“also, i switched to a drastically shorter 80mm stem to pull my cetma rack back further for balance. a few days later i noticed my wrists hurting. then it went away or i grew accustomed to it, either one. got the kilo, more rake, so i put on a 90mm stem. after lots of climbing yesterday and today, my wrists were killing me (and still feel a little abused). at one point they felt tingly and very much not in a good way. wtf? i don’t know what to do here? try the old, longer but non-pain-inducing stem? i can’t see much else as a solution, but why would this happen? i want to know the roots of the problem…i don’t know. it sucks, though.”
it’s been suddenly appearing and going away, too, hence, wondering what’s up. but the tingling made me think nerve damage, like the angle is pinching something, rather than weight distribution…
What kind of bars? Can you post pics of the current setup?
I’ve switched to risers from flatbars and have found a bit of wrist pain, which I don’t recall having with flatbars. Ironically enough, I think the risers have helped with some lower back pain that may have been related to the flatbars (being as they were 40mm+ lower). Bike fit, ain’t it grand!
view of stem angle, also of relation to ht angle and top tube, level with ground:
bar sweep
old setup was more level stem, about 20mm longer. same bars. i’d want to have it upright, though…i wonder if that’s all i need to do? but i also wonder if some other factor i’m not thinking of would be pinching nerves in my wrists or putting more pressure on them?
this is probably the best theory i’ve heard yet, especially considering my bars have a fair amount of sweep, moving my hands back even further. i’ll try some carpal tunnel exercises…if i don’t have to switch stems i won’t but i’m also ready to do that if i have to…with the longer stems it took less weight on the rack to make it unstable. but i also don’t want fucked up wrists. maybe i need bars with less sweep. pity, i love the way these bars look, similar to the priests.
edit: or total cruiser sweep, putting my hands sideways might help. or mtb bar ends.
not with a rack and potentially big boxes and crap up front.[/quote]
I s’pose… I like the porteur-type bars on Teh Misfit. They allow me to fit a whole buncha stuff up front, but definitely shorten the reach. Dunno how that’ll factor in with your setup.
i’ll try that first, thanks…porteur bars may be good, mtb bar ends if that doesn’t work, and maybe risers with less sweep and bar ends (so that the bar ends aren’t at weird angles).
no idea. they were the ones i liked the most in the bin of flats and risers and the community cycling center in portland, 5 buck random bars.
i think rusty’s got a good setup, though i feel like i’d want some sweep…i’ve had flat bars with bar ends befor and it was good, except that my wrists wanted a little more sweep than they had then. now perhaps too much.
tried jacque’s idea, but so far i haven’t had a good test as i haven’t hit a lot of distance or hills, pretty chill the last couple of days. but seems so far to have had some effect.
not to hijack this thread but last weekend i did the MS 150. 100 miles on Saturday, 55 on Sunday. Anyway, my pinky and ring finger on my left hand are still numb. Should I be concerned? The numbness started on Saturday last week. I’m riding about 11 miles round trip a day since I got done with the ride. Sometimes it feels like it’s getting better then it goes back to being really numb.
I find I have that problem (but on my right hand) when I spend a lot of time in the drops. It used to go away after a couple hours, but I’ve not ridden my bike with drops for a couple weeks and the numbness comes and goes every few days.
The common name for it is Handlebar or Cyclist’s Palsy and the cause is compression and irritation of the ulnar nerve, which runs along the right side of your hand (if looking at your left palm). To prevent it you need to change hand positions more often, try to put less pressure on your hands, and possibly thicker/squishier bar tape and better gloves.
Generally it will go away on it’s own if you’re nice to it, but stretching, ibuprofen, and ice or heat can help accelerate the recovery. The best recommendation is taking a break from riding until it goes away, but obviously most cyclists will ignore that. If it’s really bothering you go see your doctor. Odds are it’ll recover soon on it’s own, but major abuse of the nerve can require better treatment.
i have that issue aswell. i think its a combination of poor posture at work and not enough hand positions when riding. I have been practicing better posture and stayign off the computer when possible and i put hoods on my noodles so now i have many hand positions. i also wear gloves most of the time
[quote=grindmaster flash]
oh hey, what bars/barends?[/quote]
I have no idea. The barends were some cheap offbrand thing from the LBS that I got when I discovered that the cane creek ones are offensively expensive.
The bars came stock on this bike from Bikes Direct:
