Right hand going numb when riding…..

[Mo1959]

The fingers on my right hand have always gone numb when I'm cycling, both on drop and flat bars. Possible a pinched nerve somewhere. I just shake my hand out every 15 minutes or so.

 

[All uphill]

Awesome. Thanks very much for your time. I’ll get my Wife to get some pictures of my hands on the bars tonight - in my actual riding position; and report back for a critique 😉

Glad that's helpful. May I suggest you start away from the bike, as in my photo above. If your wife can take a picture of you with both hands, each holding a pencil, for example, you will get an idea of the angle you need, and the ideal width of your bars - The distance between your hands.

 

[VinSumRox]

I only use a straight bar bike when we tour and do find my hands get more uncomfortable than drop bars, I think because there aren't as many different positions to put your hands in.
I fitted these Ergon grips and after a bit of experimenting with angles find them much more comfortable and give you a choice of several different hand positions.

 

[sevenfourate]

I only use a straight bar bike when we tour and do find my hands get more uncomfortable than drop bars, I think because there are many different positions to put your hands in.
I fitted these Ergon grips and after a bit of experimenting with angles find them much more comfortable and give you a choice of several different hand positions.
View attachment 818177

Fab !

Do you know I thought this Morning while riding in - of buying something bolt-on to give me hand position options. Something else to add into the mix 😁

 

[Webbo2]

……..across all my bikes. Pretty much.

And happens after an hour (?) or more riding generally. Not always - infact I’ve been through a few months recently of it being really good [Barely any numbness]. But I suffered toward the end of the Dunwich Dynamo; doing nearly 7 hours in the saddle and 112 miles - and it’s not been 100% since. And certainly more pronounced / coming on sooner than normal.

I know I’m far from alone in this - as I often follow cyclists ‘shaking out’ their hands when riding. But seeing as I suffer from it on numerous bikes / postures, positioning and weight distribution I figure other factors are at least: contributing.

Thickness of grips / tape ?
Gloves worn ?
Roads ridden ?
Tyre pressure ? * I think lower PSI helps.

Anything else that others have nailed down and proven to be contributing factors ?

I get this on all my bikes, I also get it when I sleep on my side. I am led to believe it’s a problem in my neck the Ulnar nerve getting trapped. You might be better seeing a physio or osteopath. I just change my position on the bars or take one hand off and shake the other arm.

 

[MichaelW2]

To fine tune your grip after grosz changes in saddle and bar position:
Rotate brakes about the bars, some inward cant may help.
Take some small, folded pieces of inner tube and stuff them under your hoods to reprofile them.

 

[richardfm]

I got this on my flat bar tourer (with Ergon GP5 grips), but not on drops.
I changed to Koga Denham Bars on the tourer, with Ergon GP1 grips and a longer stem. This seems to have fixed it.

 

[wafter]

This sounds a likely 🙏 Not sure how / why it all but disappeared for a few months. But seems it’s relatively: back now with a vengeance.

Indeed; I vaguely remember getting some discomfort in my hands for a while when I was commuting in on the Brompton, but thankfully this just went away.

Thankfully I've never had hand issues on any of my other bikes, however I think my legs mean I'm always running the saddle pretty far back so there's less weight on my hands.

I wonder if some strength training / conditioning might help; seems that since I've been doing a bit some historic niggles have lessened / disappeared (if replaced by new and different ones specific to the training..)

 

[Punkawallah]

Hi. I had/have a similar problem with my left hand. It occurred to me that humans do not have a symmetrical body, so I tried altering the bar position to see if a longer or shorter reach for the left hand had an effect (without affecting the right hand. Seems to have worked for me, so you may want to try it?
Bear in mind that seven hours doing anything in a fixed position will do your body no favours.

 

[sevenfourate]

Hi. I had/have a similar problem with my left hand. It occurred to me that humans do not have a symmetrical body, so I tried altering the bar position to see if a longer or shorter reach for the left hand had an effect (without affecting the right hand. Seems to have worked for me, so you may want to try it?
Bear in mind that seven hours doing anything in a fixed position will do your body no favours.

Right !

That had occurred to me also. I KNOW I ride slightly lop-sided. And I am trying to work on that.

I also always have levers (Angle) set slightly different to each other; on my MTB, BMX’s and Hybrids (Flat bar essentially) - as symmetrical doesn’t feel right.

Flip side of course is perhaps I’m causing a bigger problem by doing that ?

This is where a bike fit / biomechanics expert etc comes into their own I imagine.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

There's so many possible little things contributing to this, another one is perhaps you are gripping the bars far too hard.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Where is your hand going numb?

 

[Rusty Nails]

Out of curiosity I just asked the AI on my tablet about wrist pain on bikes. It came back with this: (obv AI is not infallible)


Yes, flat handlebars generally cause more hand problems than drop bars over longer distances. This is because flat bars lock your hands into a single position, concentrating vibration and weight on the same spots, whereas drop bars provide multiple hand positions to redistribute pressure.
However, hand pain is rarely just about the handlebar shape; it is heavily influenced by bike fit, wrist alignment, and proper setup.

Flat Bars Lead to More Hand Issues

• Zero Position Variety: On long rides, you cannot move your hands to shift pressure away from sensitive areas, leading to faster fatigue.
• Ulnar Nerve Compression: Flat bars often force the wrists into a straight or slightly pronated (palms down) angle. This puts direct pressure on the ulnar nerve in the palm, causing numbness in the pinky and ring fingers (Cyclist’s Palsy).
• Median Nerve Pressure: If your wrists bend backward or sag while gripping a flat bar, you compress the median nerve, leading to Carpal Tunnel-like symptoms (tingling in the thumb, index, and middle fingers).

• Anatomical Neutral Grip: Riding on the "hoods" of a drop bar puts your hands in a vertical position (like holding a mug or shaking hands). This is the most natural, neutral position for the human wrist.
• Three Dynamic Positions: You can switch between the hoods (cruising), the tops (climbing/relaxing), and the drops (descending/sprinting) to give tired hand muscles and nerves a break.

How to Fix Hand Pain on a Flat Bar Bike
If you prefer a flat bar but want to stop the pain, you do not necessarily need to buy a new bike:

1. Install Ergonomic Grips: Upgrading to wing-shaped grips (like Ergon grips) widens the surface area, supporting your palm and preventing wrist drop.
2. Add Bar Ends: Attaching bar ends or "inner barends" gives you an alternative vertical hand position, mimicking the hoods of a drop bar.
3. Adjust the Sweep: Look for flat bars with a generic "backsweep" (bars that angle back toward you), which allows a more natural wrist angle than a perfectly straight bar.
4. Check Your Saddle Tilt: If your saddle is tilted too far forward, your body weight slides down, forcing your hands and wrists to bear your entire upper-body weight

HTH.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

……..across all my bikes. Pretty much.

And happens after an hour (?) or more riding generally. Not always - infact I’ve been through a few months recently of it being really good [Barely any numbness]. But I suffered toward the end of the Dunwich Dynamo; doing nearly 7 hours in the saddle and 112 miles - and it’s not been 100% since. And certainly more pronounced / coming on sooner than normal.

I know I’m far from alone in this - as I often follow cyclists ‘shaking out’ their hands when riding. But seeing as I suffer from it on numerous bikes / postures, positioning and weight distribution I figure other factors are at least: contributing.

Thickness of grips / tape ?
Gloves worn ?
Roads ridden ?
Tyre pressure ? * I think lower PSI helps.

Anything else that others have nailed down and proven to be contributing factors ?

Are you sure that cycling is the cause ? I say this because as you say it is across all bikes. Is there something else you are doing that uses the right hand more ? A couple of weeks ago I had an email from my osteopath saying that they had seen an increase of people contacting them with stiff arms and shoulders / necks etc. The cause.......carrying watering cans since the hosepipe ban ! I did`nt think anything of it until the beginning of the week when I too had aches across the shoulder(right) and neck, it makes looking over my right shoulder difficult on the bike. When I stood at the tap holding the can as it filled I could feel the pain build. The osteopath was right.
Anyway, back to you. I`d look at other possibilities as well as the bike. If you can rule that out, then back to the drawing board !

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Time for a recumbent