Will riser MTB bars help with hand fatigue?

Question

My hands still go numb no matter what adjustments I have made to riding position. I am wondering if 1.5" riser bars will help. I have Specialized low rise XC bars on my stumpy now.

Answer 1

Everyone suffers from this.....sometimes it's positioning on the bike, sometimes it's the bar configuration itself.....it could also be something in your anatomy causing it. If the numbness or pain is severe, you may want to see a doctor first and be sure you don't have some muscular or spine issues affecting it.

Riser bars helped me a lot. WIDE bars will also help! Setting up my urban rig, I ditched my flat bars (yes, I've been riding flats for years), and put on a 70mm then later a 50mm stem. I did this for handling reasons, but I instantly noticed that my hands felt better and I had less irritation in my neck/shoulder blades from landing the flat drops. I think that the hand positioning with the wide bars made more difference than the slightly more upright effect from a short stem/higher rise. I tried three bars until I settled on the 2" rise. The short stem just improves so many things on the bike...the ONLY disadvantage is in extra-steep technical/loose hill climbs on the trails, but I climb very well so it didn't affect me too much.

If you can try it out without dropping a lot of cash, try a 2" full width riser bar (26" to 28") and a short stem. Forget what people say about standard bike fit in the cockpit and listen to what downhillers have known for a long time, just try it out. Sometimes shops will let you borrow these items, or maybe a friend has some. You can pick them up cheap used, too. I liked the handling so much better that I changed my setup on the xc bike to match.....the benefit to my ulnar nerve in my palm, and my neck/shoulders is icing on the cake.

You may need to buy new cables to accomodate the wider/higher bars, even with a short stem.

I've read that grip size can matter to some people, too, but I'll bet that's a very small effect compared to setup.

Answer 2

It could help. Someone else said use a short stem that may help as well. What both of these will do is unload some weight from your hands. Some people simply have a problem no natter what with dumb hands. Chage your position frequently. Also, put bar ends on and use them when ever possible - uphill and any other times you don't need quick break access. All the other things mentioned goes too. Try gel gloves. If you just started riding you may be gripping the bars too tight as you ride you will learn to loosen your grip for a large part of your rides.

Hope we all helped you. Numb hands can really be a drag when you want to ride.

Answer 3

They might help. What is important in the setup finally are the grip position. Some riser bars could get the grips in a better position. Also, maybe a shorter stem would help.

Try to change hand position during a ride.

Answer 4

Hands do more work on a mountain bike than a road bike. You have a lot more braking and impacts through your hands and arms. You almost never get to relax your grip because you are riding over rough terrain and jumping logs and stuff. Different gloves or grips might help but also, you may have too much of your body weight on your hands.

Try sliding your saddle back as far as it will go. This will put more weight on the saddle and less on your hands. See if this adjustment helps.

Answer 5

i dont think so, best bet sounds like maybe some better padded gloves or better grips or something and u could even try some carbon fiber bars but thats debatable. i do feel like there is more control though with riser bars. keep adjusting!

Answer 6

are you wearing gloves? Pearl Izumi and Specialized make great gloves
also, are you putting all your weight on the handlebars? if you are, then stop doing that, especially when climbing up hills