Finding The Best Hand Position When Cycling - 6 Top Tips
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- čas přidán 9. 06. 2024
- How should you hold your handlebars on a road bike? Poor technique or staying in one position for too long can lead to hand and arm pain, so getting it right can help you ride further, faster and more comfortably. On the hoods, in the drops and on the tops, Manon is here to help you find the best hand position and get maximum enjoyment from your cycling!
0:00 Intro
1:02 Positioning bars & levers
1:56 Gripping the bars
2:48 Covering the brakes
3:19 Holding the hoods
4:36 Mix up your position
5:15 Use the hoods for leverage
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What have you found to be the most comfortable and efficient position for you? 🚴
removed my handle bars, now I'm 'mind cop'.
What ambitious cyclists almost always forget, is working out a bit hands and arms. Strong arms and hands always have a higher pain threshold and can keep you on the handlebars of your bike for much longer.
Mostly on the hoods but also the tops for a casual pace on quiet straight roads.
No.. but I still like Manon's tips 🥰
That's rather personal question.. ooh, you mean on the bike. Rubber side down.
Before doing anything to handlebar position, make sure you have the correct reach. This can be adjusted by stem length, but also handlebar width and the position of the lever onto handlebar.
The biggest change for me was dropping the bar width from a 42cm to a 38cm on a size 49 frame. I angle the bar so the drops are horizontal to the ground and then position the hoods so you have a neutral wrist position. Finally angling the hoods inwards slightly rotates the wrist/forearm into a more neutral position.
Bar width is super important! A good rule of thumb is going off your shoulder width. Have you looked into short and long reach handlebars?
i'm going 38cm also on a 47 frame with a little bit of flare on the drops. hard to find though in PH.
If your problem with the bars is too much pressure on the hands, the first adjustment you should consider is....the saddle setback. If you do not have enough setback, the weight of your upper torso cannot be counter-balanced by your hips. Moving the saddle backwards will correct this. You can then pick the appropriate stem to get the right reach (slight flex in arms etc.). As your core becomes stronger, or as you begin to push harder on the pedals, you may need less setback to keep your hands just floating on the hoods. You can then move the saddle forwards, especially for racing or shorter, high-intensity rides. The perfect adjustments of saddle and handlebar will allow your hands to just float on the hoods and even allow you to pull up with your fingers wrapped around the hoods. You should not feel pressure or weight when pedaling moderately hard. Instead your hands should be just stabilizing for and aft movement.
Getting my new bike next week (going from mountain bike to the Canyon Grizl), so this is perfect timing! Cheers 🍻
Good bar tape helps too. I shift my start point towards the hoods a bit so i can overlayer more at the bend and get a better cushion. Also leaves more space for head unit and light.
It amazes me that in the 80's, our bar grip tape was glorified duct tape. Zero thickness.
Stellar content again gcn and Manon! This is really comprehensive and it's helpful to revisit these first principles! When I was a registered massage therapist and going for 100k+ rides on my days off on my touring bike, in spite of these tricks, would end up with ulnar or median nerve pain. I found that if I wrapped the top of my bars with blue closed cell foam(dense tight foam) to the hoods, and then covered that with black hockey tape (yes, I'm Canadian) I could avoid the nerve pain whilst not affecting the appearance of the bike too much! Super content, excellently delivered! Love this type of video! More please!
Grazie, Manon! You rock 🚴♀️
Great video... Recently I watch others videos about bike fit, and tried some of their advice, one of the most important was the cleat position, I moved it all the way back, that was like 8 mm... It felt incredible stable for me, no more sore hands and shoulders since I'm stable on the saddle. I had to tweak also the saddle a bit backwards and lower it too, it's a matter of trying positions. I choose a stretch of road and took with me a measuring tape, a small beam torque wrench (Venzo), a level and just tried a few times shifting positions of the saddle and cleats. I got an incredibly comfortable position without moving my handlebars at all...
Great vid Manon !! Good info :- ) Look forward to seeing more.
Great video, lots of info.
Thanks!
Very informative as always. I find #2 (how relaxed/tight should your hands be when holding the bar) extremely important. Also, being able to refrain from putting too much pressure on your handlebar requires a reasonably strong core that supports your upper body.
This is a great vid Dragon queen!!! I tend to use an awl or scribe to mark the positions of my bars/seatpost/saddles once I get them where I want them. That way I can quickly adjust them once they are back from the shop.
Thanks for your tips, One thing I do is to build up the grip on the bars using bubble wrap and then wrap thick extra soft grippy tape over the underlay bubble wrap.
This acts like a shock absorber when riding on very bumpy surfaces like cobbles or rough patches filled in potholes.
Thanks for the tip
No worries! Go and smash it 🙌
My go-to is palms on the outside of the bend, behind the hoods, for a more relaxed position
The hoods are where your hands should be most of the time, if that’s not comfortable then make some changes to the reach to bring the hoods back towards you.
@@AndrewOliverHome "for a more relaxed position" means slightly more upright with the benefit of using different pressurepoints, because no amount of comfort on the hoods lasts for hours at a time. Isn't half the point of the video that you need to switch it up every now and then for some relief?
Thanks :)
Sage advice
I have hand injuries, so this topic is very important to me. I have a new set of narrower handlebars. I have been riding for some time with what came on the bike and think that isn't helping any. Thanks for the tip on hood placement. I was going to take the bike to a shop, just to save time, and have them replace the handlebars and tape it up, but I am good with tools. Having the opportunity to set the hoods properly has convinced me to do this myself. Now to find the time.......
Learning to relax and drop those shoulders is a biggie, breaking ingrained muscle memory!
During a bike fit I had a few months ago, the fitter kept saying “soft elbows” to me. So now, sometimes out loud, I’ll say to myself “soft elbows”, it’s working for me!
@@simonwilson8860same! And "engage your core!" Lol
Core and upper body strength help out so much by helping to balance out where the handlebar to saddle interface can handle the stress.
sweet ride through a giant hedgerow canyon! I miss living in beautiful Britain. I was always tense in those lanes that were more bridleway than roadway.
Also, for me, it's OK not to have symmetrical/matching hand positions sometimes. One hand on the top and the other on the hood feels OK for bits of time.
A real thing that can help with hand numbness: Relax your shoulders and bend your elbows. This requires some core strength and might not be immediately workable, but keep reminding yourself to do it, and your core will respond.
It’s amazing how much difference a tiny tweak of handlebars can make to your comfort. Nearly 10 years ago I had to pack my bike in a bike box for a foreign ride and when I put it back together I didn’t quite tighten the handlebars in the stem enough. This meant the they slipped a bit and when I did tighten them they had rotated by just a few degrees down.
Through that holiday I rode all the time on the drops which had been something I didn’t feel too comfortable with before. As a “weekend warrior”kind of triathlete I know how much you get from the aero position and being on the drops. This happy accidental position tweak of my handlebars meant I could stay aero for much to get and improved my bike splits at subsequent triathlon races.
Great all-around tips for newer riders. And those sunglass lens's of yours have taken a beating! Is all that wear from road debris? If so they're clearly saved your eyes a bunch of times!
100% agree with those who emphasized starting with correct fit - frame size, stem length, bar width, lever position and reach, saddle position, and cleat position can all affect how you fit on the bike and how your weight is distributed. And while it seems more and more in vogue lately to ride without gloves, it worth experimenting to see if different gloves make a difference in your comfort and control. Last but not least, try different bar tape, as there are differences in cushioning and grip. I regularly do fairly long rides (40-100+ miles), so I double-wrap the tops of my bars for more cushioning when I'm in an upright position.
a good set of gloves like the specialized equalizer was a game change for me
I recently turned the hoods inwards on both my bikes and its so much more comfortable. Plus I have better control
I'm just watching to listen to her lovely British accent. Three cheers for the King! 🇬🇧
Great vids Mannon, I switched up to bill horn. How goes it by the way ?
Please keep it up bye
✌️ Michael
Nicely explained. Can you please write me what Wahoo holder you use. I noticed that there is another mount (probably a light) on the bottom. Thanks
This something I’ve always struggled with, even on a mountain bike but not as much. Some days are worse than others and is more of a problem on my left hand than right. I put it down to the fact that I’ve broken it twice. I tend to put gel inserts under the hoods on my road bike which I find helps more than padded gloves.
I broke my wrist a few years ago, most days are pretty good others less so. I can spend more time on the road bike than mountian bike, due to the bars.
(I'm not a biologist/doctor/physiologist/etc, but I find it interesting) my understand is that there is a nerve (medial nerve?) that runs in the middle of the hand, and it can be narrow for some people, causing more pain in general.
Manon is da bomb.
Thank you guys! btw, is that Giant Surge Pro shoes she is wearing?
filming on an ebike?!! sounds great!!
I mostly ride mtb but still enjoy watching these vids😅👍❤️
You missed the most important tip.
Have a saddle with a slight dish in it. Position the saddle slightly nose up so your perineum rocks back into the dish of the saddle. Your upper body weight should be all on the saddle, then you can take both hands off the bars to do stuff like eat.
When riding along, you should be able to hold the bars with your fingertips. The handlebars are there to point the front wheel in the correct direction. The saddle is there to take the weight.
Do lots of spine hyperextensions in the gym.
'Hoods' are called 'Honking rubbers'.
I really liked Manon's new bike. I liked her advice too. In order to have fewer calluses on my palms, I wear cycling gloves. Take my word for it: calluses on the palms are not only from a spoon!
Avoid all in one bar and stems for a start!
best advice! Looks great and clean but found out myself that after riding a couple of years i can hold a much longer position and threw out the all in one bar and stem and replaced it with seperate parts and a longer stem. Also very easy to change handebars and stem, no neewd to fiddle with integrated cables.
This year experiencing lot more hand pain and discomfort. I was thinking about raising height of the bars to make me more upright (66 year old) . Is there more merit in adjusting the angle of the bars to make them less aggressive
Manon.... Those lenses stress me out something rotten!! haha
Occasionally, I will sit upright to stretch and relax my back which means putting my hands at the tops. Or put my hands on the drops on the really bumpy sections for safety. Other than that, I'm a hoods rider all the way up to 7 hrs. No numbness, no discomfort, never really felt the need to change hand positions unless to stretch my back or to deal with dangerously bumpy road sections.
"Nice light and relaxed grip" yes please tell the pheasants around my local road's not one ride goes by without one trying to unalive itself under my wheels 😅
I double and even triple wrap with very soft rubbery tape. No hand pain.
Are there shim options for 2 bolt shoes?
Manon cutie ❤
One crucial aspect of comfort is the width of the handlebars.
Going from the stock 42 to 40 cm, or even narrower, can remove a lot of upper body tension. The rule seems to be that the handlebar width, measured as center to center of the side tubes, should be either equal to or 1 cm less than the width of the rider's shoulders, measured as the distance between the forward extremities of the shoulder joints.
You have 40 to 42 cm wide shoulders? 😂
Is it okay to use 3 or 4 fingers to break during descents? I’m not yet comfortable with going any faster than 30-35km/h on descents (I ride fine at that speed on flats though) but I feel like using only 2 fingers don’t give me enough braking power to slow it down to less than that. The gradients are usually 7-8% average…
Puppy paws is the absolute best position for hand comfort
I find that if my saddle has a slight tilt down then I get uncomfortable, it is surprising it only had to be half degree 5o cause issues
Please Manon teach me the life
For me, it's all about having a light grip on the bars and bending the elbows. Don't have a death grip on the bars. If you have rigid arms, not bending the elbows, the pain will be found in general weakness like the wrists, as well as radiate up to the neck.
You will also have less control with rigid arms, especially if the road gets rough.
I’m doing okay, just have a little trouble relaxing on the hoods. I’ll relax but as I’m cycling along I seem to grip harder without thinking about it.
Do you recommend fingerless gloves?
If you have a persistent problem with your hands hurting during your rides, get a clip-on aero bar. That way you can put weight on your elbows instead. Being more aero is just a cherry on top :)
One of the best things I’ve bought, I’m surprised more people don’t use them.
Although it's a nice comfortable position, you must not put too much pressure on your ulnar nerve or you're going to get Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.
Agreed. On longer rides I switch between the aero-bars and the hoods to relieve not only hand/shoulder issues, but it also shifts the pressure points on your bum. And the aero benefits are definitely a morale booster when riding into a headwind.
Fine if you ride on your own all the time, dangerous in a bunch.
Aero bars are a bliss for 100+ milers, I can ride forever with a bike equiped with them
Tilt saddle tiny bit backwards if your hands are getting numb , helps to get weight off your hands.
I have definitely done this. More neutral position now. Need to start working millimeter changes forward and back.
I don't think it's a great idea to move your saddle position to compensate for something else.
@@XxxxTxTxxxX What worked for me, may not work for you.
@@samketonen4789 I think you are flexible enough so it doesn't have much of an effect on your hips and legs.
The unconfortable handlebar was one of the reasons why i did not choose a roadbike. A flatbar with a $20 ergo grip is extremely comfy.
Any suggestions on dealing with narrow hoods? I've gone from Tiagra to 2014 Dura-ace, and find the comparatively much narrower hoods put a lot more pressure on my hands, causing hand pain for the first time ever. My palms hurt for about 2 weeks after doing the Four Horsemen on Zwift (I estimate I spent a good two hours climbing out of the saddle, there), and on regular rides outdoors, I find my pinkies end up hurting--especially if I'm KOM hunting.
Now wearing padded gloves, but they don't help fully.
I don't think just narrow hoods can cause this level of trouble on their own. Blindly, I'd guess your position on the bike puts to much weight on your hands and switching to narrower hoods unearthed the issue in it's entirety.
More saddle set back, provided nose of your saddle isn't pointing too far down or your reach to bars isn't too far away.
Is that an endurance bike or aero bike?
It's worth mentioning that choosing the right gloves can really help too. There are so many choices: half finger, full finger, more padding/less padding, location of padding, gel padding/non-gel.
I agree about the gloves. I have at least four different pairs, but the pair that seems to work best is a pair I bought back in my motorcycling days. Go figure.
The number 1 thing to do, to be comfortable on your handlebars, is to wear gloves. Surely? I know GCN presenters don’t wear mitts (for whatever reason), but they have padding, offer better grip (than sweaty hands when it is hot) and protect your hands in the event of a fall really I don’t understand why you wouldn’t wear them. Fingerless mitts are pretty lightweight and comfortable.
One disagreement - I place my hands at times on top the hoods. I do it when riding alone and away from a busy area. It is no more dangerous than having my hands on the crossbars.
My always first... My all favorite channel
One thing I want to add for comfort is a suspension stem. I'm going on a bunch of really long rides and a redshift stem looks smart. TBD but I'd love a few presentations of stem/seatpost suspension for us non-racing folks. .... BTW Cane Creek suspension doesn't look to have much weight penalties
I have a Specialized which has their “FutureShock” suspension stem. My seat post is a Kinect 2.0. Took a while to get it dialed in, but it’s great now for gravel riding.
Suspension on road and gravel bikes 😂
@@leonardhpls6 I would have responded the same for disk brakes on road bikes just a few years back. I suspect 20mm seatpost suspensions to be normal for non racers in the next 5 to 10 years. Comfort at a very little penalty feels like a good direction to me. Oddly it might improve rolling resistance once they do some research.
After shaving a 2 inch square patch of skin off my palm in a crash I recommend wearing gloves on every ride
I get discomfort in shoulders and hands as I am putting too much weight into the bars. After I've been riding 90 minutes or more I'm elbows locked and it's almost like I'd fall into the bars if I wasn't actively pushing away on them to support myself. If anyone has any tips on that I'm all ears. I think some of it may be a lacking in core strength but other tips welcome!
the thing about aero and comfort isn’t always necessarily true. i find training to be constantly in a more aero position can make the more “comfortable” positions out a lot more pressure on your arms and hands than spreading in through to your core shoulders etc
Great point Nathan! Doing some off the bike workouts can be a great option to strengthen your core, that way you can hold those more aero positions for longer.
A GOOD bike fitter will get the lever positioning spot on, both in the drops and hoods.
Lots of good info packed in 6 minutes. At 1:33, the wrists are bent too much, which can cause some wrist pain. I aim for straight wrists all the time. 3:32 hood position, true that it's not the safest, but it does put the rider at a more aero position with more comfort, provided that the bike fit allows that. You see pro's riding that way all the time. Also, that hood position is safer than putting clip-on aero bars on the bike. I don't think that the drops were covered -- most stable position at high speed, and descending. Good stuff!
Relax your grip, don’t have gloves too tight & find the balance sweet spot on the seat
So what you’re say’n is, if you went out for a long cycle ride last weekend and your arms ached a bit, you really need to buy a new Pinarello like yours.
sometimes the best way to remove hand pain in your hand is to have your saddle height correct (lowered).
Wear gloves, they absorb some of the vibration
Review java bikes please
I have problem with of my left elbow after 10-20km it start numb and after a while I feel mild pain from elbow to little finger.
Ah sounds nasty! We hope it's not putting you off riding your bike? If you find this issue never gets better, we would recommend a bike fit to help iron out these issues 🙌
@@gcnOf course not! Bike for life.
Take video from side, front and back to see if you are symmetric when on the bike. Measure your legs and arms so you know if they aren't equal length. Then fix your position accordingly.
@@XxxxTxTxxxX I'm pretty sure I'm symmetric. Problem is probably I have to "firm" grip in left hand and I need learn how to let it go :)
The best way to avoid pain is don't injure your body and don't get old.
Can we talk about gloves? Are gloves relevant to the discussion, at least in terms of comfort?
I always use gloves because I ride in Florida and my hands sweat. Helps new have a good grip and a like extra padding
I don’t understand why GCN presenters don’t wear mitts not just the comfort factor, but if you’ve ever come off your bike on to tarmac or gravel, you’ll appreciate the protection they offer.
Maybe a one-piece bar stem combo is not the best example for a 'hand position' video - given that a one-piece is very likely not to work for most riders. Separate stem/bar combos provide the maximum positioning flexibility....
But Pinarello gave them those bikes on condition they show them in their videos! 😅
Anyone else get pins and needles in hands?
"I wish I was a duck." 😄
Comfort not speed these days! #redshiftsports ShockStop Stem is a game changer for me 😀
And the Redshift Bar Grips on my #sonderbomber flared handlebars, not pure roadie but use my #freeranger Gravel Bike on road with wheel change👍🏽
Missed any useful tips on body/saddle position and core stability here...
Aero bars. (Unless you're a close-minded, SOG hater.)
Proper stem height and reach , flat bars with 2 '' rise , real handle grips - Thats what you need , no use for drop bars unless your are actually racing , hunched over , leaning in a thin bar , straining your neck to see where you're going - no good for everyday general riding , commuting or touring
I go no hands when it's a straight and clear road, on rough roads I grab the handle bars like squeezing the neck of a goose
Hands on the handlebar where you control the breaks and gears all the time.
Why no padded gloves? Are they not cool?
@gcn are there any tricks to avoid elbow pain when crashing like this czcams.com/users/shortsRgcmYOG8JIA ? Are there riders riding with protection for instance #askgcn
Relatively fresh on road bike, but this video wasn't helpful. I'm struggling with proper grip of brake levers, seem unnatural to firmly grip for hard stop. It's Ultegra 6700 series levers
You may want to start off with the basics, wearing gloves lol. Hello GCN, gloves have padding and are a safety thing but what do i know
Handle bar position for hybrid bikes? Ahhh not even close! Unless you want a bad lower back bending over 45 degrees.
Promo-SM 😋
Watches video on hand positions.
Rides bike with flat handlebars 😆
Tip number one (by far) is get rid of the padded gloves!!!!! They are not helping you. Either bare hands or unpadded gloves are far better. You will change positions far more often, VASTLY reducing the long term pain you feel. Instead of staying forever in positions that are horrible for the nerves passing through your wrists because you don't feel any discomfort in the palms of your hands, you'll feel that discomfort and shift positions, relieving the pressures that cause the really bad pain that comes later if you don't move.
I too wish i was a duck
Best hand position? All of them. Move them around and give your hands a break. I see far too many people who only ride on the hoods. And then wonder why they have numb hands, carpal tunnel syndrome and even permanently damaged nerves.
Nooo manon got married 😢😢😢😢
Sorry bro
Now she mine
@@mdnasrulloh nah bro she's mine
What is it with GCN presenters’ hatred of riding gloves? Well-padded gloves make all the difference for hand comfort. Surely they can get a glove sponsor to pay a good ad fee. Presenters have every conceivable bit of kit except gloves. Weird.
Padded gloves make a bigger difference than all the "snake oil" magic pushed by the marketing of these bike companies. Things like how they use a "higher" tech carbon in their bike frames that absorbs vibration.
I totally agree with your point about wearing gloves. Absolutely no mention about something that not only is a safety bit of kit, but also a solution to hand numbness and vibration issues, which is often the reason behind numbness. Not wearing gloves, seems to have become some sort of a fashion statement, where common sense no longer applies. I have a laugh when the presenters are filming in winter without gloves, whilst simultaneously complaining about cold hands blowing on them to try and warm up..😂😂
It's really odd isn't it? I wear gloves in all weathers. When it's hot, fingerless mitts help you grip the bars when your hands get sweaty and the gel padding is really helpful for absorbing vibrations. Plus if you come off, like I did the other week, hitting an oil patch, they protect your hands from harm. To do a video like this and not mention gloves seems really strange.
Nah, flat bars with bar ends for me. 90% of roadies I see just ride on the hoods , so why curly bars unless you are an aero nerd?