Set up - pins & needles in hands

[p3eps]

I can probably answer this myself, but just looking for other thoughts...

At the weekend, I took a friend round Glen Tanar in Aberdeenshire. I was using my Levo SL, and I gave him my Stumpjumper. I was riding with the SL off. He spends a lot of time at the gym, but hasn't been on a bike for a while. His fitness wasn't anywhere near what I anticipated, and within about 2 miles, he was bent over spewing . It does start off pretty long and steep to be fair!
After walking for a bit, I offered him my bike, and stuck it on 100% to save me having to continually wait...

Anyway - he's about 6ft 3 and a half, and I'm just under 6ft 2. When I got on the Stumpy, I immediately thought the saddle was too high... but just got on with it as it was a temporary swap. When I went back to the Levo, I then felt my saddle was too low. We swapped back and forth a few times (him taking the SL for the up sections).

Yesterday, I decided I should probably put my saddle up a bit, as I got a lot more purchase from it... so I put it up about 1". It was a fast paced 11.5 mile / 900ft ride, around 40% singletrack, 40% fire road, 20% road - which took 51mins... but about 35mins in, my right thumb had pins and needles, and both wrists were hurting a bit. I could ease it off by taking the weight off my hands a bit which made the pins and needles go away.

I guess putting the seat post up and inch means I should really be raising my bars to compensate? My stem is already at the top of my steerer, so no where to go with that. Perhaps a riser bar?
I'll try another few rides and see how I get on before any drastic changes.

 

[Colin1517]

Maybe a roll of the bars forward a little to get you back in a similar grip position before the seat raise
Wouldn’t raising the bars negate the seat raise? Don’t know, just asking

 

[p3eps]

Maybe a roll of the bars forward a little to get you back in a similar grip position before the seat raise
Wouldn’t raising the bars negate the seat raise? Don’t know, just asking

I've raised the seat to get more purchase on my legs as they weren't stretched enough.
I 'think' I'm now leaning too much into my hands. I think I almost want to negate the seat raise as far as my arms / back etc are concerned, as they were comfortable before I raised the seat.

 

[yorkshire89]

You can fit higher bars as you mentioned, just be aware this will change the balance of the bike when you're descending with the seat down.

 

[Mikerb]

Clearly you now have too much weight on our hands. There are a few things you can do to get better balance
Move the saddle forward slightly
Reduce bar width
Rotate the bars towards the saddle a little
Fit higher rise bars

Personally I always fit higher rise bars on my bikes. I think the "fashion" has been a max of 20mm rise which invariably induces a chin over the stem type stance when up on the pedals and c 65% weight balance on the bars when seated. 40mm riser bars would be my choice but the other options a bove are free!!

 

[irie]

Clearly you now have too much weight on our hands. There are a few things you can do to get better balance
Move the saddle forward slightly
Reduce bar width
Rotate the bars towards the saddle a little
Fit higher rise bars

Personally I always fit higher rise bars on my bikes. I think the "fashion" has been a max of 20mm rise which invariably induces a chin over the stem type stance when up on the pedals and c 65% weight balance on the bars when seated. 40mm riser bars would be my choice but the other options a bove are free!!

Or fit a longer stem.

 

[p3eps]

Clearly you now have too much weight on our hands. There are a few things you can do to get better balance
Move the saddle forward slightly
Reduce bar width
Rotate the bars towards the saddle a little
Fit higher rise bars

Personally I always fit higher rise bars on my bikes. I think the "fashion" has been a max of 20mm rise which invariably induces a chin over the stem type stance when up on the pedals and c 65% weight balance on the bars when seated. 40mm riser bars would be my choice but the other options a bove are free!!

I moved my seat almost as far back in the rails as it’ll go, as that gave me he most comfortable pedalling position. I took the S4 sized bike as my previous XL was way too big… but then the S4 felt a little cramped!

I’ll try turning the bars a bit for my ride on Sunday. They’re a 10mm rise, and I have that pointing away from me at the moment.
My Stumpy has what looks like about a 30mm rise on it, so I can try that for free… and see how I get on if I need to!

 

[p3eps]

Or fit a longer stem.

Would a longer stem not make me stretch out further and add more weight to my hands?

 

[irie]

Would a longer stem not make me stretch out further and add more weight to my hands?

I meant a taller stem which would raise the bars and at the same time move the bars nearer to you.

 

[p3eps]

I meant a taller stem which would raise the bars and at the same time move the bars nearer to you.

Ah, ok - didn’t realise you got stems with different heights.

 

[p3eps]

Looks like my bars are already as rotated as far towards me as they can be. Will try a ride tomorrow and see if I have the same issue… and then maybe borrow the bars from my Stumpy and see if that works better.

 

[JimmyBoy]

I had problems with my hands and discovered that all my weight was being concentrated on a point between my thumb and forefinger and not equally distributed across my palm. This even caused lumps to form under the skin as well as causing pins and needles. I experimented with rotating the bars to no avail. The cure was to fit a swept back bar and a winged pair of grips This evened the pressure on my palm and ensured my wrists were not dropped, problem solved.
These grips are not such a handful as some winged grips and take a bit of getting used to but are cheap enough to give them a try.

 

[yorkshire89]

Try rotating your brake levers up a bit, they look very low which might not help

 

[iamspratticus]

You could try changing grips too. I broke my wrist years ago riding with my kids and once I could finally ride again it was just too painful in my wrist and hand. I tried a lot of different things and in desperation I bought a pair of RevGrips. Best investment ever. They seem like a gimmick but that tiny bit of movement woks wonders. Revolution Suspension Grips

 

[weihlac]

Try some ergon grips. This allows you to adjust the position of your hands and wrist and distributes the pressure more evenly. I have these on my Levo and Vado SL. Easier and less expensive than changing bars, stems, etc.
lhttps://www.ergonbike.com/en/product-details.html?anr=42410000&s=gpmtb&a=griffe

 

[1oldfart]

Maybe try a few options and one might help.
- Raise the front/nose of the saddle a bit it might prevent you from the tendancy to slip forward
- do not hold that 100% of the time, we should relax has much as possible depending on situation at hand.
Remember on any bike a small change might make a big difference.
Only change 1 thing at a time and remember to go back if it does not help.
Of course a riser bar might help you.
Good season !

 

[Downhillr]

Try rotating your brake levers up a bit, they look very low which might not help

I noticed the brake angle as well. As set up it looks like you’d be rotating your weight forward adding pressure to your hands/wrists, also on any steep downhill your weight should be distributed straight from your palms through to your shoulders with less squeezing of grips and easing stress on hands/wrists (when climbing you can lean more forward as needed, redistribute your weight).

 

[p3eps]

Try rotating your brake levers up a bit, they look very low which might not help

Will give that a try - an easy fix perhaps!

 

[p3eps]

Try some ergon grips. This allows you to adjust the position of your hands and wrist and distributes the pressure more evenly. I have these on my Levo and Vado SL. Easier and less expensive than changing bars, stems, etc.
lhttps://www.ergonbike.com/en/product-details.html?anr=42410000&s=gpmtb&a=griffe

I have a couple of pairs of Ergon grips from my previous bike. Something else to try after the brake levers…

 

[steve_sordy]

I have a couple of pairs of Ergon grips from my previous bike. Something else to try after the brake levers…

I'm glad that I read to the end, I was about to recommend giving Ergon GP1 grips a try. I've been using them for years. Having used them you will know that they need to be flatter than you would think and that each hand may need a slightly different angle.

 

[p3eps]

I'm glad that I read to the end, I was about to recommend giving Ergon GP1 grips a try. I've been using them for years. Having used them you will k ow that they need to be flatter than you would think and that each hand may need a slightly different angle.

I had the GE1 Factory on until a couple of weeks ago, and have a pair of GS1 Evo in a drawer that I used for a while. Haven’t tried GP1 specifically, but the GS1’s are the same idea.

I’ve changed the brake position for my ride tomorrow and will see how that goes first.
There is a lot more climbing in the ride I have planned, so maybe I won’t be gripping so hard either for extended periods!

 

[Downhillr]

I had the GE1 Factory on until a couple of weeks ago, and have a pair of GS1 Evo in a drawer that I used for a while. Haven’t tried GP1 specifically, but the GS1’s are the same idea.

I’ve changed the brake position for my ride tomorrow and will see how that goes first.
There is a lot more climbing in the ride I have planned, so maybe I won’t be gripping so hard either for extended periods!

Hope it works out for you.
I tried Ergon grips but I prefer standard round grips because I move hand positions a bit during ride depending on steepness, gnarly, etc of the trail I’m on. I think grip style is like many things, a matter of personal preference.

 

[p3eps]

I’m back from a 16 mile / 2100ft ride, which had me in the saddle for a few mins over an hour and a half.

The ride was made of of maybe 2 miles of road, a lot of fire track climbing, some fire track descending, and about 4 miles of single track (mainly descending).

Most of the time, my hands and wrists were fine… but it was mainly the descending where going fast and holding on tight that any pain occurred.
My the bottom of a technical single track descent with some big steep bits, I felt like if I’d done that any longer, I’d have to stop and rest my hands. They were throbbing! The next mile or 2 fire track was done with me sitting much more upright barely holding the bars at all.
I think the next thing to try is the riser bar off my Stumpy, as sitting that little bit more upright felt much more comfortable.

Having my saddle up definitely made my legs more useful and got more power out of them when climbing though.

 

[Expidia]

I’d say first get a dropper post! Problem solved regarding seat position (It looks like you don’t have one from the pic). Once you go dropper you will never go back. Then bake all your other adjustments to your cockpit, rolling handlebars, stem height, moving seat back and forth on the rails etc. I change my seat height many times throughout a long ride. Aslo, as already suggested buy an Ergon seat. I like the SM-E Mountain Core, I have one on each of my two bikes. The Ervgon’s are pricey (at $159 for this model), but how much is your comfort worth after we’ve spent 1,000’s on an Ebike. Just ask yourself, who deserves to be comfortable more than you

 

[Downhillr]

I’d say first get a dropper post! Problem solved regarding seat position (It looks like you don’t have one from the pic). Once you go dropper you will never go back. Then bake all your other adjustments to your cockpit, rolling handlebars, stem height, moving seat back and forth on the rails etc. I change my seat height many times throughout a long ride. Aslo, as already suggested buy an Ergon seat. I like the SM-E Mountain Core, I have one on each of my two bikes. The Ervgon’s are pricey (at $159 for this model), but how much is your comfort worth after we’ve spent 1,000’s on an Ebike. Just ask yourself, who deserves to be comfortable more than you

I didn’t see his pic but didn't realize you could even buy an upper-level $$ bike nowadays that didn't come with dropper.

 

[Expidia]

I didn’t see his pic but didn't realize you could even buy an upper-level $$ bike nowadays that didn't come with dropper.

The pic is post # 11 but the pic is blurry. And it looks like some contraption under the seat, but too blurry for me to make out.

 

[p3eps]

The pic is post # 11 but the pic is blurry. And it looks like some contraption under the seat, but too blurry for me to make out.

The contraption under the seat is the Feedback Pro Stand that’s holding the bike up.
I have an AXS Reverb dropper, and have had a dropper on my bikes for the last 8+ years. Since going to AXS, I wouldn’t change back to a wired one though.

I think everyone above was suggesting Ergon grips rather than an Ergon saddle?

 

[Expidia]

The contraption under the seat is the Feedback Pro Stand that’s holding the bike up.
I have an AXS Reverb dropper, and have had a dropper on my bikes for the last 8+ years. Since going to AXS, I wouldn’t change back to a wired one though.

I think everyone above was suggesting Ergon grips rather than an Ergon saddle?

I also have several pairs of Ergon grips in various colors. I use the ones with the wings for added comfort. But true ETMB'ers tend to use the round Ergons without the wings as they need to pull the front of the bike up for jumps. My highest jumps so far are curbs

 

[Shjay]

So basically the only time your hands are in pain is when descending & your squeezing the bars too tightly aka death grip. Relaxing is hardest thing to do same with any sport we all tense up! But brakes at higher angle will help

 

[skinnyboy]

"Handlebar Palsy" from too much weight on your hands injuring your ulnar nerve. Try raising your bars, and consider bars with more back sweep as the angle helps a lot as well.

What Is Ulnar Nerve Injury?

The ulnar nerve is one of the major nerves of the upper extremity. Injury to the ulnar nerve, known as lesions, can cause symptoms of weakness, tingling, and numbness.

www.verywellhealth.com

Cheers.