How can I make my commute more comfortable?

[ShawnoftheDread]

I can’t answer the first question about where to go for a good upright fit and advice. But on the suspension question, yes there are suspension forks for hybrids. They don’t seem worthwhile to me, though, just extra weight.

For the numbness, do you wear padded gloves? Those could help. Or maybe try softer grips.

[jabberwocky]

Start with easy stuff. What gloves are you wearing? Have you tried different grips? Numbness in the hand means your circulation to your hand is getting reduced or cut off; those are two places to start. How upright is the fit? Adding spacers under the stem, a steeper angle stem or higher riser bars will all make you sit more upright, reducing pressure on your hands (although also increasing it on your seat, which can cause its own problems). For overall comfort, a larger volume tire at a lower pressure can help a lot, especially on rough pavement. What tires do you have on there now? What pressure do you usually run them at?

[mstone]

+1 on the large volume, low pressure tire suggestion. Too many people just pump their tires to the max. Too high a pressure won’t make you go faster, but it will beat you up.

Suspension is for very rough trails; if your tire isn’t leaving the ground, you don’t need suspension. The best models lock out (can be configured to stop moving) on flat surfaces so you don’t lose a lot of energy compressing them. Cheaper models just won’t move at all, but you’ll still be hauling the weight around.

If you don’t already have bar ends, consider adding some. These are the grips that are perpendicular to the bar, giving you another place for your hands. (One of the reasons drop bars are so good for extended use is that there are at least 5 different spots for your hands, to keep them from getting too tired. You can also try the kind of grips that have a flat surface for your palm rather than being round.

If that fails, you can look at different handlebar shapes, like trekking bars or swept-back “north road bars”. That will be more expensive, as it involves moving the controls. Ideally, you could try to find some examples to see what feels best.

[KLizotte]

Also note that if you do go the road bike route you can have a riser stem put in that will give you a much more upright position.

Did Clovis say if the bike you have now is too big/small? I’m surprised he couldn’t do much for you though if the sizing is way off you are hosed.

[vvill]

I’d second these suggestions – especially the ones about larger tire volume at lower pressure, and trying bar ends if you don’t have them already to alleviate some wrist pain.

The only thing I’d add is try to bend your elbows a bit and let them soak up some of the bumps up front.

Oh and also – what kind of shifting do you do? I’m not a big fan of how grip shifters feel on my wrists.

[TwoWheelsDC]

When I had a hybrid, I got numb hands and sore wrists quite a bit. I’m sure this varies from person to person, but I think having your hands parallel with your palms facing in (like when riding on the hoods on a road bike) seems to be better for circulation than having your palms face down (like on a hybrid). Putting bar ends on the hybrid helped a lot, and they’re also helpful for getting out of the saddle to climb. But honestly, I haven’t had the sore wrist/numbness problems since switching to drop-bar bikes.

These are the bar ends I used: http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/components/mtb-bar-ends/p2-overendz-bar-ends

I much prefered them to the the larger bullhorn style, which my wife has on her bike now: http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/components/mtb-bar-ends/dirt-rodz-bar-ends

[DSalovesh]

I agree about larger tires at lower pressure. The Trek 7.5 should be able to handle some pretty big ones. Also I agree with padding for your hands.

For tweaks to the bike, there is a LOT you can do. Through bike adjustments, my spouse rode ~20 miles per day all the way through a summer pregnancy:

Softer grips that fit your hands better. (We added a second layer of cork tape on her road bars.)

Bar ends to give you some position variation. (I can’t do more than a few miles without a position change.)

Different bar shapes may help. (Flat, riser, swept back, curved.

Threadless stem riser adapters work great.

Shock absorbing stems (and seatposts) can add comfort with only a little added weight.

Seat position tuning rules are all secondary to your comfort – any angle, any fore/aft position…

Both Bicycle Space and Daily Rider bike shops are trustworthy for this sort of adjustment or replacement need. They’ll steer you right either way.

[baiskeli]

All great advice.

I rode a hybrid for a long time and then switched to a road bike. A road bike felt weird at first, but after adjusting, it’s better than my old one. I think the wrist position is better. On my hybrid, I used bar ends to switch around and relieve numbness and pain. I still get some of that on the road bike – and alot more at first – but the hoods are better for my wrists. I still switch my hands around though – I think that’s just going to happen on any upright bike. My bike has brake handles at the top so I can easily ride in two hand positions.

The muscle problem could be about recovery. Stretching and hydrating and eating the right food after a ride might be the answer to that problem.

If you get a new road bike, one option to make it an easy transition is to get an adjustable stem, and/or a brake handles for the top of the bars. My bike has both. An adjustable stem lets you change the angle of the handlebars to get the right height, and you can even start high and lower them as you get used to it. The brake handles are good for going down hills too – more power in them, and a better hand position for riding down a slope.

Another option might be a flat handle road bike, which is what it sounds like – a road-oriented frame on which you lean forward a bit more, but with flat handles. Depends on what feels good. Then there’s the other option – a recumbent. No wrist pain on that.

You could find a hybrid or even road bike with a seatpost suspension or handlebar suspension, or add either one, but it may not be what you need. Suspension on a road might make things worse.

Try adjusting your own bike just right, and test-riding others. Good luck.

P.S. Your route is close to mine – we could ride together some day if you want. But not on a day with lightning and heavy rain.

-Rick

[dasgeh]

Lots of good advice here. I can really relate to your post because (1) I LOVE upright positioning and (2) I have, as we saw in my house, cheap-y pants.

On the issue of cost: remember this is your commute. On Metro you’d pay $5+ per day (unless you get a subsidy, but I digress). It’s worth putting some money in it. $100 is 20 days of commuting on Metro. $400 is a summer. etc. Also, to get more comfortable, you’re going to put some money into this problem (gloves, bar tape, new handlebars, new stem, new seat, etc). You might want to step back and think about how much happier you’d be with a totally new bike that fits correctly v. your current bike made more comfortable. Might be worth the difference in price.

On the issue of position: I’ve come to this admission the long way — I really wanted to be upright all the time. But I wanted to get to work quickly (because I’m not a morning person, and want to sleep in as much as possible). Upright = slower. Just like heavy = slower. You can get an upright, light bike (we love our Biria Citibike), and it will be faster than, say, a CaBi. But it won’t be nearly as fast as a lower position road bike. For around the neighborhood errands (< 3 miles), I prefer to take a dutch style bike. To get to work, I prefer bending over my road bike because (1) I've been fit to make it comfortable, (2) I've gotten comfortable riding it safely and (3) it's SO much faster. That said, there are bikes in between the extremes of upright, dutch style bike and aero-position, hunched over road bike. There’s another recent thread with lots of discussion of cross-bike v. touring bike v. mountain bike. Lots of technical stuff there, but also some great points that would apply to you. In particular, I’d think about mstone’s post*, and head to a LBS with lots of commuter options (from hybrid to road) with your Trek and explain the situation. Test ride some of the “commuter” bikes. Good LBS will let you take them out for 8 miles at least. I think your choice will become a lot more clear after some test rides.

(I think you can click on this to get directly to the Master Post.)
@mstone 48528 wrote:

I’ll be contrary here and say DO NOT go out looking for a “cyclocross bike” or a “touring bike”.

[jabberwocky]

The cheap, easy place to start is grips and tires. For grips, a lot of cheaper hybrids come with small diameter generic rubber grips. They may not be agreeing with your hands. Personally, despite having smaller hands, I prefer a larger diameter, softer grip (I have grip issues due to several previously broken bones). I ran ODI Rogue lock-ons for several years on all my mountain bikes. My main bike is now running ESI chunky foam grips.

I’ve heard wonderful things about the various Ergon grips (especially for people with hand issues).

For tires, I’m not sure what your bike will clear, and I don’t have specific recommendations. But a larger tire with less pressure will give you some cushion.

[Rootchopper]

Why not try a recumbent? I have commuted on one for years and there are no upper body discomfort issues at all. You can probably buy a used one at a place like Bikes at Vienna.

[rcannon100]

@mstone 49069 wrote:

If that fails, you can look at different handlebar shapes, like trekking bars or swept-back “north road bars”. That will be more expensive, as it involves moving the controls. Ideally, you could try to find some examples to see what feels best.

I have a used Trek 7.? as my backup bike. Phoenix Bikes was selling it, it was my size – so boom.

The Trek handlebar, at least mine, was VERY tight. There was no room for bar extensions (I have bar extensions on my primary bike and really like them). And I found the shape of the Trek handlebar dug into my palm. So I swapped out the Trek handlebar and put in trekking (or butterfly) handlebars. I bought handlebar foam tubes (not tape) to make the bars more comfortable. This is comfortable and gives you a LOT of different hand positions. In the forward hand position, this also draws your torso down a little making you slightly more aerodynamic.

The Trek fx 7.5 is a VERY upright bike and it has like 35 or 38 tires. That makes it a slow bike. On the current model the top tube length is 59.0 cm for a top size bike, with flat handlebars. On a Cannondale badboy current mode top size (this is why I ride), that length is 62 – it has a long top tube. A surly long haul trucker (picked randomly – I dont own a surly just looking at them for a 2nd bike) the top tube length for their current model top size is 62 cm…. and it has drop bars pulling you further forward.

Geometry makes a different. Sitting upright can be a feature in city traffic – heads up in traffic – that’s the way I ride. But your body acts like a giant parachute. Get a longer top tube and get drop bars, it will pull your torso down in a more aero shape and help you go faster.

[Dickie]

Sorry about your issues, but as many here have pointed out, there is always a solution. I have to agree with everything baiskeli said; I would consider some of the off-bike solutions just as much as the on-bike ones. Since you have had a professional fitting session with Clovis I would have to think he would have suggested or tried many of the bike adjustment solutions. Since he stated that there was little he could do I wonder if your bike is just not suited for you or is the wrong size leaving even a professional fitter with few options. It might also be that Clovis is just not familiar with hybrid bikes but I find that hard to believe.

Flat bars offer no variety in hand position and can lead to numbness and eventual pain if you ride in the same position for prolonged times. I eventually chose a cross bike for my commuter as I was certain I could not make a flat bar work for me. Weight on the hands can also increase pain and numbness such as if you are wearing a heavy backpack and leaning forward, or your shoulders are rotated too far forward. Again, Clovis probably would have spotted and fixed this if it was an option. Trying gloves, grips etc might help temporarily, but I am of the opinion that something else is going on somewhere.

Always remember that you make contact with your bike in only 3 places, your feet, hands, and arse. If any one of these hurt when you ride that pain will eventually make its way throughout your body, and that pain might take root somewhere other than on the bike. I would really try some off-bike solutions before you go buying a new bike, paying for another fitting, or buying a bunch of add-ons. Although the off-bike solutions are not an immediate fix and will require some time, they are inexpensive.

You are riding enough that recovery and a pre/post ride routine is appropriate (see my post about “Pain Threshold”). Drink lots of water through-out the day, eat more protean and get more sleep…. good sleep, at least 8 hrs a night if possible. STRETCH!!!!!! after every ride once your muscles are relaxed and warm.. I can’t stress this enough. I do not know your age, but I started to be more diligent about stretching a few years ago at 42 and wished I had started in my 20’s. Don’t just STRETCH your legs, if anything those are the muscles that are probably most flexible at this point… do hand a wrist stretches (for you especially)… look up some stretches tennis players use for their wrists. Stretch your lower back and glute muscles and most of your core…. this should make a difference.

Look for places in your daily habits that might be aggravating or even the cause of the pain. Do you type or use a mouse all day? Do you sit at a desk all day in the same position? Are you on your feet all day, leaning over, etc? How about your sleeping habits? Are you using too many pillows and causing neck pain in the night, which could lead to arm and hand pain on the bike?

One last thing, have you had a physical lately? I am not a pill pusher by any means, but I am a big believer in listening to your body and taking care of it. Three years ago I started getting pains in my arm/hand when riding and I also noticed some odd feelings in my chest from time to time. I have a long family history of bad tickers so I was aware of all the signs. I decided to see a cardiologist and low and behold come to find I was born with a heart defect, one that helped explained many of the symptoms I was feeling. It was the smartest thing I could have done and well worth the time and expense.

best of luck, and let us know how things are going.

PS. beware of baiskeli’s offers to ride with you…. he wants your toll money.

[Amalitza]

I have chronic issues with both my left wrist and left shoulder, not directly related to, but exacerbated by, cycling. I also have a 7.5 fx which I’ve had about 5 years, and a road bike which I bought last summer. Part of the impetus for buying the road bike was that as I found myself riding farther and faster, I tended to ride more forward/aggressively, which the fx is not really built for, and doing so was not comfortable and really bothered my shoulder a lot. I bought the road bike– used, so not “fitted”– and came back almost in tears after my first ten miles because my hands, wrists, and shoulders hurt so bad. So any bike can be bad if it’s not right for you. After fiddling with handlebar/brifter position and switching out for narrower bars that fit me better, I find the road bike, in general, for me, is easier on the wrists and shoulders. However, that may be because I do generally ride in a fairly forward position– I am riding for fun and fitness more often than for utility, so I like to go fast (well, fast for me). When I stick to riding the hybrid for utility purposes and don’t try to make it do what it wasn’t intended for, it treats me much better.

All that said, both bikes at times still cause numbness in my left hand and/or pain in the wrist or shoulder. It helps greatly to actually pay attention to my riding position. I developed a bad habit when trying to ride the hybrid as a road bike of kind of scrunching my shoulders up around my ears— bad bad bad, which any physical therapist or yoga instructor will tell you. If you do this at all, try to break the habit. The other thing I had to learn and sometimes have to remind myself of is simply riding more lightly on the bikes– what I mean is, don’t put all your weight on your butt and hands, ride so that much of your weight is being supported by your legs. If you’re sitting hard on the seat or even worse leaning hard on the handlebars, every little bump jars you throughout your body. Our hands and wrists are not made to support all of our weight, certainly not as it’s being bounced around going over bumps and stuff. If more of your weight is being supported by the legs/feet/pedals, it is much easier on you. This might be obvious to others, but it took me a lot of riding to figure it out.

[baiskeli]

@Dickie 49124 wrote:

PS. beware of baiskeli’s offers to ride with you…. he wants your toll money.

I don’t charge a toll unless you ride past my domain. I resent the implication that I would deliberately lead anyone on a ride that just happened to pass through my toll booth. I would neeeeever do that.

[Author]

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