This is a general riding technique question so please excuse me for asking a potentially low caliber question. I have been riding bikes for a loooong time, but have recently (in the past two years) picked up dirk biking. I'm either riding wrong or I have bad wrists. I took a trip to Moab and Uray sp? a couple of years ago and did tons of jarring rides. When I returned my wrists were pretty painful. It eventually went away and I chalked it up as bouncing hard for miles downhill and putting so much jarring pressure on them for so long. This past weekend I went mountain biking for a couple of hours and they are hurting again. I am about to do a two-day ride this weekend. Do you think I'm riding wrong? Are there some type of wrist guards that would help? Am I just a pansy? Any insight would be appreciated...
Wrist pain and arm pump are not at all uncommon, particularly if you are one of the more "seasoned" riders. So far as technique the only thing that you might be doing wrong is having to much of a death grip on the bars. Try to stay loose with you're arms bent to take up some of the shock. The addition of a steering damper helps to take some of the violent side to side movement out of the bars, Motosportz makes a great one that is easily adjustable on the fly. If you really have problems there is always the Flex Bar option, they are a bit pricey and there is a certain vagueness to the steering that you need to get used to but most people adapt to them fairly quickly, they do a great job of taking the slamming action out of the bars.
First thing I would do is to try and reposition the bars. You may need to move them forward or back? Guys with Flexx bars love them, but as mentioned, it will set you back some bucks. But my guess is your new and riding tense. Just try to relax. Have someone check your suspension settings, to make sure something isn't way out of whack for riding weight and ability.
First I would put the bike on a stand. Then I would position the bars for a standing attack position while gripping the bike with your legs. Get comfy while standing and let go of the bars while the bike is still on the stand. Be neutral. I ride really loose up top at the bars and hold on and steer with my legs at the tank and input to the pegs. With that said, I can ride my happy pace for hours on end.
Thanks! How about at a steep decline with tons of rocks jarring you around? It seems pretty tough to avoid leaning hard on the bars in that situation.
I broke my wrist a few years ago on a sportbike (well on the ground sliding by the sportbike, really) and rode with a wrist brace on my dirtbike for a while. It was one that the ortho recommended with a rigid piece in the palm area. I'm sure it helped in some getoffs while the wrist was still weak, but I don't wear it anymore. It interfered with the controls and I would have a tendency to yank the throttle at undesirable times. I agree about the bar idea. I ride with CR His on the center mark. I like the height and pullback. Perhaps your bars are too low and leaning over is putting pressure on your wrists. Or maybe the pullback doesn't work with the natural angle of your wrists. I am a standup rider and when I ride my husband's Husky 450, it is not comfortable too me because the stock bars seem too low.
I broke my left wrist a bunch of times growing up, so after a lot of riding it tends to ache for a few days. I have the Boyesen Shock Out grip on my wish list for the mid-winter bike refresh. Hopefully it helps.
Next time you're out for a rip make a mental note and take notice how hard you "are" hanging on. You'll be surprise how many of us hang on way to tight. Your hands should almost float on the grips.
Mostly true. I guarantee when your in what you subconsciencly feel is "tough stuff" you've gone into the mode of gripping the bars tightly and your whole upper body is tensed up. IMO, it's no coincidence that "get offs" happen when your riding in just this mode.... well, not always. But after a "get off" and remounting, I often feel I was riding tensed up and not letting the bike work under my upper body. Think of the connection between the bike and you ... your upper half, via your hands and your lower half, thru your legs ( 'cause your feet can't grip). The easier the riding ... the more your input into the bike is thru your hands. ( I fact you can just "sit" there and hand steer).But quickly, the more technical the terrain becomes, the more lower body input becomes important. Gripping the bike at times .... and just as importantly, a times releasing the leg grip and weight biasing one peg or the other. Might sound dumb but it's true. And I think good riders simply have a built-in instinct to do this and us lessers have to constantly remind ourselves of it. When I raced, the times when I didn't "feel right"... was riding crappy .... and it was me, not a bike issue, I'd tell myself, "Relax, loosen up, reset your brain". Things improved. Sometime a section just gets so gnarly or when something happens and you were on the "hairy edge", you cannot avoid tensing up. It happens, so just ASAP, get over it and "reset" yourself. Tension causes pain and not necessarily limited to the wrists. I'm way out of shape now and even so, I recently did an adventure ride in the desert for three consecutive days, about 100 miles each, with no resulting wrist pain. The pace was often spirited but never race speeds, so no real tension and so no pain. Ooops, last thing occurred to me. You are standing up while you ride the hairy stuff right? Dave
Obviously there are times when a firm grip is more appropriate but you're legs should be doing most of the work so far as hanging on to the bike and you're hands should be just there to steer and stabilize you're upper body. Honing you're technique before going to any add on things is best because it makes you a better rider but all of us are different and even with a good technique some of us are going have painful issues, that's the time to look at things that make it more cushy.
I had a similar issue with my right wrist (no jokes guys) I ended up getting a spandex-ish type wrist brace and it made a night and day diff. I belive it to be a mix of out of shape-ness and something that existed before I started riding. Good luck.
wrist Check with your doctor. I had the same problem road racing and enduro riding. I found out that I have tendinitis. This could be why it bothers on your mountian bike as well.
I suffered from this terribly when i first got my bike. Wen i first got it i bought bar riders cos a mate had em and i liked them on his bike. I rode with it for ages thinking it was my style...i took the rider out and it was better, but i had the bars anged forward a bit to compensate from having no risers...once i realised my bars (stockies) were set at the wrong angle, i rolled thm back a few degrees and now no sore wrists or arm pump for past 8 months. hope this helps.
Tendonitis is a real issue with riding it is a dull ache about an inch under the bit where your thumb joins your wrist. It is a problem with the tendon chafing over the channel in the wrist bone and becoming irritated and swollen. Unfortunately the blood supply to tendons is low so healing can take time. A brace will help and is great at night for the healing process-can take between 4 to 16 weeks to heal. it is the same issue as tennis elbow but clearly in a different spot. As said relax your grip and try to ride more with your legs/knees ie more standing etc. Good luck
