[mcgsxr]

I built up an old Kona Kula for some road training 2 summers ago, and enjoyed getting out for short rides (10-20KM).

The issue is that my hands tend to go numb, and I have to move them around a lot to prevent it.

I have installed foam grips, but it still happens.

It is a rigid front fork, but I assume that it may be that the stem is too long and that is forcing my hands into an uncomfortable position?

Anyone else have ideas about how to resolve it (affordably)?

Thanks,

[AB]

You might try bar end grips to add variety.
Chances are though you'll need to try different handlebars - different sweeps, heights, widths.

I suppose you could have too much weight on your hands due to a too long/too shallow stem but if the stem works for your back and your overall position on the bike, I would leave it be. Stem length really effects your bikes handling and it's a big part of the overall fit of the bike.

In the end, it may be you just have to move your hands around a lot. That's hard to do with flat bars. Road bars offer more options.

[Chris Adams]

I don't know your physical condition, so if I'm off base let me know.

A number of years ago when I was riding sport motorcycles, I had the same problem. I was in good shape and thought it was the height of the bars, the grips, or that I just couldn't be in this position for more than a few minutes.
Knowing that the nerves that innervate the hands run through the shoulders, I started doing some standing shoulder shrugs with dumbbells. Started light and worked up to moderate weight doing 3 sets of 20 every other day. In a very short period of time I had no more numbness issues in my hands and riding was much more enjoyable.

[sonik]

Could it be your head/neck position?  Chronic hyperextension of the neck can cause tingling and numbness of the hands.  Try riding in a more upright position, but I guess that would be hard to do with the saddle on the bike in the photo.

[LadyDog]

Might be one of several things. 

Could be your core system.  Which you can improve on through various exercises. 

Could also be something as simple as bike fit.  Too much pressure on your hands.  Try moving your saddle back.  You may need to lower it a bit to compensate for that.  To check, on a flat, straight road, lift your hands off of the bars and see if you tend to sit up, fall forward, or are more or less comfortable.  Based on what you do, position your seat.

Lastly, could be Ulnar Nerve Entrapment.

[Devil Doc]

Probably your best bet is to see an orthopedist. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that it's carpel tunnel syndrome. Looking for medical advice on a audiophile board is not prudent.

Doc

[mcgsxr]

All reasonable suggestions (including the caveat about asking for bike fitting on an audio forum, but I have seen lots of threads about guys riding, so I figured I would try here).

I have played around with seat height, and fore and aft and will continue to do so.

I will see about the bar rake and angle, I don't think I have a spare that fits, but will see.

Thanks guys,

Mark

[vortrex]

Go to a bike shop that has a fitting machine.  They can quickly and easily give you all the different seat height and reach positions.  You can then take those measurements and replicate it on your bike.

Take a measurement of your effective top tube length before you go, so they can set the jig to the same specs as your frame.

[Whitespider]

The position of your body on your bicycle contribute to the general comfort of your riding time.  Things like gel, memory foam, suspension contribute little to preventing hand pain compared to position of your body and your hands.  You may need to bring your bars up to get a better distribution of weight between your hands and butt.  Your present position is placing too much weight on your hands.  Changing to a higher rise stem will help.  Next, the straight bars on bicycles may also be a problem.  Most bicyclist that tour use drop bars for the many hand positions offered.  I would suggest trying a bar with more sweep back to get your hands in position closer to a "hand shake".

You might find the information on the Rivendell Bicycle site http://www.rivbike.com/ to be helpful on positioning and types of handlebars.  Although I don't ride with handlebars set as high as they recommend, they are an excellent source for information that will probably lead you to finding relief to you hands going numb.  You are neither riding a bicycle off road, nor are you racing.  The position requirements are quite different for both, especially if you also factor in fitness and age.

Hope this helps.

[brj]

I hadn't seen this thread until now, so my apologies for the late entry, but you might want to look at Ergon grips.  Many years ago now, I changed out the highly regarded Odi grips on my mountain bike to Ergon GP1 Leichtbau grips (they've changed up the model line since then).  That alone completely eliminated the hand numbness issues that I'd been having.

Hope that helps...

[bregez]

I have the same issue when I ride a Canndondale F600 hardtail.  I asked the local bike expert about it and his first thought was change the stem to a shorter (60mm) type and get a set of riser bars.  The current stem is 120mm +5 Degree.  I guess I have been leaning forward to much.
I still need to do the swap.

[gregfisk]

I was riding single track in Jackson Hole using my friends bike, my hands went numb after about an hour. He gave me his fingerless padded bike riding gloves and problem solved. YMMV.

Greg