Loss of Circulation during long rides

pawprint_net

Any hardcore bikers out there that know what is wrong when my arms (hands) are starting to go a bit tingly after 30-40 mins riding. if I let go of the handlebars and let my arm go limp it goes away. I'm thinking something is set/sized wrong on my bike - any ideas?

runfastmom

Sound like the your reach is off a bit. Gloves help too. Go to LBS and get fitted. It could be solved with a simple tweak.

tazroni

An estimated 1/3 of overuse injuries on a bike affect the arms, wrists, hands and little fingers. Handlebar palsy and carpal tunnel syndrome are two of the most common overuse injuries associated with biking, according to Hughston Health Alert in Georgia. Handlebar palsy, also called ulnar neuropathy, is a common problem for bikers. It occurs when the ulnar nerve in the hand and wrist is compressed by pressure from leaning on your arms or direct grip on the handlebars. If you have a dropdown handlebar, you could be stretching or hyperextending the nerve. Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when a nerve in the wrist is compressed. Symptoms include numbness in the fingers and weakness in the hand.

allaboutthecake

Do you lean heavy on the handlebars? Suck in your core and just "rest" your wrists lightly. That should help. I find on long rides (3+hrs) I have that issue w/my left hand but not the right. I sit upright more during longer rides. At stop lights I'll stretch my wrists. I wear gloves and my reach is just about perfect.

pawprint_net

Thanks for all the great info - I do have gloves with gel padding but I think I'll go down and get a fitting. and yes I do lean heavily but I've tried to really focus on not doing that it doesn't seem to change much when I do though.

SingingSingleTracker

Any hardcore bikers out there that know what is wrong when my arms (hands) are starting to go a bit tingly after 30-40 mins riding. if I let go of the handlebars and let my arm go limp it goes away. I'm thinking something is set/sized wrong on my bike - any ideas?

Welcome to getting older, carpal tunnl issues from all the computer use, hand tool use, and hanging on to bike handlebars. I've had it what you are experiencing for nearly 20 years now. I just ride through it, occasionally shake out the numbness as you describe and motor on - be it on the mountain bike or road bike.

Best to avoid a death grip on the bars, changes positions often between hoods, drops, and bar top, and keep as even of a weight balance between the three pressure points (feet, saddle and bars) as possible. No amount of professional fittings, Ergon Grips. special gloves, etc... every helped. It is what it is - overuse syndrome.

Mine is compounded by the fact I do a lot of mountain bike trail maintenance, sawing, trimming, pruning, lopping and am numb from May to November because of it.

pawprint_net

So here's an update.

I tried very hard to tighten my core and not lean on the handlebars at all - did a 1 hour and 10 min ride today and almost completely avoided any tingling - so that does seem to help a lot. Granted it makes it MUCH harder to ride but obviously it's better for me.

Thanks again for all the input.