I've had numbness in my hands on long brevets of 400K and up. Both my brevet bikes are wrapped with gel tape with Fizik gel pads underneath and I wear "Ironman" gloves with more gel palm inserts. One bike is a KOF Weigle and the other an OT C/F randoneuse. I've had the same problem on both bikes. BQ reviewed both but said the gel tape and pads on the C/F bike would be unnecessary if the fork provided more shock absorption. Of course, I have the same problem on the Weigle and it came with two forks both of which I have used. Draw your own conclusions. Perhaps the human body, especially a 48 year old one, is not designed for such prolonged activity. I once complained of foot numbness to my orthopedic MD friend after a 800k brevet. He said he knew exactly what my problem was: I rode on a bike for 800 kilometers. ;-) It's hard to argue with simple wisdom.
George Allen Lexington, Ky USA
verktyg wrote:
> Back in the day, I frequently suffered from numbness in my ring and
> pinky fingers. It was diagnosed as compression of the ulnar nerves in
> my hands. That's the nerves that run from the elbows down to the small
> fingers. Compression of that nerve can happen in the elbow and wrist too.
>
> I experienced numbness in my other fingers on long rides but it wasn't
> as bad.
>
> I did two things to help the problem back then (mid 70s). Fancy padded
> bar tape was unknown then; I taped some dense foam padding on the top
> surfaces of the bars and also the drops. Then I covered it with two
> layers of cloth tape.
>
> I also stuffed a less dense foam material into the palm areas of my
> mesh backed riding gloves. They may have looked funny with the big
> bulges in the palm areas but in combination with the bar padding, it
> worked to relieve most of my hand numbness problems.
>
> Back then I rode 54cm road bikes with the seat up high and all the way
> back. I was also using medium toe clips. I rode on the tops or drops
> most of the time, rarely on the hoods.
>
> The last few years since I've been back riding again, I noticed that I
> haven't had much numbness problems in my hands even though most of my
> bikes have unpadded cloth tape and I use old fashioned mesh backed
> gloves without any additional padding.
>
> I think that most of the reduction has to do with changes in my riding
> position and how I have my bikes set up. For starters I'm riding
> larger frames, 55cm, 56cm or 57cm frames so the bars are a little
> higher plus I have the seats lower and moved all the way forward. I'm
> also using long or extra long toeclips. Most of the time I ride on the
> hoods instead of the tops or drops. That plus the more upright
> position are probably the biggest reasons for the reduced numbness.
>
> One other thing I found was when I switched to wider bars, 42, 43 or
> 44cm wide, I felt much more comfortable. I found that riding several
> older all original bikes with 38cm wide bars caused numbness in my
> hands again, even on the hoods.
>
> Chas. Colerich
> Oakland, CA USA
>
>
> Anthony Taylor wrote:
>
>> One technique we used to use "back in the day" was to cut an inner
>> tube into a long tube, then slice it lengthways. Wrap the 'bars with
>> this, then cover with cloth tape. Voila, vintage look, but with
>> cushioning. No more numb hands.
>> Failing this, I bought gell padded gloves from Nashbar.
>>
>> Tony Taylor
>> Manchester, NH
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: Jack Gabus
>> Gang:
>>
>> Ok since most of us "goof balls" out there ride either on benotto,
>> leather or cloth tape, what company exists that makes PADDED gloves
>> that are
>> worth a (bleep). My hands are numb and yeah I know I can hear it
>> already....get tougher hands.
>>
>> Inquiring minds really want to know!
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Jack
>>
> _______________________________________________
>
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