# Handlebar hand pain...



## Geddy5 (Feb 21, 2005)

I just bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker, and I really like and recommend it. However, the diameter of the handle bars really hurt my hands after a couple of miles. I'm convinced that it's the diameter because my Cannondale road bike has 5" (12.7cm) bars and I have no problems with it, while the Surly has 4" (10.16cm) bars. 

The obvious suggestion would be to buy the same bars that are on the C'dale and put them on the LHT, but the drops are kinda short for my taste. 

Should I get some new bars (which ones?) or is there somthing that I can put under the tape to make the bars thicker?

Thanks for the help!


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

*Well there is padding or you could double wrap the bars*



Geddy5 said:


> I just bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker, and I really like and recommend it. However, the diameter of the handle bars really hurt my hands after a couple of miles. I'm convinced that it's the diameter because my Cannondale road bike has 5" (12.7cm) bars and I have no problems with it, while the Surly has 4" (10.16cm) bars.
> 
> The obvious suggestion would be to buy the same bars that are on the C'dale and put them on the LHT, but the drops are kinda short for my taste.
> 
> ...


But any time i have heard someone speak of sore hands, the problem was not the bars but a positioning problem, like the drop distance was different than the previous bike had, rider leaning further forward than previous bike putting more pressure on the hands and that was the root cause of the pain. I would take the measurements and compare before doing/buying more stuff and play with some adjustments to see if you could aleviate the problem.


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## Geddy5 (Feb 21, 2005)

*You may be right...*

I went ahead and put another layer of tape, along with some gel pads, and while the pain has lessoned somewhat, it's still there. The odd thing is, is that the reach of the Cannondale (the one with no pain) is actually farther away than the Surly, and the geometry on the Surly is alot more relaxed than the C'dale since it's a touring bike. 

I'll try moving the saddle forward a little and see if that does anything. But, to be honest, I'm pretty perplexed


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## ARP (Mar 7, 2002)

*Even something as simple as*



Geddy5 said:


> I went ahead and put another layer of tape, along with some gel pads, and while the pain has lessoned somewhat, it's still there. The odd thing is, is that the reach of the Cannondale (the one with no pain) is actually farther away than the Surly, and the geometry on the Surly is alot more relaxed than the C'dale since it's a touring bike.
> 
> I'll try moving the saddle forward a little and see if that does anything. But, to be honest, I'm pretty perplexed


Raising the nose of the saddle rolls the hips counter clockwise (if you visualize your position from the right side) and can get pressure off the hands. The other possibility is raising the bars a little.


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## Farmertan (Feb 5, 2005)

Geddy5 said:


> I went ahead and put another layer of tape, along with some gel pads, and while the pain has lessoned somewhat, it's still there. The odd thing is, is that the reach of the Cannondale (the one with no pain) is actually farther away than the Surly, and the geometry on the Surly is alot more relaxed than the C'dale since it's a touring bike.
> 
> I'll try moving the saddle forward a little and see if that does anything. But, to be honest, I'm pretty perplexed


The shorter seat to bar distance probably has you bending your wrists slightly whereas the longer reach that you are more used to likely encourages a straight wrist.

This is often an issue in MTB fit and a cause of hand-pain. You want the pressure on your hand to be on the heels of your hands where you have some meat to absorb the shock.

When your wrists are bent, you end up holding the bars in the center of your palms, right on the soft spot where all the tendons and tender bits run. Padding, as you've found, will only lessen the pain, but it will always be there.

I'd suggest reworking your position on the Surly. You could try simply bending your elbows more. Or perhaps slide the seat back a bit, drop the bars or swap in a longer stem. It sounds like you need a little more room to straighten out your wrists. Could be a number of things - all best addressed by a proper fitting.


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## rmsmith (Feb 15, 2007)

Geddy5 said:


> I'll try moving the saddle forward a little and see if that does anything.


Move the saddle back to lessen the weight on your palms as you pedal.


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## schwinnrider32 (Aug 22, 2004)

Geddy5 said:


> I went ahead and put another layer of tape, along with some gel pads, and while the pain has lessoned somewhat, it's still there. The odd thing is, is that the reach of the Cannondale (the one with no pain) is actually farther away than the Surly, and the geometry on the Surly is alot more relaxed than the C'dale since it's a touring bike.
> 
> I'll try moving the saddle forward a little and see if that does anything. But, to be honest, I'm pretty perplexed



I don't know if I'd start with moving the saddle forward. I'd try raising the bars first. The higher the bars get, the closer they come to you.


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## Geddy5 (Feb 21, 2005)

I raised the front of the saddle a bit...didn't really help all that much. I'm going to get an adjustable stem to see if that fixes the problem.


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## EscapeBKS (Nov 24, 2007)

The Surly LHT is a fine machine. Probably my 3rd choice of Touring bike overall.
I've been looking over the responses your getting. Type of bar??? Gel??? In my 20,000+ miles of touring over the past 5 years, I've found 3 things to be a major contributor to hand comfort.
1. Bike fit. Your saddle height and distance from the stem is critical. Butt your elbow against the nose of the saddle. Your finger tips should be halfway between center of the steer-tube and center of the handlebars. Your seat height should be on the same level as the center line of the top section of the handle bars. (of course, your leg extension should be adjusted accordingly).
2. Time on the bike. You will constantly be having issues if you're only putting on 300 miles a season. I put on about 3000 miles a year on the bike and it feels like it's an extension of me. 
3. Full fingered gloves. Yes.... Full fingered gloves Axiom pioneer full finger gloves are cheap and padded in all the right places. Just make sure to select a pair that fit. (Not loose). You could spend more but why....
Hope this helps a little. 
Send me your measurements, I can probably offer you some suggestions about setting your bike up to fit you just right. Find a website that offers a fitting chart. They will not tell you your sizing without a bike sale, but I may be able to help if you send me the dimensions.


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