Hi everyone,
I did a 90 km ride today and noticed that my hands ,and also my feet, kept going numb pretty often.
I was wondering if this could be due to a bad bike fit or riding position? Does it look like I’m sitting wrong on the bike?
I’d really appreciate any tips or suggestions on what I could improve. Thanks in advance:)
by elisabeth_93
35 Comments
Your arms look completely straight. Bars are too Low/reach too long OR your saddle is too far back. I’d try adjusting these step by step.
I believe the position looks decent. How often did you do long rides before? Maybe your body still needs to adapt.
Your arms look locked straight. Bent your elbows to absorb the road vibration.
Your arms look fully extended, which might be an issue, but that’s hard to say for sure from photos and everyone’s body is a bit different.
People will tell you to get a professional fit and that’s good advice. I just kept adjusting things until it felt right and that worked for me.
How tall are you and what size frame is that?
I think you should try to get a bit of bend in your arms, you might want to train your core to keep weight from your hands (this is easier with bent arms). For the feet, I have no idea, which part was going numb?
Try moving you rsaddle forward a bit. Get some clipless pedals and stiff soled shoes – that distance in running shoes is brutal. If you don’t want to do that, try to find a stiffer shoe like a Nike metcon or a shoe designed for commuting. Finally, are you used to this distance? It can take your hands and body time to get used to long rides.
I would propose three ideas for change: (although it looks quite decent tbh)
Lower the saddle a bit. Around 0,5cm-1cm. Your feet look like to stretch a bit, when your are in a 6 o clock position. This causes stress in your angles and overall legs.
Push the saddle a bit to the front. 0,5 – 1,5cm. This can relieve stress on your knees and arms and get yourself a bit closer to the cockpit (and you don’t have to straighten your arms so much to be in the hoods).
Relieve numbness in the hands can be done by angling the hoods to the middles. This is very popular in the pro peloton and amateur area. This way your hands are very comfortable in the hoods and align with your arm.
The last one can only improve your hands. But try the first and second one step by step and see how your body feels. 🙂
For the hands: indeed your arms look all the way stretched. Make sure your core does the heavy lifting so your arms can relax a but more – allowing you to have slightly bent, more relaxed elbows. Less ‘leaning’ on the steer will reduce numbness.
Also, your back looks super straight. Training core/abs better will allow you to have a more arched back, which will get your upper body a bit closer to the bars.
For the feet: not sure here, but tou saddle might be slightly too high, forcing tou to stretch your legs too much with each pedalstroke.
A bikefit would help determine the right saddle height, but also to see if my comment on upper body are valid 🤷🏻
Looks like your saddle is too far back. I’d try moving forward a bit. You don’t want your arms to be locked out.
Just a cycling begginer so yeah, always better to check an specialist.
Your seat looks high, I would take it down like 3 cm. Also your arms are fully extended, but your upper back is trying to get closer to the handlebars. I’m guessing that your seat might be tilted down and you are trying to push yourself back with your hands and feet, hence the numbness in those areas. I would start with that, making sure your saddle is level and is a bit lower. You don’t seem far off where you should more or less be.
Everybody will have numb hands if they ride with locked out elbows.
Make a conscious effort to ride with bent elbows.
Elbow lock might not be good
Girl you have amazing legs. That’s goals for me
Carbon frames are super stiff. I took one i bought back, and got a Ti alloy. Bigger tyres may help smooth out ride
As bike spouse would say “Slam that saddle forward” 😅
Soft soled, high stacks shoes
You are way stretched out, arms almost locked out. You could do with a bike fit.
Do only one adjustment at a time of course but adjusting your hoods a bit closer towards you will allow your elbos to bend and release tension/numbness from your hands. This worked for me anyhow. GL!
Another. “You gotta relax” let your spulleys drop, let your elbows drop, relax your wrist. You may even want to turn your hoods in 5° so your wrist hold more naturally and helps relax your elbows.
As of right now you look like your carrying sooo much tension in your shoulders and neck.
Your arms dont do anything for riding a bike, they are there to keep the bike straight really. (Vague overstatement, but point stands)
Your seat does also look really far back and so your pedaling is at an angle then up and down.
Also the shoes es no Bueno. There is a reason cycling shoes are so stiff and rigid. I can ride a good 200km fine in cycling shoes but 60km in sneakers and my arches would ache all day.
Straight arms often mean you need more room up front not less. What size frame is this and how tall are you?
r/bikefit
My take is that your bike is not at all set up properly. I say with the caveat that without seeing your leg position with the pedals at 3 and 9 (horizontal) it is hard to diagnose it fully. It does look like the saddle is too high, and I *think* too far back but I’m not sure. When at 3&9, the front of your kneecap should be directly above the pedal spindle. When at 6, your leg should be bent about 30° at the knee with your foot NOT pointed.
Once that is set, your bars should allow a good amount of bend in your elbows for what is comfortable for you as far as your body’s angle. You should never ride with your arms locked – the weight of your upper body is taken up in a reaction between the force on your pedal and the bike and largely held in place with your core. Tuck your lower back in more and rotate your pelvis.
All of that is guideline (except for the locking of the elbows which is just always bad.) You may vary angles and such for what works for you and you will invariably change things a bit over time as you age.
Lower the saddle and try a shorter maybe also higher stem.
Omg so many replies. Thank you so much everyone ❤️I will try out some of your suggestions and give an update ☺️
Youtube BikeFit James. He’s got a lot bike fit videos, short ones teaching how to diy bike issues related to body pain.
Your handlebar reach, distance from saddle to dropbar is bit bigger than you can handle now. Bikes aren’t made for “normal” people, but short, low weight ones with more weight under belt line than up. That enables them to keep low center of gravity and be light on their hands while holding dropbar. Gravity is the enemy here. But we as humans do adapt to challenge until we can’t anymore.
If you get distance shorter, hands will absorb vibrations better and allow you to have relaxed stance.
If you want more aggressive stance, as this one, you’ll need better core muscles. It will allow you better speeds and better aero advantages. And it is more fun, but it isn’t if it hurts you.
90km is huge distance to cover, it’s a thing to look forward and also to work out for.
Your hands should rest easily on the bars without too much pressure. When the body presses forward, it results in pain from the wrists all the way to the shoulders. Relax.
Your frame looks a bit small for you. Get a pro fit, they are worth it.
Assuming the frame is the correct size for you (it could be too small a frame for you). The seat looks too far back and your back and arms are stretched and it looks like you are reaching your wrists to the hoods rather than resting your wrists on the hoods. If you’ve got the money, a bike sizing is a fantastic investment. If you want to try to make the changes on your own, keep in mind the complexity that comes into play everytime you change saddle or stem or pedal height. From these pics, I’d move the saddle forward and tilt the drops up towards you. You can sometimes add spacers to your stem and you can also sometimes flip the stem. Just keep in mind that one change in one place will effect the other touch points on the bike with your body.
Reach is most def too long. Go get a fit at a local bike shop. It’ll make everything better!
Your saddle is a little too high, your arms a locked and your wearing soft-soled sneakers. You should be able to skootch back on your saddle, drop your heels at the bottom of the stroke, and not have your pelvis rock side-to-side much if at all. Measure your current saddle height to the millimeter, drop your saddle 1cm, test and evaluate. (Consider the fore-aft and tilt later.).
Try to unlock your arms when you ride, dropping your elbows down and relaxing your grip. It’s okay to pull back a little on the grips and let your fingers rest. But, if you can’t keep your grip where you can reach the brakes without locking our your arms, than the “reach” of your bike is maybe too long. You can buy a shorter stem. Start with 1cm change, maybe 2 at most.
Once you get your saddle height dialed-in, you can work with the fore-aft and tilt. It should be within 2 degrees of flat, with allowances for a saddle that rises in the back. Your fore-aft has something to do with your femur length and how your knee is positioned relative to the pedal spindle. Old school methodology agrees to drop a plumb line from the bony protrusion beneath your kneecap and it shoud intersect the pedal axle when the crank is in the forward most position. I like it there, or just behind. Experimenting, I get more leverage noticeable at low RPMs when grinding up a steep section with a rearward bias position. More forward, and I can pop up out of the saddle quicker for quick accelerations AND it facilitates a quicker spin.
Posture: Keep your arms bent, elbows and shoulders down, grip relaxed. Also, roll your pelvis forwards a bit when you’re pedaling. (Rock your hips forwards sticking your butt out a bit.). This puts the natural curve back into the lower lumbar region AND allows you to reach further out to the bars which can help put your grip a bit further out. After you drop your saddle 1-2.5cm (I’m guessing), and settle on a fore-aft adjustment, you may find your reach to the bars improves and you either, A) don’t need a shorter stem, or B) you go for a 1cm reduction, not 2cm.
Stiff-soled cycling shoes and pedals can provide more support, which can help you relax and improve your pedal stroke. While not a necessity, it is a pathway to a more efficient and effective stroke that may have a positive effect on your numbness issue. Fitting is comprehensive, and includes physical conditioning. Understanding it all works together either for or against you is key.
I sell bikes, consult in fitting, and have raced most of my life. So, I have insight and strong opinions on these matters.
90km is more than 3 hours on the bike, so some pain is normal. But it does look like your seat is a little too high and maybe too far back, but only about 1cm max in each direction.
Ask someone to bike behind you and check if your butt wiggles left and right. If so, your saddle needs to be lowered slightly. Also, work on your core and lower back so you can bend your elbows slightly (not locking your arms fully extended). This is a major problem in basically every beginner cyclist, core strength.
Try a saddle without a beak/nose. Huge game changer I wish i would have experimented with years ago. Berkely and VSEAT are my reccomend brands.
Also as someone else said frame los too small for you
Other than that, maybe a slight lift in the handle bars or just as slight lowering of the seat. You look just ever slightly arched
I think your saddle is way too far back, causing long reach. Maybe try to adjust it a bit forward which should relax the strain a bit
Offtop: nice Rose! I love their color options, I bought myself orange Reveal 04 and I can’t stop looking at it xddd