Hand numbness while riding

[Bushwacka]

I did some measurements last night and came up with the following:

Rowl
Bar height - 43.5"
Saddle height - 41.5"
(Bar 2" heigher than saddle)
Center bars to center saddle (center seatpost) - 26.5"
Stem: 75mm

Tallboy
Bar height - 42"
Saddle height - 40.5"
(Bar 1.5" higher than saddle)
Center bars to center saddle (center seatpost) - 25.5"
Stem: 50mm

Observations:
When I originally built this bike I had a 30 or 40mm stem on there which should have made the reach roughly the same. Per request, I put a longer stem on there. Maybe it would be a good idea to shorten that back up.

Handlebars are slightly higher in relation to the saddle on the Rowl vs the TB.

I did not measure saddle angle but it looked relatively flat. The saddle on the TB appeared to have a slightly higher nose. TB also had a longer saddle (WTB Silverado on TB vs Phenom Mimic on the Rowl).

We played around with shifter/brake/grip angles a bit while first riding it and that seemed to help but not make the wrist issues go away completely.

Rowl has Chromag Fubars (31.8) with 25mm rise, 780 width, 5 deg up, 8 deg sweep
TB has Easton XC70 bars (31.8) with 20mm rise, 685 width, 9 deg ('m guessing sweep, but doesn't specify).

Still confused about this. It's late in the season, but maybe I'll look around for a MTB fitter. If anybody else sees something obvious in the numbers above, let me know.

Thanks for the help!

Seth

yeah the combo of wider bars, longer ETT, and more bar rise on the rowl are the issue. 780mm bars are REALLY wide, 75mm stem is outdated, and the bars on the rowl are slightly to high.

Id go 35mm stem(because anything longer just means the bike should be longer), 720-740 bars and lower the bars by a half inch if you can, also sweep I do to 9 degrees, 9 degree IMO should be min of bar sweep for everyone 1 degree there plays a bigger role than you would think. Depending on how much steerer tube is there you might want to run a flat bar and run it higher on the steerer tube, or run a 15mm rise bar and run it lower on a steerer tube.

[sethschmautz]

yeah the combo of wider bars, longer ETT, and more bar rise on the rowl are the issue. 780mm bars are REALLY wide, 75mm stem is outdated, and the bars on the rowl are slightly to high.

Id go 35mm stem(because anything longer just means the bike should be longer), 720-740 bars and lower the bars by a half inch if you can, also sweep I do to 9 degrees, 9 degree IMO should be min of bar sweep for everyone 1 degree there plays a bigger role than you would think. Depending on how much steerer tube is there you might want to run a flat bar and run it higher on the steerer tube, or run a 15mm rise bar and run it lower on a steerer tube.

I originally had put a 30 or 40mm stem on there, so I don't disagree with the statements regarding the shorter stem. The only reason the longer stem ended up on that bike was because it was the only stem I had with rise.

I actually think the big oversight was the longer bars now that I'm looking at the numbers.

But help me understand your thought process on why lowering the bar would help with either less rise or lower on the steerer tube? Wouldn't this put MORE weight on her hands/wrists?

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[jm2e]

Was having much more hand pain on the DH bike this year. Put a Vibrocore bar on and it made an immediate difference. Have sworn by Vibrocore before, but when I sold the old DH bike with it's bar, inertia set in and I didn't feel like spending another $hundo. Should have done this on day one.

[east or bust]

Was having much more hand pain on the DH bike this year. Put a Vibrocore bar on and it made an immediate difference. Have sworn by Vibrocore before, but when I sold the old DH bike with it's bar, inertia set in and I didn't feel like spending another $hundo. Should have done this on day one.

I might give the vibrocore bars a try next season on the enduro. Rode a lot of park this season and my hands are still beat up. Specifically the area between the first knuckle and palm on my pinkie and ring fingers.

I’ve been thinking a lot on solutions and didn’t even know they existed before your post.

eta: could also try moving down to 31.8mm bars from 35mm

[jm2e]

eta: could also try moving down to 31.8mm bars from 35mm

Ding ding ding.
31.8 Vibrocore with ESI ExtraChunky grips will make your hands more happy.


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[toast2266]

Ding ding ding.
31.8 Vibrocore with ESI ExtraChunky grips will make your hands more happy.


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Huh. I had a 31.8 vibracore and to this day, that is still the absolute worst bar for hand fatigue I've ever used.

Had mine a while ago, so maybe they've changed it.

[jm2e]

Yea. Or everyone is different.
After decades of kayaking and climbing, I don’t get much hand fatigue. But arthritis is a bitch. And when my hands hurt, it wears me down.
There’s always a chance carbon would be even better, but that comes with an actual and very real chance of catastrophic bar failure.


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[sethschmautz]

Just wrapping this up. Put the shorter stem on first, then rode it myself. (That was a mistake because I think it rides between than my bike).

Then put the narrow bars on and we went out for a ride today. We tweaked grip and brake angle a tiny bit but she said it felt great - no wrist pain.

Awesome! (except now I have bike envy)

Thanks for the help.

Seth

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[Andeh]

That's great! Every now and then, the hive mind here offers some advice more useful than "get the red one."