it was a double post error…

Haha, fantastic. Loved Architeq too. Back at ya buddy…

Especially for anyone with numb hands….

Anyone who likes Mr Scruff will recognise this…

Welcome. Numb hands are a pain in the butt… *arf-arf*

Hi stevenc, I’ve suffered with this for some time, so I’ve got some suggestions – just gonna do an info dump here for you and anyone else with this problem. Thing is, it’s different for everyone – people have different nerve sensitivity (some people get neuralgia, some don’t) – so you’ll need to play around to get results. CAVET – there’s some pet theories in here…

First of all – symptoms. Pinky and ring finger = CUBITAL tunnel and ULNAR nerve. Other 3 fingers = CARPEL tunnel and MEDIAN nerve. 30% of cyclist get problems with one of the other. Other causes include long hours typing or driving, or even lying in bed with a bent elbow all night! Check it: http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_15_3_2.htm

Easy steps:
1. Avoid lying in bed with bent arm
2. Avoid resting elbows on desk at work/ at home and pay attention to your wrist position when typing
2. Warm up and warm down before/after cycling – made a massive difference for me. Do this guy’s exercises: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cIcuLnYrc (don’t buy the glove though – looks ridiculous – instead get a squeezy ball and practice finger stretches by pressing an open hand down on the desk top). Look for more exercises online – do as many as you can – make a warm up routine for your arm. Push-ups also good. Also look at massage routines that involve the elbow joint – where the cubital tunnel is located.

Bike set up (most effective for Cubital issues):
* Try to take the weight off your hands – often achieved by a higher bar and a shorter stem to reduce reach and put weight on saddle. Don’t go too short though, as can have opposite effect (like I said, you have to try things).
* Pay attention to how the pain starts when you ride – body position, surface you ride on, activity (such as going up hill) – try to isolate causes and remedy with set up.
* I found that back sweep on bars was bad for me – my hands naturally try to straighten the bar out and put pressure on my outer palms/ pinky finger. So I’m about to try out an 808 flat bar cut down to my size. (Rowers and weight lifters don’t use an angled bar, after all – all that is just moto fashion I think). Most people’s natural wrist position on a bar is NOT bent outwards, unless you have fully straight arms – not applicable on an MTB. Like a lot of things – looks good on paper, b0llocks in practice.
* Change hand positions as much as possible – see if bar ends help.
* Try not to put too much weight on the bars when climbing out the saddle (easier said than done).
* Soft grips can help, especially for Carpel tunnel (found where your hand meets the wrist between your natural palm pads). I’ve found ODI Yetis to be the best, usually without gloves. You can also try carbon or steel bars. All these things can help, and you need as much help as possible with these things. Too soft can make things worse though!
* Check the angle your wrist makes with the bars – should be as comfortable as possible – a straight line with forearm ideally. Check brake position and reach etc. NOTE: Your ideal comfort position may not be the ideal MTB position – so you have to compromise here.
* Try to keep your wrists off the bars and use fingers a bit more.

Clothing (most effective for carpel tunnel):
The palm of your hand is naturally designed to shield the carpel tunnel. If you look at it from an angle, you’ll see the two palm pads create a bridge over the carpel tunnel area on a flat surface. So, as Sheldon Brown says, too much padding can actually be a bad thing as it bunches in this recess, putting pressure on the carpel tunnel, making the problem worse! Most padded gloves are actually very badly designed. They Usually simply put minimal gel where your natural palm pads are. The idea is that it raises the bridge. Fine if you have bare bars. But if you have squishy grips, often a bad idea. You want gloves that have thick palm pads – ideally that extend up to the pinky finger a bit. Specialized BG gloves are good – but get 2 sizes larger than stated on the website. Tight gloves will make the problem worse.

Road Bike:
If you ride drop bars – these are a nightmare for hand numbness, especially on the hoods, where full pressure is put on the cubital tunnel by the bar running straight down the recess between your palm pads! And you have no suspension damping. Carbon can help here, and correct bike set up is essential. Different gloves with full pads across the palm bridge area are best here, as well as wrapping the bars with innertubes underneath the bar tape. Some people also use TT style bars with flat tops. I use an adjustable stem as well. However, you do get 3 hand positions to play with.

Hope that helps rather than confuse – but like I said, it’s a very personal thing, there’s no one simple answer. But seriously, try the exercises…

Good luck.

Some great ideas here – I think variety is the spice of life personally, so the same columns every issue could get a bit boring. Why not do something like the Economist and have a quarterly supplement dedicated to a certain aspect – say technology innovations, Skills, 10 best trail centres – with maps and video links etc.
Also – money SAVING tips – when do you ever see that in a bike mag? – like how to make a headset press out of bolts and washers and all that kinda thing. The stuff we do on a day to day basis but have to trawl badly made YouTube videos for.
Stuff that’s helpful, as opposed to aspirational.