Considering the amount of work the legs do on the bike, most of us don't spend a lot of brain space or time on our arms, hands, and wrists. They're just holding you, right?
Well yes, but that really requires a fair amount of work. And when your wrists bear the brunt of the hours and miles in the saddle, the wrong position or the wrong fit of the bike can be totally uncomfortable and even cause nerve damage if you keep ignoring it.
What should be the position of the wrist on the handlebar?
Just as posture is important, wrist position is much more important while riding. People tend to assume that their wrists should be straight , like in a karate stance. That is actually a compression position for the wrists. It puts additional pressure on the nerves and tendons in the carpal tunnel. Actually, you would rather have 15 to 20 degrees of backward curvature at the wrist, which will open up that carpal tunnel. If you go back far enough to see a crease in your skin, you are too far away and you will end up compressing the carpal tunnel again.
However, it is not just how to put your doll on. One of the most common culprits is an unsynchronized weight distribution. If your position on the bike changes your weight distribution to figure more prominently in the wrists and hands than in the saddle, this is likely to cause a problem.
Seat too high or tilted
One of the biggest culprits in spoiling weight distribution is if the saddle is too high or the nose is pointing too low. That ends up throwing a ton of weight on your hands. Obviously, the exact measurements will depend on your body and the saddle you're using, but in general, if your saddle is tilted down more than 5 or 6 degrees, it can cause wrist pain.
The handlebar is too far
Riding the handlebar too far will also put excess pressure on your wrists. Usually if you look at the shoulder compared to the trunk you want a 90 degree angle on the shoulder. Beyond that, you will end up locking your elbow and bending your wrist back a lot.
If the placement of the hand is significantly wider than the shoulders , you tend to turn the wrist outward, so you are putting the weight of your hands on the fleshy part of the palm of your hand. This is where the ulnar nerve passes through, which is something that causes tingling and numbness in the little finger and ring finger. And if you have to move your hands significantly forward to grab the brakes and shift levers, that can also cause pain.
Although you can twist the brake levers a bit, there isn't much room to adjust when it comes to the handlebar. Some of this can be remedied with a small change in your technique and posture , but you may only need a new handlebar if yours doesn't promote that natural alignment and is causing pain.
Even things like terrain (rough roads and rocky gravel) can put extra strain on your wrists with all the bouncing and bumping up and down. Under these conditions, you want to avoid tire pressure being too high. Other solutions, such as carbon fiber handlebars that better absorb that high-frequency vibration or even gel bar wrappers, can help soften the rebound a bit.
Fit the bike to your body
One of the best ways to avoid all of this is to get your bike to fit your body from scratch. For some cyclists, it really makes sense to go to a trusted installer and resolve their fit, fix their position, and then shop for that fit. Other cyclists prefer to find a bike they like and buy it, and then put it retroactively. Getting your bike to fit properly allows you to ride as long as you like without any pain point, even the ones that seem as slight as wrist pain.
If you already have a bike and have wrist pain, start paying attention to the circumstances . If symptoms occur super fast, a larger modification, such as fixing the saddle position, may be necessary. If your wrist starts to hurt after five hours, that may be just by correcting the position of your hand.
And while cyclists, like many athletes, can be somewhat masochistic when it comes to pain during workouts, you shouldn't get over any sharp, localized pain. Muscle pain and fatigue and the strain of exerting effort is very appropriate, but pain is not part of the puzzle. Localized or asymmetric joint pain is a very strong indicator that the position is off, and you should see a professional to fix it, because it can cause real long-term problems.
