Why more pain on flat bars than drop bars?

[Ken]

I just don't understand this one. When I first acquired this mtb, I took it
for a few short rides and it felt fine. Then I started riding as my daily
around town bike, for the upright, wide position with nice easy to use
shifters and brake levers. But now I seem to be having MUCH more pain and
discomfort in my hands, wrists and fingers. And I just don't get it. I have
never had as much pain and discomfort while riding a bike with drop bars. Is
this common with mtb ridden in the city or is it just my body telling me to
forget the flat bars and go back to drop bars?

Ken

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[Paul R]

"Ken" > wrote in message
...
> I just don't understand this one. When I first acquired this mtb, I took
it
> for a few short rides and it felt fine. Then I started riding as my daily
> around town bike, for the upright, wide position with nice easy to use
> shifters and brake levers. But now I seem to be having MUCH more pain and
> discomfort in my hands, wrists and fingers. And I just don't get it. I
have
> never had as much pain and discomfort while riding a bike with drop bars.
Is
> this common with mtb ridden in the city or is it just my body telling me
to
> forget the flat bars and go back to drop bars?
>
> Ken

When you're riding on the trails, your hands are changing positions all the
time. A flat bar is perfectly satisfactory. When riding on the road, you
have to remember to change the position of your hands. That's why road
cyclists use the curved bar.

Adding bar ends to flat bars makes for an enormous improvement. Plus, you
don't have to worry about people thinking you care about being cool!

cheers,
Paul

[bfd]

Further to the above, how low is your bar positioned? If you're seat is
higher than the bar and you're leaning your weight forward on your
hand, you'll have problems. Moreover, with a flat, straight handlebar,
your wrist are turned down and in, not a natural position.

What you want are to get a handlebar that are curves in like on this
mixte bike here:

http://www.rivbike.com/images/GloriusSV.jpg

[Ken]

"bfd" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Further to the above, how low is your bar positioned? If you're seat is
> higher than the bar and you're leaning your weight forward on your
> hand, you'll have problems. Moreover, with a flat, straight handlebar,
> your wrist are turned down and in, not a natural position.
>
> What you want are to get a handlebar that are curves in like on this
> mixte bike here:
>
> http://www.rivbike.com/images/GloriusSV.jpg
>
Well I thought I have tried everything. I have tried different grip
positions, on the end bars, off the end bars. I tried raising the and
lowering overall bar height. I have tried with cycling gloves, without
gloves. I have even tried a couple of different set of grips. The best
feeling it got was wearing gloves, with my hands way in towards the stem,
like the bar top position on a set of drop bars. I am just about ready to
retire this thing as my daily ride, and go back to the road bike for my
around town needs, and just keep the mtb of some occasional off road use.

Ken

[RonSonic]

On Thu, 12 May 2005 15:35:25 -0400, "Ken" >
wrote:

>I just don't understand this one. When I first acquired this mtb, I took it
>for a few short rides and it felt fine. Then I started riding as my daily
>around town bike, for the upright, wide position with nice easy to use
>shifters and brake levers. But now I seem to be having MUCH more pain and
>discomfort in my hands, wrists and fingers. And I just don't get it. I have
>never had as much pain and discomfort while riding a bike with drop bars. Is
>this common with mtb ridden in the city or is it just my body telling me to
>forget the flat bars and go back to drop bars?

The road bike is a highly evolved ergonomic sweetheart with over 100 years work
and fuss over all the necessary compromises.

My guess from your complaint is that your wrists don't like the angle. I'm
surprised bar ends don't fix the problem for you since the hand position isn't
dissimilar.

Anyway, maybe try trekking bars or something.

Ron

[bfd]

"Ken" > wrote in message
...
>
> "bfd" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>> Further to the above, how low is your bar positioned? If you're seat is
>> higher than the bar and you're leaning your weight forward on your
>> hand, you'll have problems. Moreover, with a flat, straight handlebar,
>> your wrist are turned down and in, not a natural position.
>>
>> What you want are to get a handlebar that are curves in like on this
>> mixte bike here:
>>
>> http://www.rivbike.com/images/GloriusSV.jpg
>>
> Well I thought I have tried everything. I have tried different grip
> positions, on the end bars, off the end bars. I tried raising the and
> lowering overall bar height. I have tried with cycling gloves, without
> gloves. I have even tried a couple of different set of grips. The best
> feeling it got was wearing gloves, with my hands way in towards the stem,
> like the bar top position on a set of drop bars. I am just about ready to
> retire this thing as my daily ride, and go back to the road bike for my
> around town needs, and just keep the mtb of some occasional off road use.
>
Try a bar like the one pictured. It may look like one of those old-school 3
speed, but if you look at the hand position, its more natural than a
straight bar. That is, if you drop your hands to your side, the palms are
turned in towards your body. A bar shaped like the albratross, Rivendell's
name for this style of hbar, does the same thing. I bet it will reduce the
wrist and hand pains you are experiencing. Try it, you might like it!

[bbaka]

Paul R wrote:
>
> When you're riding on the trails, your hands are changing positions all the
> time.

You have got to be talking about flat trails or low speed ones. On some
of the trails I ride it is a death grip on the bars on the rocky
downhills, but those adrenalin rush rides are rare.

A flat bar is perfectly satisfactory. When riding on the road, you
> have to remember to change the position of your hands. That's why road
> cyclists use the curved bar.

Makes sense until you see one turned up, argh.
>
> Adding bar ends to flat bars makes for an enormous improvement. Plus, you
> don't have to worry about people thinking you care about being cool!

Cool is enjoying yourself and not taking an opinion poll.
Bill Baka
>
> cheers,
> Paul
>
>

[Ken]

"bfd" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Ken" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "bfd" > wrote in message
> > ups.com...
> >> Further to the above, how low is your bar positioned? If you're seat is
> >> higher than the bar and you're leaning your weight forward on your
> >> hand, you'll have problems. Moreover, with a flat, straight handlebar,
> >> your wrist are turned down and in, not a natural position.
> >>
> >> What you want are to get a handlebar that are curves in like on this
> >> mixte bike here:
> >>
> >> http://www.rivbike.com/images/GloriusSV.jpg
> >>
> > Well I thought I have tried everything. I have tried different grip
> > positions, on the end bars, off the end bars. I tried raising the and
> > lowering overall bar height. I have tried with cycling gloves, without
> > gloves. I have even tried a couple of different set of grips. The best
> > feeling it got was wearing gloves, with my hands way in towards the
stem,
> > like the bar top position on a set of drop bars. I am just about ready
to
> > retire this thing as my daily ride, and go back to the road bike for my
> > around town needs, and just keep the mtb of some occasional off road
use.
> >
> Try a bar like the one pictured. It may look like one of those old-school
3
> speed, but if you look at the hand position, its more natural than a
> straight bar. That is, if you drop your hands to your side, the palms are
> turned in towards your body. A bar shaped like the albratross, Rivendell's
> name for this style of hbar, does the same thing. I bet it will reduce the
> wrist and hand pains you are experiencing. Try it, you might like it!
>
>
Perhaps, but seeing as how this is a used $5.00 bike, investing any money
into it is pretty hard to justify. I rode an mtb once or twice before, and
never really like it. Now I remember why! But I thought I would give it
another try. Think I will retire it to the garage and go back to the road
bike for around town.

Ken

[Ken]

"RonSonic" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 12 May 2005 15:35:25 -0400, "Ken"
>
> wrote:
>
> >I just don't understand this one. When I first acquired this mtb, I took
it
> >for a few short rides and it felt fine. Then I started riding as my daily
> >around town bike, for the upright, wide position with nice easy to use
> >shifters and brake levers. But now I seem to be having MUCH more pain and
> >discomfort in my hands, wrists and fingers. And I just don't get it. I
have
> >never had as much pain and discomfort while riding a bike with drop bars.
Is
> >this common with mtb ridden in the city or is it just my body telling me
to
> >forget the flat bars and go back to drop bars?
>
> The road bike is a highly evolved ergonomic sweetheart with over 100 years
work
> and fuss over all the necessary compromises.
>
> My guess from your complaint is that your wrists don't like the angle. I'm
> surprised bar ends don't fix the problem for you since the hand position
isn't
> dissimilar.
>
> Anyway, maybe try trekking bars or something.
>
> Ron
>

Yeah maybe, but as I have said this is a cheap x-mart quality used $5.00
bike, so spending much more than the cost of the bike is hard to justify. I
just thought for $5.00 I would give the mtb's another try. I rode one some
years back and didn't like it. Now I think I remember why.

Ken

[Roger Zoul]

Ken > wrote:
:> "bfd" > wrote in message
:> ...
:> >
:> > "Ken" > wrote in message
:> > ...
:> > >
:> > > "bfd" > wrote in message
:> > > ups.com...
:> > >> Further to the above, how low is your bar positioned? If you're
:> > >> seat is higher than the bar and you're leaning your weight
:> > >> forward on your hand, you'll have problems. Moreover, with a
:> > >> flat, straight handlebar, your wrist are turned down and in,
:> > >> not a natural position.
:> > >>
:> > >> What you want are to get a handlebar that are curves in like on
:> > >> this mixte bike here:
:> > >>
:> > >> http://www.rivbike.com/images/GloriusSV.jpg
:> > >>
:> > > Well I thought I have tried everything. I have tried different
:> > > grip positions, on the end bars, off the end bars. I tried
:> > > raising the and lowering overall bar height. I have tried with
:> > > cycling gloves, without gloves. I have even tried a couple of
:> > > different set of grips. The best feeling it got was wearing
:> > > gloves, with my hands way in towards the
:> stem,
:> > > like the bar top position on a set of drop bars. I am just about
:> > > ready
:> to
:> > > retire this thing as my daily ride, and go back to the road bike
:> > > for my around town needs, and just keep the mtb of some
:> > > occasional off road
:> use.
:> > >
:> > Try a bar like the one pictured. It may look like one of those
:> > old-school
:> 3
:> > speed, but if you look at the hand position, its more natural than
:> > a straight bar. That is, if you drop your hands to your side, the
:> > palms are turned in towards your body. A bar shaped like the
:> > albratross, Rivendell's name for this style of hbar, does the same
:> > thing. I bet it will reduce the wrist and hand pains you are
:> > experiencing. Try it, you might like it!
:> >
:> >
:> Perhaps, but seeing as how this is a used $5.00 bike, investing any
:> money into it is pretty hard to justify. I rode an mtb once or twice
:> before, and never really like it. Now I remember why! But I thought
:> I would give it another try. Think I will retire it to the garage
:> and go back to the road bike for around town.

Yeah, but an investment of another $30 would mean that for $35 you have a
perfect good second bike to ride - a good rain bike or a bike for a
visiting friend, perhaps...