# Too Much Weight on Hands?



## Kaparzo (Mar 9, 2004)

How would I know if I have too much weight on my hands? Should I be able to easily ride with my hands hovering above the bars, or easily be able to move both hands at a time from the drops to hoods, etc? How could I alleviate said issues? Thanks for any help.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Other issues*

The questions you ask are really more about core strength. Two people, with the same body proportions and bike set up - one may be able to do both things you suggest, while the other person can do neither. The difference is the strength of the torso and core muscle. Whether you have too much weight on your hands typically manifests itself in pains and numbness in your arms, wrists, and hands, and this is still a very personal issue. Standard core strengthening exercises are crunches and "superman" (lay on stomach, lift legs and arms, hold, repeat). Obviously, if you raise your bars enough, you can do these things without strengthening your core.


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## bimini (Jul 2, 2003)

*Adjusting the seat fore aft*

position will help with the weight on the bars. Moving the seat back will take weight off the hands, moving it forward will put weight on the hands. It's good to have the seat positioned just a tad forward of the ballance point where you can remove your hands from the hoods without feeling like you are falling forward (without working the core) when you do so. You are looking for a seat position that is kind of a ballance or pivot point so that most of your weigh is carried by the legs and most of the forces are transmitted down into the pedals. Start with a level seat, pointing the nose down will cause you to fall forward, you may want to nudge the nose down once you find the fore aft possition but to find the ballance point I would start with it level. Be cautious of adjusting the seat solely on this. Everyone's body geometery is different, you may find that this ballance point puts the seat too far back or forward to get efficient pedaling. Then you need to find a happy compromise between the two points. You may have to play around with height, fore / aft and angle until you get it just right and zeroed in. It should feel comfortable and natural when you are done and have gotten use to it. It is a little different for everybody.

Once you find the happy medium of the seat positon, take a look at your stem length. Moving the seat fore or aft may require an adjustment here also if it's a big change. Again changes in stem length and bar height can have an effect on the ballance point, you might find you may have to make some minor changes to the seat if you make changes to the bar location.



Kaparzo said:


> How would I know if I have too much weight on my hands? Should I be able to easily ride with my hands hovering above the bars, or easily be able to move both hands at a time from the drops to hoods, etc? How could I alleviate said issues? Thanks for any help.


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Kerry Irons said:


> The questions you ask are really more about core strength. Two people, with the same body proportions and bike set up - one may be able to do both things you suggest, while the other person can do neither. The difference is the strength of the torso and core muscle. Whether you have too much weight on your hands typically manifests itself in pains and numbness in your arms, wrists, and hands, and this is still a very personal issue. Standard core strengthening exercises are crunches and "superman" (lay on stomach, lift legs and arms, hold, repeat). Obviously, if you raise your bars enough, you can do these things without strengthening your core.


Two other things to consider:

Look at your fore-aft seat position. Though the KOPS people are going to go nuts, the farther back the saddle, the less weight on the hands. Stay within reason here.

As you build pedaling strength, the downward push on the pedals lifts your weight off the bars. Get stronger and ride harder.

TF


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