New to road biking - problems with my arms

Test For Echo

Got myself a Trek 2010 road bike a few weeks ago and have set myself a challenge of a 70 mile cycle before Xmas and probably a 100 mile cycle sometime after that.

I’ve been hitting the road on Saturday mornings and have built the mileage up to 44 on Sat past. Legs started cramping about 30 miles in; nothing serious but had to back off the pedaling a bit to keep the cramps at bay. My biggest problem though is my hands & arms – my hands are constantly numb and my forearms seem to be affected too. Hard to explain the forearms – like a mild electric shock in my forearm when I move my wrist. Not painful symptoms but enough to make the journey damn uncomfortable.

Although I’m fit, I’m new to road cycling and I’d appreciate some advice because, at this stage, I ain’t looking forward to going out next Sat morning

serendip

I had a similar problem many years ago. Padded cycling gloves was the solution. Do you wear gloves at the moment?

Test For Echo

serendip wrote: »

I had a similar problem many years ago. Padded cycling gloves was the solution. Do you wear gloves at the moment?

I'm wearing gloves - very thin fleecy type gloves for a bit of warmth. They're for for running not cycling though.

I was ordering a few things the other day and added these gloves to my order. Don't know if they're padded. If not, padded gloves are what I'll try next.

Thanks :cool:

-K2-

Test For Echo wrote: »

Although I’m fit, I’m new to road cycling and I’d appreciate some advice because, at this stage, I ain’t looking forward to going out next Sat morning

More cycling should help the arms adapt.

Test For Echo

-K2- wrote: »

More cycling should help the arms adapt.

Hopefully. I have a cunning plan to do 2 shorter spins this weekend instead of 1 long one.

ednwireland

how hard you gripping the bars i generally have a very loose grip apart from braking and downhill, keep a loose grip and bent elbows

levitronix

Try take an electrolyte drink with you help prevent the cramps, sometimes works

Test For Echo

ednwireland wrote: »

how hard you gripping the bars i generally have a very loose grip apart from braking and downhill, keep a loose grip and bent elbows

Not gripping the bars much except when up out of the saddle on an uphill climb. Thinking about my posture; I believe I tend to lean over on the bars quite heavily though while pedaling along. Might need to review my posture.

levitronix wrote: »

Try take an electrolyte drink with you help prevent the cramps, sometimes works

Tend to just drink water - will give that a go.

Appreciate the advice all

cojomo2

is it possible you have the wrong frame size?

morana

get the gloves!!! I know a good rider who had problems with the ulnar(?) nerve in his hand which left him with a numbness in his hand. The mitts should protect the hand and in the event of a fall they stop you losing the skin on the palm of your hand.

The cramps are normalish. If they are still happening in a few months time then you could get some professional advice on your setup. Surely on this board there must be a bike setup thread?

Oldlegs

http://www.andoverwheelers.com/Documents%5CErics_bike_set_up_instructions.htm

That said, having set it up by the numbers you still may want to tweak the final setup.

SurferDude41

If your hands+ arms are getting numb, it's a symptom of you carrying too much weight on your arms.
If you are sat bolt upright on your bike, your lower back muscles just get an easy ride.
The trick to finding a comfortable riding position, is spreading your body-weight between the three contact points{Saddle, Handlebars and pedals} as evenly as possible.

You could try using a longer handlebar stem. Or as a tempory fix, you could try sliding your saddle rearwards on it's rails.
This would increase the distance between the saddle and the handlebars, taking the weight off your hands and making those lower back muscles do their fair share of the work.

Let me know how you get on.

Happy Cycling:)

paddymacsporran

Look this up too - 'carpal tunnel syndrome - cycling'

kincsem

You say you have a road bike. A road bike on here means a "racer" with drop handlebars. If you have a road bike with straight handlebars then that is a recipe for numb hands, as you can not change hand positions to relieve pressure. The other thing you need is cycling gloves with padded palms (gel).

Most cyclists get a flat bar bike first, and then realise their mistake and buy a road bike.

macken04

more cycling will help. also try changing hand position. When i began a very hard thing to master was weight distribution. You should try supporting the majority of your weight on saddle. Sheldon Brown has some good exercises. After a few months all the pain in my hands went away and it was just from taking weight off my hands. A decent bend in your arms also again help elevate pain.

Do you have any neck pain or lower back. From experience this was a quick shot sign of a poor fit and wrong saddle height

Test For Echo

cojomo2 wrote: »

is it possible you have the wrong frame size?

Don't think so (i.e. I hope not). I went to a local, reputable bike shop & the owner is a keen cyclist himself.

SurferDude41 wrote: »

If your hands+ arms are getting numb, it's a symptom of you carrying too much weight on your arms.

The trick to finding a comfortable riding position, is spreading your body-weight between the three contact points{Saddle, Handlebars and pedals} as evenly as possible.

Going to focus on the weight distribution on my next ride

kincsem wrote: »

You say you have a road bike. A road bike on here means a "racer" with drop handlebars. If you have a road bike with straight handlebars then that is a recipe for numb hands, as you can not change hand positions to relieve pressure. The other thing you need is cycling gloves with padded palms (gel).

Most cyclists get a flat bar bike first, and then realise their mistake and buy a road bike.

The bike is a Trek 1.2. "Racer" is what that style of bike was called when I was a young lad, didn't think the decription was used anymore :pac:

macken04 wrote: »

Do you have any neck pain or lower back. From experience this was a quick shot sign of a poor fit and wrong saddle height

No back or neck pain whatsoever, just hands and forearms numb & tingling. When I got the bike I adjusted the saddle height until my leg was straight (but not locked straight) with my heel on the pedal.

As well as getting gloves, some thought on weight distribution, posture & possibly some fine tuning of the bike required.

Perhaps I also need to simply allow more time to get used to the riding position, I have afterall gone from zero, to 3 hours plus, in the saddle.

Thanks for all the replies :cool:

'68 Fastback

I got my first racer a few years ago having only ever had MTBs. For the first couple of months my wrists and thumbs would be killing me after 20k or so. After a while the pain stopped. The odd time I used deep heat on my forearms but that was a hangover from the mountain biking days.

Changing your hand position on the bars, from the tops to hoods or drops as the pains come on might help.

Lemag

New to road biking bikini - problems with my arms

That's how I read the title of the thread at first glance:D I was intrigued. Not much help to the OP, I know. However, it is a bump.

I've haven't really had the problem but here's my two cents to make my post somewhat relevant. Changing the way you grip your bars throughout your ride might help. That and padded (gel inserts) gloves.

Lawr

Your weight is too far forward. You have too much weight on your arms. Are you riding in the drops or are you riding with your hands atop the bars? Oldlegs is on the money. You have to begin with the seat highth. Then you have to set the seat's forward/aft position. I did two things that helped the numbness in my hands. Firstly, I moved my seat as far back as possible. Secondly, I played with the handlebar position on the steerer, moving its position up, then down, trying all kinds of scenarios until I could get through a thirty-five miler without a lot of numbness in my hands and arms(some of it is do to rough road surfaces) and without back pain. Until I did this, I thought I had the wrong sized bike. (I'm 5' 3" on a 52cm Trek 2.1.)

Since beginning the cycling, I also increased the amount of core work I do. I do 100pushups and 250 crunches three to five mornings a week. (I try to get them done in a half hour.) I am finding that I want to have more reach on my bike now. Right now, I have a 90mm stem, and when I first had the bike, I tried a 60mm stem, but found the steering got too twitchy, demanding too much of my attention. Now, two years later, I'm thinking of investing in a 110mm stem and getting completely stretched out. As it is, I cannot move my seat any further back, but I want more distance from the bars and cannot get it without moving the bars forward.

Play with the three contact points--arse, hands, feet. Get the positioning that feels right and that you can sustain over four or five hours.

CramCycle

Another possible reason is the saddle may not be straight and you may not notice your slipping slightly forward, happened to me and had no idea what it was till someone pointed it out. The reason again is weight as you slip slightly your arms take up the slack by putting more pressure on the handlebars to stop it, often without someone realising it's happening

Same as everyone else said though, change hand positions often and get padded gloves, not the ones you linked too.

Hope it gets better, I still get numbness in my little finger from mistakes like these.

Test For Echo

Lots of info to think about on this weekend's ride! Thanks.

levitronix wrote: »

Try take an electrolyte drink with you help prevent the cramps, sometimes works

Was thinking about ordering some High 5 Zero, any opinions on this stuff?

spyderski

Test For Echo wrote: »

Lots of info to think about on this weekend's ride! Thanks.



Was thinking about ordering some High 5 Zero, any opinions on this stuff?

Its top notch, prevents cramping really well, just remember theres f**k all nutrition in it, so on a long ride you'll need some carbs as well

Test For Echo

spyderski wrote: »

Its top notch, prevents cramping really well, just remember theres f**k all nutrition in it, so on a long ride you'll need some carbs as well

Cool, it'll be handy stuff in the gym as well so...

Canis Lupus

Try bananas and keeping well hydrated before buying electrolyte drinks.