Numb hands and sore elbows. What’s going on?

[davarello]

It's your grips. Find grips that have a pattern to break up as it lays against your hands. I use ODI Rogue now but have had the same issue from cheaper grips. I explained the problem to a bike mechanic who gave me the ODI Elites which worked. The pattern helps to not restrict the blood flow.

I use Rogues as well, good diameter (33) and aggressive enough pattern

 

[davarello]

Alter riding position? Seat lower and a bit further back to compensate for the lowered seat height. Perhaps... really difficult to say without knowing nothing

Agree - seat back may help lighten load on your hands

 

[HGmtb]

I find my hands sometimes get quite sore riding my EMTB compared to my identically set up mountain bike, which initially I put down to braking a heavier bike harder and more frequently, but I think there is more to it than that - maybe on a normal bike the pedalling effort tends to straighten your back and lift weight from the bars - an eBike does not require anywhere near the force on the pedals and so much more weight has to be taken by your arms, unless you have good core strength of course.

 

[HORSPWR]

Definitely do some off road riding before making any changes, but it could be grips that are too small in diameter or bars that are too low (or both). The fact lowering your seat helped suggests the second may be the culprit. I changed my Levo bars to 38mm rise with a degree more backsweep (Deity Blacklabel 800) made all the difference.

This is correct, numbness in the fingers comes from excess pressure on the ulnar nerve where the ulna nerve is pressing on the medial epicondyle, this is the area on the inside of the elbow which is commonly known as "golfers elbow". You will need to look at bars that have more back sweep that reduces the pressure on the nerve.

 

[Pdoz]

This is correct, numbness in the fingers comes from excess pressure on the ulnar nerve where the ulna nerve is pressing on the medial epicondyle, this is the area on the inside of the elbow which is commonly known as "golfers elbow". You will need to look at bars that have more back sweep that reduces the pressure on the nerve.

The ulnar nerve supplies ring and little finger, not the thumb and index as he described.

Next someone is going to suggest he has carpal tunnel from median nerve pressure at the wrist - which doesn't explain pain on the middle side of his elbow.

I'm waiting to hear what his aviation medical finds - cervical outlet or canal stenosis are my bets

 

[wepn]

which doesn't explain pain on the middle side of his elbow

Lateral epicondylitis could be a possibility - emtb elbow?

 

[Galion]

Had the same issue.
A 3.8mm rise bar and ODI Rogue grips did it for me.

 

[Loosebruce]

I've had the same pair of Ergon grips on my last 3 bikes and highly rate them.

 

[Gavalar]

Hi all. Did my first longish ride on pavement yesterday. Bit of a yawn but obliged in the interest of GF relations. After an hour my fingers started getting numb and my elbows began to ache. I could feel lots of palm pressure with seat set at optimum pedaling height. When I lowered the seat 2-3cm blood began flowing again. What’s up here and any suggestions why it‘s happening and what solutions might be out there? I’m on a L Levo and am 6ft with normal weight and proportions... and was sure until yesterday that this was the right size/geometry for me...

Possibly the stack height is too low, try a few shims to bring your stem higher up.

 

[kendo]

Hi all. Did my first longish ride on pavement yesterday. Bit of a yawn but obliged in the interest of GF relations. After an hour my fingers started getting numb and my elbows began to ache. I could feel lots of palm pressure with seat set at optimum pedaling height. When I lowered the seat 2-3cm blood began flowing again. What’s up here and any suggestions why it‘s happening and what solutions might be out there? I’m on a L Levo and am 6ft with normal weight and proportions... and was sure until yesterday that this was the right size/geometry for me...

Yes, you'll will find many riders have the same problem. Things to look out for:

• Bars too wide and perhaps wrong degree of sweep back and rise
• Body position should be neutral on the bike, too far forward and "high" saddle position will definitely put pressure on your palms cutting circulation subsequently numb fingers and if arms too stretched and wide apart due to wide bars sore elbows will follow. Also if your bars are set too low same thing will happen
• Having the right size of bike to fit you to start with is important or you will be fighting these issues constantly.
• Loads of stuff on you tube etc... to help adjustments.
• If bike fits first things to try are moving saddle and perhaps shorter stem.

 

[gaba]

Certainly possible that you have cervical stenosis. Especially after a previous injury, joints above and below suffer due to less mobility that commonly persists at the injury site. Regardless, temporary numbness in a variety of locations is a common complaint in cyclists. Since what you describe is equal on both sides it probably is coming from too much extension in your neck, but still could be in your wrists. The Levo has a long reach and front end is quite low IMO and with saddle height above the bars you’ll find this both increases pressure on your hands/wrists and requires more neck extension to see where you are going. As others have mentioned both would be lessened with raising your bars and/or shortening your reach. I did both. I’m 6’4” and needed a 40mm rise bar. I shortened the stem to 35mm. Despite this I still found I wanted to add a couple of spacers to raise the bars further. Unfortunately Specialized cut the steer tube and made this impossible without buying a new fork. Of note, this is a good excuse to get a 160mm fox 36, if you need to have that discussion with your GF. (Also, there are plenty of other scientific reasons why that fork will prevent worsening cervical stenosis. If you need more, LMK.) If you want to add spacers you’ll likely need to work around the SWAT headset tool. The bolt is a specific length that travels through the head tube and adding spacers will make this bolt too short. You can extend the bolt with some hardware or you can just abandon the tool headset altogether.

 

[gaba]

I posted pics of my SWAT tool solution here:
Levo 2019/2020 owners that have swapped Stem / Bars - What's your new specs? - EMTB Forums

 

[Webike]

SQ Lab 16 degree sweep and hi rise solved my wrist issue...required longer stem.
Handlebar 311 2.0 - 31.8 high

 

[paquo]

The Levo has a long reach and front end is quite low IMO and with saddle height above the bars you’ll find this both increases pressure on your hands/wrists and requires more neck extension to see where you are going. As others have mentioned both would be lessened with raising your bars and/or shortening your reach. I did both. I’m 6’4” and needed a 40mm rise bar. I shortened the stem to 35mm. Despite this I still found I wanted to add a couple of spacers to raise the bars further. Unfortunately Specialized cut the steer tube and made this impossible without buying a new fork.

That pretty much covers it. My left arm is kind of a mess from a skiing related cervical accident so i had to get the seat level with the bars. This can be done with a higher angle stem and bars such as the Deity Highside , Answer 810 3' rise or Atomlab Pimplite Riser.

 

[Weeds]

My wife can only ride the paved paths on a trike due to MS. When I ride the pavement at her speed, 10 mph and less, every part of the body hurts. I don't use assist most of the time.