Talk to me about numb hands

[The Ghost]

I seem to be suffering with numb hands after about 15 minutes or so on the bike, what are the things that I can reasonably try and do to alleviate this?

Is it something that improves with TITS?

[BaGearA]

raise your brake levers and shifters a few degrees and test quick 

[Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Your saddle might be tilted nose down causing you to be heavier on your bars. 

[popcorn_skollie]

Its really hard to pinpoint why exactly you have numb hands. Quite a few suggestions will pop up and I suggest you try them all independently. This can only be solved through trial and error. Or an educated guess I suppose. My dad suffered from the same thing. Changed his cockpit from an 80mm stem with 630mm bars to a 50mm stem with 710mm bars. It solved the issue for him. It may work for you. It may not. 

 

If you're experiencing numb hands that quickly. You either have a grip that is far too tense. Or you're slouched over the bar so far. That its forcing your palms to support a significant portion of your torso weight. Assuming of course that you're on the correct size bike to begin with. That would be my guess. But I may be completely wrong.

[Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

If you're experiencing numb hands that quickly. You either have a grip that is far too tense. Or you're slouched over the bar so far. That its forcing your palms to support a significant portion of your torso weight. Assuming of course that you're on the correct size bike to begin with. That would be my guess. But I may be completely wrong.

THIS... Too much weight on the hands so a lot of things could fix it. Specialized also have a glove with padding just in the middle that supposedly stops pressure on the nerve that causes it. 

[Honkdonk]

I suffer from numb fingers on the longer rides - 80km plus. I took the spacers from beneath the bars a few months back as I wanted a more aero positioning, plus it looks better (haha).

I have gotten used to it, so perhaps the TITS helps plus a good shake of the hands every now and then to get the blood flow back works a treat. Age is also a factor - I'm 44 and have had to work around saddle and cleat positioning as well as settling on the correct gear ratio - crank and cassette - I now have a 10sp 11/28 cassette with a 52/36 crank and it suits me just fine

 

But numb hands and sore feet are no fun

[SundayCycler]

Agree that it could be that you're putting too much pressure on your palms.

 

Try adjusting brake lever angle, saddle height and saddle tilt.

 

I had numb a similar problem where my hands were numb while riding and then in a lot of pain after riding. 

 

What worked was playing around with lever angle, saddle adjustment and also I got wider bars with a much shorter stem to put me more upright.

[Rocket-Boy]

Weak core? if you core isnt supporting you then your hands will be doing it and that puts extra pressure on them.

[Ruan (New Account)]

As weird as it may sound, but what are TITS?

[Craai]

As weird as it may sound, but what are TITS?

Time In The Saddle

[Grease_Monkey]

Like many have mentioned it can be a variety of things, but chances are you have too much weight on your hands. My guess would be that your saddle is tilted too far forward, your stem is too long or low, or your brake and gear levers are tilted too far down.

 

For me it was the gear and brake levers beijg tilted too far down. Try adjusting each of these individually and test. It is a bit of a time consuming process but worth it once you get it right.

[rudi-h]

nope, not weight on hands or TITS...

 

if your hands go numb after 15 mins, it's likely a nerve pinching in your bum.  check your setup, saddle height and saddle orientation.

[Knersboy]

I had the same problem, especially pinky and ring fingers. Tried many things. Contour grips made it worse for me, but what really helped me was the specialized gloves (Grail) that Dieter mentioned.

 

But of course everyone is different, and experimentation can be expensive.

[Job]

I use Enduren cramp blocks on long rides otherwise if i dont  my right hand becomes numb.

[agilwolf]

On my MTB I had the same issue, rotating my handlebars down seem to have helped (in essence a slight change in the angle of the grip).  As suggested also look at your saddle adjustment; tilt, fore/aft, as well as Left/Right alignment.

 

Now to figure out the solution on my road bike ...

[bikebloke]

you are taking too much weight on your hands

 

gloves and grips dont solve this

 

adjusting your setup can - your saddle sloping down at nose -your bars being too low -bad cleat position basically any setup parameter that can put your position to far forward and place too much weight on your hands

 

also core strength and general strength training can solve this also - if your core is soft you take your weight on your knees which get tired too quicky and transfer the weight to your hands and so on

 

and utimately chuck away padded gel gloves and ride without palm padding it hardens your hands