Hello! I would really appreciate some guidance please as I’m feeling a bit stuck and a tad disappointed if I’m honest.
I’ve converted my old mtb to do longer distances and go out and explore more. Part of that was changing my handlebars to swept back ones (On-One Mike – they have a 40 degree sweep). This is because I mainly do utility riding on a cargo bike with swept back handlebars and I’ve got too used to the feeling of being upright on a bike.
However yesterday I went out for a longer ride and I realised my left hand was forcing itself to do the Spock Vulcan sign and I was in a lot of pain riding. I realised that not all of my hand was making contact (which are the ergonomic ones with wrist support) with the grips and that was leading to cramp
So here’s my question- what do I do? Is it simply that these handlebars aren’t for me (which I’m really hoping is not the answer) or would adjusting the tilt of them make a difference – and if so, do you know which way? I know this is vague but I’m willing to answer further questions if anyone’s willing to help and advise.
Again, thank you
by choochoophil
1 Comment
As someone with similar struggles with numb hands, pins and needles, and a weak wrist due to injury, it generally requires a lot of tweaking to my handlebar angle to get things to be tolerable. I highly doubt the bars are wrong for you; I think you just need to keep making little adjustments, then ride, then make further small adjustments until you find out what feels better for you. Unfortunately, it can be a painstaking and long process if you haven’t gone through this experience on a previous bike. But in theory once you get to something that feels right you can use that knowledge across all bikes (i.e. setup to have the same stack, reach and RAD).
Edit: For cruiser handlebars people usually recommend tilting them downwards a bit so that your wrist meets the bar at a more natural angle.