the stupid one
Über Member
- Location
- NWUK
Afternoon all.
I've started cycling again recently after a lazy few years, to improve my fitness and because it's just plain enjoyable. 20 to 30 miles once or twice a week, plus some shorter rides. An aim this year is to do a 50 mile ride, and that's going to be more of a struggle, I think, on my current bike, a B'Twin Rockrider Big RR front-suspension MTB with wide tyres and a weight of about 16 kg. So a new bike may be on the cards, perhaps cyclocross or touring. I like cycle tracks, but I'm doing more and more on the roads.
To the point! After two or three hours riding I get problems in my hands, pins and needles then numbness, and the discomfort lasts a couple of days. I wear padded mitts, which helped to a degree. The handlebars are straight MTB style, so there is really only one hand position and so no relief during the ride. Bar-ends are an option, though I'd miss my little wing mirror, but if I get a new bike I can potentially change to dropped bars or even the butterfly bar on e.g. the Dawes Karakum. Then I get more hand positions and possibly a reduction in those symptoms. Is that a realistic expectation, and has anybody been further along the same path?
To further complicate things, I slipped a disc last year and I need to take care of my glass back (15 kg lifting limit, for one thing - hello Rockrider!). I'm working on my flexibility and it's improving slowly, but I'm concerned that dropped bars may be a stretch too far if the geometry doesn't keep me fairly upright. So I'd like to ask anybody who's in this particular boat to weigh in with any thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
Steve
I've started cycling again recently after a lazy few years, to improve my fitness and because it's just plain enjoyable. 20 to 30 miles once or twice a week, plus some shorter rides. An aim this year is to do a 50 mile ride, and that's going to be more of a struggle, I think, on my current bike, a B'Twin Rockrider Big RR front-suspension MTB with wide tyres and a weight of about 16 kg. So a new bike may be on the cards, perhaps cyclocross or touring. I like cycle tracks, but I'm doing more and more on the roads.
To the point! After two or three hours riding I get problems in my hands, pins and needles then numbness, and the discomfort lasts a couple of days. I wear padded mitts, which helped to a degree. The handlebars are straight MTB style, so there is really only one hand position and so no relief during the ride. Bar-ends are an option, though I'd miss my little wing mirror, but if I get a new bike I can potentially change to dropped bars or even the butterfly bar on e.g. the Dawes Karakum. Then I get more hand positions and possibly a reduction in those symptoms. Is that a realistic expectation, and has anybody been further along the same path?
To further complicate things, I slipped a disc last year and I need to take care of my glass back (15 kg lifting limit, for one thing - hello Rockrider!). I'm working on my flexibility and it's improving slowly, but I'm concerned that dropped bars may be a stretch too far if the geometry doesn't keep me fairly upright. So I'd like to ask anybody who's in this particular boat to weigh in with any thoughts.
Thanks for reading.
Steve