Pleeeez Recommend Me Best Ladies Gloves For Pain Relief

[G-Zero]

I have eventually managed to get my wife away from her old straight bar ladies Raleigh, with twist grip gears and on to a modern drop bar gravel bike. At 65, she has the beginnings of arthritis in her hands and was getting occasional carpal tunnel and wrist pain from the old bike. My thoughts were that more hand positions, combined with easier gear changing might help to make life more comfortable.

We’ve had a few local rides of 9, 11 & 13 miles and she is finding things easier on the new bike, however she’s not entirely pain free, which might be partly down to the thin padded gloves she’s currently using.

Has anyone alleviated similar problems with really good padded gel (or other padding) cycling gloves and if so, any recommendations would be appreciated.

TIA

 

[ianrauk]

Maybe a good idea to get some handlebar gel inserts for underneath the bartape.

 

[Punkawallah]

The Lidl offerings have padding, but you may have missed them. The economical option would be to raise the bars.

 

[vickster]

Specialized BG gel mitts
eg https://www.bikesheduk.com/product/...FpVqppcaZ9XMKJcjnrRDLvBP-5ssxqU-GNd4Brb7tbHIY

 

[G-Zero]

Maybe a good idea to get some handlebar gel inserts for underneath the bartape.

Thanks for the pointer, I didn’t know such things existed 😊

 

[ianrauk]

Thanks for the pointer, I didn’t know such things existed 😊

No worries.
I got some especially for my attempt on LEL. Easy to do. Just unroll the bar tape. add the gel pads and roll back up.
They work very well.
I got mine from Bike Parts. Though there are cheaper alternatives available elsewhere.

 

[T4tomo]

Also check you haven't got the tyre (esp front) pumped over hard. You have got decent wide tyres on it which will act a decent suspension at the correct pressure.

 

[Reynard]

Lady rider here, most rides in the 5 to 15 mile range. I'd start with the cheapest options, which is a) to raise the bars and b) to drop the pressure a bit in the front tyre. You could also c) flip the stem.

For me, the biggest difference between hybrid / MTB and road bike, is that the former, you're sitting very upright, and on the latter, you're definitely more forward. I found the road bike became less uncomfortable once I built up better core strength. But it's largely about getting the weight distribution right between front and rear though, to prevent discomfort in all the assorted contact points with the bike.

As for gloves, I found that the more padding I had, the less feel and dexterity I ended up with. I prefer a thinner glove. I think it's just too personal really, just like shorts and saddles.

P.S. there's absolutely nothing wrong with riding a bog standard MTB or hybrid. A nice easy fix to make those more ergonomic is to swap the twist shifters for trigger pods, and fit some nice Ergon grips, which support your hands and also give you the option of bar ends as well. I have the GP2 versions on two of my bikes and would thoroughly recommend them. Ebay is your friend here, if you don't fancy paying through the nose.

 

[wafter]

Great work

Can't help with the gloves but to build on what's already been said, look at mass distribution between the saddle and bars as well as general fit.

Having the saddle too far forward can increase load on the hands and cause issues, as can having the bars too low and too far forward.

As @Reynard says you can flip the stem to increase bar height (stack), while reach can be shortened by fitting a shorter stem.

 

[G-Zero]

Lady rider here, most rides in the 5 to 15 mile range. I'd start with the cheapest options, which is a) to raise the bars and b) to drop the pressure a bit in the front tyre. You could also c) flip the stem.

For me, the biggest difference between hybrid / MTB and road bike, is that the former, you're sitting very upright, and on the latter, you're definitely more forward. I found the road bike became less uncomfortable once I built up better core strength. But it's largely about getting the weight distribution right between front and rear though, to prevent discomfort in all the assorted contact points with the bike.

As for gloves, I found that the more padding I had, the less feel and dexterity I ended up with. I prefer a thinner glove. I think it's just too personal really, just like shorts and saddles.

P.S. there's absolutely nothing wrong with riding a bog standard MTB or hybrid. A nice easy fix to make those more ergonomic is to swap the twist shifters for trigger pods, and fit some nice Ergon grips, which support your hands and also give you the option of bar ends as well. I have the GP2 versions on two of my bikes and would thoroughly recommend them. Ebay is your friend here, if you don't fancy paying through the nose.

I’ve passed that all on, thanks.

 

[G-Zero]

Thanks to all for your replies.

We’ll be starting with the easy stuff first… tyre pressures, bar gel pads and new gloves. If that doesn’t work there are plenty of suggestions for moving on 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️😎