protecting my hands

On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 23:41:14 +0800, Marian Rosenberg
wrote:

Dan Daniel wrote:
On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 17:10:52 +0800, Marian Rosenberg
wrote:



How does one go about getting a bike that is a good fit?


SOmeone posted this link, and it seems pretty good-

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

Some people ride with a tight grip when it isn't needed. Pay attention
and see if you can relax your grip, arms, and shoulders.

Relazing definitely helps on the non bumpy fast riding conditions. I'm
not too good at forcing relaxation but, yesterday's ride after getting a
massage was almost as wonderful as the massage. I was kind of
semi-liquid and my bike was an extension of myself.


Great feeling, isn't it? That's how it should be all the time.



Part of why I am pariticularly noticing the pain is because I have been
playing with the wonderful balance of my new bike and, traffic
permitting, going 5 and 10 minutes at a stretch with hands nowhere near
the handlebars.


Do you do work or activites that put you at risk for carpal tunnel or
repetitive stress injury? I wonder if the bike pain is aggravating a
condition that comes from another activity.

Think of your arms as shock absorbers, not tie rods.

When I hit potholes and bumps, I relax my grip, not tighten it. You
don't want to take all of the impact force on your hands.

Okay. I KNOW I haven't been doing this. I've been tightening my grip
in expectation of the possibility of loss of control.

-M

Someone else mentioned using your legs, also. Rise off the seat just a
touch, relax the grip, and let the legs take any impact. I don't let
my arms go totally limp, of course. I'm prepared to have to force the
handlebars and react to the front wheel being twisted and jolted.

Dan Daniel wrote:
On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 23:41:14 +0800, Marian Rosenberg
wrote:


Dan Daniel wrote:

On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 17:10:52 +0800, Marian Rosenberg
wrote:



How does one go about getting a bike that is a good fit?

SOmeone posted this link, and it seems pretty good-

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

duly noted.


Some people ride with a tight grip when it isn't needed. Pay attention
and see if you can relax your grip, arms, and shoulders.

Relazing definitely helps on the non bumpy fast riding conditions. I'm
not too good at forcing relaxation but, yesterday's ride after getting a
massage was almost as wonderful as the massage. I was kind of
semi-liquid and my bike was an extension of myself.
Great feeling, isn't it? That's how it should be all the time.

I'm not normally in a semi-liquid state of being.
I can see the bike as extension of self being a good thing.
However, achieving the semi-liquid state is not necessarily easy.

Part of why I am pariticularly noticing the pain is because I have been
playing with the wonderful balance of my new bike and, traffic
permitting, going 5 and 10 minutes at a stretch with hands nowhere near
the handlebars.

Do you do work or activites that put you at risk for carpal tunnel or
repetitive stress injury? I wonder if the bike pain is aggravating a
condition that comes from another activity.

I'm a comptuer junkie and I've been a touch typist for 15 years now.

When there is soreness, the wrists aren't nearly so sore as the palms of
the hands are.

-M

In article ,
Marian Rosenberg writes:

I try not to abuse my bicycle. But, the best places to ride in the
bicycle lanes are already taken by other bicycles creeping along at 5
and 6 kilometers an hour. This means going over manhole covers, and
catching the occasional pothole.

Think "airiness". Be meringue. Set your saddle height so you're
sort of between sitting and standing. Whatever type of bike
on gets -- comfort, road, hybrid or MTB -- one should be able
to readily get a sense of lifting off the saddle when pedaling --
or at least being able to. Saddle-suck ... sux. If your bike
config feels like it's making you sit down like in an easy
chair, it's very wrong.

Exhale so you weigh less when going over those bumps :-)
It doesn't hurt to lift off the saddle and let the elbows &
knees flex when they need to, too.

But potholes are serious bizness. Best thing to avoid those
is to ride further out from the curb, and in the part of the
road where potholes are less likely to occur. Otherwise,
potholes can mess up dental work real bad. But just be light
on the bike. I know it sounds glib, but it really is the
answer.

Honestly.

The bike doesn't wear you -- you wear it. At least, that's
how it should be. Become one with the air that fights against
you. That's all I can say. It works. I dunno. I't probably
all coming out wrong, and I'm annoying you. But I don't mean to.

But riding is such a "feeling"-oriented thing. That makes it
difficult to literally describe.


cheers,
Tom

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In article ,
Kevan Smith /\/\ writes:

I don't stand up for anything but huge bumps. The average bumps of the road I
just relax and roll right over.

My seatpost is a couple of microns away from optimal
thickness. So for every seated bump I hit, I pound it
down so much the further. Tomorrow I've gotta get to
Our Community Bikes!, and see if they've got a better
(thicker) seatpost for me. And some pedals for the mixte.
The binder-bolt thing gets old, real fast, with a wrongly-
sized seatpost. Good ol' shiny steel seatpost, though.
It just needs the right bike to stick it in.

Maybe I can score a steel rack while I'm at it.
(I hate aluminum racks.)


cheers,
Tom

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On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 17:10:52 +0800, Marian Rosenberg
from wrote:...

Other than slowing down, and avoiding bumps in the road, is there
anything I can do to protect my hands?

Kevan Smith replied:
I assume you have padded gloves already. Also, don't take the force of the
blow
with your hands and arms. When you see a bump coming, relax and put your
weight
on your butt. Your hands and arms should just put enough force on the bars
to
maintain steering control.



Have you changed the position of you handlebars?

1. With a traditional headset, you could raise or lower the bars --
providing you don't raise the quill past the "maximum height". With a
threadless headset, you would need to move spacers or change the stem.

2. You could loosen the bolt that holds the handlebars and rotate them. By
rotating handlebars up or down, you would change slightly your wrist angle
and increase (or decrease) your comfort.

You could also change the handlebar grips. If you have the "slippery rubber"
kind, grips with better friction would help your hands because you won't
have to hold the handlebars that tightly.

Regards,

Michel Gagnon

Followup -

Despite owning a pair, I have yet to try bicycle gloves. They aren't
part of my morning grab the keys and camera bag ritual ... yet. So,
this morning and yesterday morning I was halfway to breakfast when I
realized I had forgotten the gloves.

I also have not managed to get foam grips for the handlebars yet. I
plan to go looking for some this weekend in Beijing.

I am following the instructions about relaxing a bit more and loosening
the grip. Just from that slight behavior modification the pain
reduction has been extreme.

I'm also trying a new way of bicyling in rush hour. I pick a bicyclist
that is going a reasonable speed and I follow him as he weaves through
traffic. Every so often the bicyclist will do something that I'm not
yet confident enough to try and I will have to slow down to the ambient
speed until I find someone else to follow. This keeps me in the middle
of the bike lanes and away from the worst of the bumps.

-M

Marian Rosenberg wrote in message .. .
Followup -

Despite owning a pair, I have yet to try bicycle gloves. They aren't
part of my morning grab the keys and camera bag ritual ... yet. So,
this morning and yesterday morning I was halfway to breakfast when I
realized I had forgotten the gloves.

I find I get really sore hands if I don't use the gloves, with the
gloves things are great.

I am following the instructions about relaxing a bit more and loosening
the grip. Just from that slight behavior modification the pain
reduction has been extreme.

Great!

I'm also trying a new way of bicyling in rush hour. I pick a bicyclist
that is going a reasonable speed and I follow him as he weaves through
traffic. Every so often the bicyclist will do something that I'm not
yet confident enough to try and I will have to slow down to the ambient
speed until I find someone else to follow. This keeps me in the middle
of the bike lanes and away from the worst of the bumps.

While not a bad idea to learn from following more experienced
cyclists, the person you are following could also be making dangerous
moves which you don't necessarily want to copy. Remember the keys are
to be visible, predictable (weaving in and out is often not
predictable) and to behave like you would if you were driving a motor
vehicle. But do try to find the smoothest pavement to ride on. Are the
bike lanes there physically separated from vehicle lanes, or is it
just a white stripe? If it is striped to pass a slower cyclist, signal
your intent to pass them, shoulder check and move into the road lane
to go around them. Never try to pass another cyclist on the curb side.
(right in NA) If a bump is unavoidable I find it reduces the shock to
stand off the seat a little bit as I go over. This is made easier by
getting clips for your pedals (assuming they aren't the clipless kind)

Tanya

"Marian Rosenberg" wrote in message
...
Followup -

Despite owning a pair, I have yet to try bicycle gloves. They aren't
part of my morning grab the keys and camera bag ritual ... yet.

They will be, right after you hit the pavement. Roadrash on the hands is
really painful. In my experiance gloves are more important than a helmet.
Len

On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 17:10:52 +0800, Marian Rosenberg
wrote:

I did not notice this happening at all on my last bicycle.

Of course, as my last bicycle was a substantially cheaper bike I wasn't
quite as likely to ride fast and furious. (for local values of fast and
furious, usually I am going between 15 and 20 kph)

My new bike is a Giant Athena. Don't try looking on their website,
unless you read Chinese, you won't find any specs on it.

When I find myself crashing through a pothole or going over railroad
tracks the banging and thudding the handlebars do end up making my hands
sore. They aren't showing bruises but they are definitely feeling tender.

Other than slowing down, and avoiding bumps in the road, is there
anything I can do to protect my hands?

At the store where I got my new bike all of the bikes I saw with shocks
weren't Giant or Emelle or any other recognizable international brand.
After a year on a Chinese-made bike I wanted something a little sturdier.

-M

Another thing to consider is to check to see if the tires you have are
the widest that will fit on your bike. Ask at the local bike shop.
Wide tires will absorb more shock then thin ones. Also, it is OK to
change just the front one if $ is an issue. Air pressure in the tires
is another consideration. Just enough to avoid pinch flats. If your
tires are fairly wide...say 35mm then try 50 or 60 psi (3.5 to 4 Kg/cm
square) in the front with a little more in the rear is a good starting
place. If tires are wider, use lower pressure, if narrower, use
higher.

Steve Shapiro

Tom Keats wrote:

In article ,
Marian Rosenberg writes:

Other than slowing down, and avoiding bumps in the road, is there
anything I can do to protect my hands?

No.

At the store where I got my new bike all of the bikes I saw with shocks
weren't Giant or Emelle or any other recognizable international brand.
After a year on a Chinese-made bike I wanted something a little sturdier.

Norco's are really sturdy. Usually the stock forks (usually
cheap-o RST's) suck the big one, though. They'll blow their tops
off on the slightest rut. Marzocchi's are nice. Peel off a couple
of yards off the paycheque for the bike and another yard for the
fork, and your started, if you want suspension and snob appeal.

Then there's wheels.

I'm riding around happily on a foundling Norco Bigfoot w/ no
suspension, and nondescript Araya rims on Weinmann hubs.
She serves me well. I don't complain 'bout 'er, and she don't
complain 'bout me. Me & my bike have an understanding. If my
hands hurt, my bike hurts, too. Anthropomorphism, 'n all that.
But it serves well as a means of developing a gentle touch for
mechanical parts.

cheers,
Tom

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Me and my aging Norco Bush Pilot say "Amen" to all that!
Bernie