Anyone else find Dura Ace hoods uncomfortable?

[NorvernRob]

Hi all

Long-time SRAM rider, have had Red eTap for the last 8 years (though one of my bikes has 105, no issues with that).

Recently got a new bike (Lapierre Xelius 9.0) with Dura Ace di2. Problem is, my hands are killing me after a couple of hours. It’s the part between my thumb and forefinger that sits on the hood. I’m actively having to pull my hands back slightly to try and avoid contact there, but that’s no good when you’re doing 5 hours in the Peak District with loads of steep descents.

Tried Rapha GT and Castelli Arenberg 2 gloves, makes no difference. I’ve got Way of the Roses in a day planned for next month and currently I don’t see how I could ride for 11ish hours.

I could use my old bike, but part of the reason for switching is I can only get maximum 25mm tyres on it, and 100+ miles on those and a stiff frame is heavy work with the state of the roads today.

Anyone experienced similar and done anything to make it more comfortable?

 

[fossyant]

Shimano rider here. Thoughts about riding on the tops and generally moving hands round more ?

 

[NorvernRob]

Shimano rider here. Thoughts about riding on the tops and generally moving hands round more ?

I was doing a fair bit of that anyway, the ride had 7500ft of elevation and I’ve got blips on the tops. I was hoping I’d adapt, I’ve been out for an hour this morning and found it uncomfortable even for that short time.

I much prefer the hoods on flatter sections though, and WOTR has 70 miles through the Yorkshire Dales, then 100 miles pretty much flat.

 

[fossyant]

You might just need to get used to them. I only grip the hoods when descending - otherwise loosely place my hands on them - this is general Shimano hoods and the non-hydraulic brifters.

 

[fossyant]

You've checked the bar/lever angles and position are similar to your previous set up.

 

[Webbo2]

I have 105 and Dura ace mechanical with rim brakes and Ultegra Di2 with discs and I can’t tell the difference.
You mention doing lots of steep descents in the peak. Are you doing these on the hoods if so is it the reach to brake lever that’s too far and could that be causing the problem.

 

[fossyant]

I'll also add in it's a new bike - are all the measurements similar - reach, saddle setback (allowing for geometry differences).

 

[Gunk]

I‘ve used Dura Ace 7800 (10 speed) for years now and the hoods are mega-comfortable, perhaps the later versions aren’t so good.

 

[ColinJ]

You've checked the bar/lever angles and position are similar to your previous set up.

This has just reminded me that I have been getting sore wrists/hands when riding my Devon bike. I will try tilting the bars back very slightly before this evening's ride to see if that helps.

(I don't have any experience with Dura Ace but I know that correct hood position and angle are very important.)

 

[EckyH]

Sometimes the size and shape of brifters just are "incompatible" to our hands. Worst for my hands were the Tiagra 4720 brifters - even the least uncomfortable hand position on the brifters still caused pain somewhere after minutes.

Had Sora R3000 brifters on my commuter for years and all I could do was to learn how to minimise the uncomfortableness. Same is on my modern CX bike with GRX 400. I had to experiment with stem length, bar height and angle of the brifters. In my experience pain is mainly caused by too much pressure where it hurts. If the hoods are comfortable just by holding them, then imo the chances are good that the root cause is somewhere in the position on the bike.

E.

 

[NorvernRob]

I'll also add in it's a new bike - are all the measurements similar - reach, saddle setback (allowing for geometry differences).

Virtually identical yeah. I checked the geometry before I bought it, and it compared very closely to my old bike, then set it up side by side taking measurements from the old bike. It feels really comfortable apart from the hoods!

I have 105 and Dura ace mechanical with rim brakes and Ultegra Di2 with discs and I can’t tell the difference.
You mention doing lots of steep descents in the peak. Are you doing these on the hoods if so is it the reach to brake lever that’s too far and could that be causing the problem.

Levers are easily reachable, done an hour flat ride this morning where I barely touched the brakes and my hands were still hurting, even though I consciously tried to sit my hands on the hoods nice and loosely. I’ve checked the angles compared to my old bike and they’re spot on too. Never ever had issues with my hands before on any bike. SRAM Red mechanical, eTap, Shimano 105, old Ultegra, old Force, various cheapo groupsets.

It’s weird, I’ve just sat on the bike with my hands on the hoods and it feels perfect, the hoods feel no different to my old bike. But an hours riding and they feel crap.

Plus I’ve just noticed one of the surrounds that holds the satellite shifter into the bars has disappeared somewhere and the shifter is just loose out of the frame. It must have fallen out on the ride this morning, I didn’t even touch them Now got to look for some spares that I bet aren’t available

 

[NorvernRob]

Well, I rode Way of the Roses in a day on Friday, so I’ve kind of figured out how to ride with these hoods

Firstly, I binned off gloves altogether. And I’m used to just being able to rest my hands on the hoods for long periods with SRAM, which I can’t do with the DA. So, I change hand position a lot more, and sit my hands slightly back off the hoods. Just under 12hrs of moving time and my hands were fine, just wrists that were a bit shaken up from some of the horrific surfaces (mainly on the cycle routes around York).

Other than those rough sections (and one off-road section after York that also had sand patches), I can highly recommend the route, that is largely traffic free. I did it on 28mm tyres but 30 or 32 would definitely be better.

 

[Milzy]

Yes they are not as comfy. Feel like Record.
Lower end shifters always feel bigger and better fitting to the hands.