ok, i’m gonna put the bullhorns back on, and make them pretty high, i never had this issue with them. i’ll probably get some gloves as well, though that seems more like a band-aid solution. and level my seat a little more. i find it incredibly uncomfortable if it’s dead flat, but there must be a sweet spot.
Hey Liam, you rode 250km on the fixie? I think that the fixie compounds the problem, because you are limited in your sitting position.
For instance, on a freewheel bike, you can rest on the downhills, stand-up on the pedals and give your hands a good shake. On a fixie it’s more difficult to do these things, IMO anyway.
+1
Made for the track see.
but the thing is, it happens even on 40 minute city rides, not to the same extent, but still not normal, and i never used to have the problem. plus i was doing everything you said, riding out of the saddle/shake hands/riding no hands, so it would be an issue with a freewheel as well. it could definitely be related to riding in a track position on the road, especially seeing as a lot of people seem to have experienced it here…
an if that don’t work, http://www.amazon.com/Ergon-GX-1-Grip-Black/dp/B001AYQCMA/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1236061722&sr=1-22
ergonomic grips…
but the thing is, it happens even on 40 minute city rides, not to the same extent, but still not normal, and i never used to have the problem. plus i was doing everything you said, riding out of the saddle/shake hands/riding no hands, so it would be an issue with a freewheel as well. it could definitely be related to riding in a track position on the road, especially seeing as a lot of people seem to have experienced it here…
I experience the exact opposite, on my mtb on the road I get numb hands after about 40mins, (it doesn’t happen off road even for long periods 3hrs) – on the track bike it never happens, so this leads me to believe it has nothing to do with the amount of pressure but where the pressure points are on the hands and continual pressure in the same spot that would cause this.
I’d like to know more, and how you’ve tackled it.
I dont experience the ulna nerve problem thats been mentioned here, I get numbness in my thumb, index, and middle finger.
I’ve changed grips, bars (bull horns to risers), gloves, seating position, and eventually talked to my doctor… he said its possibly carpal tunnel (median nerve), and mentioned the other issues associated with ulna nerve damage.
I wouldnt mind speaking to someone either on here, or at a shop who knows about seating positioning in melbourne. I know its too much weight on my hands, but i dont think core strengthening is the answer (for me)… I’ve got a pretty solid core from constant kite surfing and snowboarding…
the other thing is that I’m not completely sure its bike related, as part of my work involves me using my hands a lot… to snip/twist/etc wire up to 4mm thick.
any help greatly appreciated
If you were going to see a doctor you could see the sports practitioners in Alphington (http://www.alphingtonsportsmed.com.au/)
Dad had some problems with his achilles which they helped him with and suggested he not ride with clipless pedals because of how his hips/feet are set.
So they might be able to help you out with bike set up and ways to help prevent it.
hey i had this in the first 6months of working as a messenger…i would have enjoined it is i was single at the time… but for me it was the handle bars … to much sweep back or something… i dunno… then again i also had a numbness in the groinal area at one point… choose your saddle wisely maybe this?
http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31nEuWDY2gL.SL500_AA280.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.amazon.com/Ergo-Endurance-Bicycle-Noseless-Black-Vinyl/dp/B000AOC3ZG&usg=___5V25xyLR6h8I8Cmxddqw0STb30=&h=280&w=280&sz=9&hl=en&start=12&um=1&tbnid=GQsbtWgaP01U6M:&tbnh=114&tbnw=114&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dergo%2Bbicycle%2Bsaddle%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
i could not find the one with just ass seats…O well cannot win them all
Numb fingers? How about numb face- I’m about to get my wisdom teeth out this Friday, and my mouth is killing me! 
Ha-row, I carnt tawk propory!!
stay away from people who make you laugh… had a couple of mates try and make me laugh after I had my wisdom teeth out…
My hands were useless for two weeks after Paris-Brest. Trying to use chopsticks in HK airport on the way home was impossible.
You need to be careful of where you put your weight. Make sure the bar doesn’t run through the bottom of your hand where the Median Nerve branches out or conversely on the lower-inner part of your hand which tends to be what you do when you’re trying to make sure that you’re not putting weight on the Median.
Having bent wrists can also be an issue.
I think someone already mentioned it but tilting your saddle back a bit might help since it will rotate your whole torso up a bit, taking weight off your hands.
It may be worth doing two layers of bar tape. the first layer being wound pretty tight to provide a firm base and the second layer being a bit tighter than you normally would so you don’t increase the bar thickness to much.
Can you feel brake cable/s through the tape at the moment?
Similarly, if you don’t have breaks and the bars have grooves for cable routing, your problem might be there.
It’s possible that it’s related to your work although presumably you’re not cutting wire with both hands. It may also be possible that there is some mild inflammation caused by work tasks and that riding is putting pressure on the inflamed areas which is in turn compressing nerves. One way to check might be to see if any parts of your hands are especially warm.
Either way it might be worth getting some exercise to stretch your hands.
awesome reply,
I’m currently running risers with ourys, so no bar tape, or cable under tape. I’ll try a saddle adjustment. I only lose feeling in my right hand, also my favoured work hand… one look at my hands would give you a good indication of how much use they get…
Paddo, if you want a recommendation for somewhere to get your bike fit checked out I go to Stewart Morton at John Beasley Cycles over in Flemington - he does a good job in my opinion.
It would at least eliminate bike fit related issues.
For me, he was a total waste of money. He tried to set my Audax bike up as a racer despite my constant “are you sure that’s right? it’s for endurance riding”. I kept reiterating that it was for Audax riding and he claimed to know what he was doing. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He made my bike far more uncomfortable/numbing than it was before I started. I had to undo all of his modifications once I got to france. At least he only charged me $110 for the “privilege”.
I gather Beasley himself is a lot better.
I hear rave reviews about Steve Hogg in Sydney. A couple hundred dollars and half a day or so of tweaking. Apparently bikes can be more comfortable than you ever imagined.
Wow, wisdom teeth, I remember when I had mine out…heaps of chisel work, was puking blood and tiny chunks of bone for a couple of days and the pain was indescribable. My then girlfriend came to pick me up from the hospital before the nurses had cleaned me up properly…when she saw the blood-caked hole near the bottom of my face she threw up in her mouth a little and fainted.
I’m sure surgical techniques will have improved since then. Hope it goes well for you :evil:
Gee, thanks CC, you’ve made me feel really, really nervous now!! :-o
I had mine done a couple of years ago and it was a breeze. Don’t worry about it. Just don’t take too much codeine afterwards - it fucks you up bigtime if you take it for very long.
I had all 4 out + my lingual tauri trimmed ~2000. General anaesthetic, day surgery. Was really tired for a few days, didn’t bother with the painkillers after the first.
If you can, get local and do it in the chair, the surgeon will be gentler as you’re conscious (so he won’t stick his knee into your chest to brace), and you’ll recover better having not had the general. And it’s much cheaper, so you can spend what you save on having a team car follow you around with spare wheels.
thats a myth. I went under general to get mine out and everything was fine.
though when i woke up my pants were on the wrong way around