Raising handlebars?

[dimrub]

Greetings, folks!

I have a gravel bike - a Canyon Grail AL 7.0 - which I also use for touring. Last year when I rode it for a week with daily distances reaching about 90 km, towards the end of the day my hands felt numb. I attributed this to my posture, so I tried fixing this, by moving the saddle a bit forward and down, and raising the handlebar a bit, so as to get more upright, and lessen the pressure on the hands. I'm now looking forward to a 2-week trip with daily distances in excess of 100 km, so I'm a bit worried. Should I try and swap the stem for a raised one - and if so, what to look at when shopping for a stem? Should I instead try and better diagnose the issue?

 

[All uphill]

Did you take regular breaks on your 90km days?

Will you be doing some rides in preparation for your next tour?

 

[dimrub]

Well yes, we took a lot of breaks for photography, ice cream and my son never missed a LIDL or an ALDI without stopping to shop for raspberries (don't ask). We plan to do just as many stops or more. As for preparation, yes, we plan to do some rides to the office/school and back, which is 30 km each way.
Yes, my other theory is that I'm out of shape, and my core muscles are not strong enough to carry me upright, hence goes the pressure on the hands. Still, I want to make the max out of whatever shape I have, with mechanical means .

 

[Cycleops]

You should be able to get comfortable with raising or lowering the bars or maybe try a different stem.
Don't lower the saddle though as you'll get problems with your knees. You leg should be straight when seated with the crank at six o'clock

 

[dimrub]

You should be able to get comfortable with raising or lowering the bars or maybe try a different stem.
Don't lower the saddle though as you'll get problems with your knees. You leg should be straight when seated with the crank at six o'clock

Yes, I only lowered the saddle slightly, precisely because I was afraid I'll shift the load to my knees.
I did raise the bars, but that only solves the issue for riding the hoods - I want to be able to also comfortably ride the drops. As a matter of fact, after I posted to the forum, I went and looked at the bike (should have done it earlier). The stem is exactly horizontal, which means it's at an angle to the headpost, so I should be able to flip it, instead of buying a new one - this will give me a few degrees of raise. Are there any cons to this?

 

[figbat]

Are there any cons to this?

Not really - I’ve done the same on a gravel bike. Your cables might be pulled a little tighter but shouldn’t be an issue unless you already run very tight.

 

[Deleted member 121159]

You might want to also consider aero bars. They allow you to transfer the weight from wrists to forearms and elbows. Something like this in the photo has some stack height built into it which might be helpful (I certainly find it helpful).

 

[slowmotion]

You might try gloves with gel pads on the palms. They reduce vibrations from the road getting to the nerves in your hands/wrists and reduce numbness.

 

[dimrub]

I do use padded gloves, alas, they're not of much help. As for aerobars, I'm afraid they'll clutter my already busy cockpit, what's with bell, light, bag, navigation computer - simply no space left.

 

[Cycleops]

You might try flipping the stem but you'll likely need a different one. This I think is 30° and should allow you to take the weight off your hands:

 

[MichaelW2]

With drop bars, your default touring hold should be on the hoods. If the hoods are giving you problems you can alter their position on the bar, up/down but esp around. Angle them in a fraction.
You can also reprofile the rubber grip by stuffing bits of inner tube under the rubber.

 

[Sea of vapours]

I tried fixing this, by moving the saddle a bit forward and down

Moving the saddle forward moves your centre of gravity forward and thus puts *more* weight on you hands, not less. i.e. assuming you don't have reach (to the bars) issues, you should move the saddle back from where it was to relieve hand pressure. Do a search on YouTube on 'saddle fore/aft' and there are lots of bike fit type videos describing this in more detail.

 

[dimrub]

Ok, I've flipped the stem. The change is noticeable and hopefully sufficient. I can now fine tune the saddle and try this on a ride to the office.

 

[cyberknight]

Moving the saddle forward moves your centre of gravity forward and thus puts *more* weight on you hands, not less. i.e. assuming you don't have reach (to the bars) issues, you should move the saddle back from where it was to relieve hand pressure. Do a search on YouTube on 'saddle fore/aft' and there are lots of bike fit type videos describing this in more detail.

I have to agree
I had similar issues with very bad numbness in my hands , what solved it was moving my saddle back and down to move the centre of gravity further back so i was unweighting the hands .I only needed 5 mm back and 5 mm down .
Overly long and too much drop on stems can also put to much weight on the hands

 

[All uphill]

I do use padded gloves, alas, they're not of much help. As for aerobars, I'm afraid they'll clutter my already busy cockpit, what's with bell, light, bag, navigation computer - simply no space left.

I'm sure they can help for many people, but they didn't work for me. I was given a pair of close-fitting thin Gore mitts without padding and was surprised to find they were the best for me.

I observe that very few people spend much time on the drops - I couldn't do a whole ride on them.