Need advice bar bend for xc rider with wrist trouble

[Rick]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

You can't really go by which bar works best for another person, difference in torso length/ arm length/ shoulder width/ seating (and standing) position/ etc. will all affect how a bar feels to a specific person.

One way to see if a certain sweep is best for you is to look at the palm of your hands after riding with your current bars... if you have calluses at the outside fingers, you need less sweep. If you have calluses at the inside fingers, you need more sweep.

Width is another factor. Unless you NEED narrow bars to avoid smacking trees, this is the method that I recommend: get on the ground and do a few push-ups, your hand placement should settle into a consistent and comfortable spot. Without moving from that position, have Wifey get the tape measure and measure from the outside of one hand to the outside of the other. This is the width that your body naturally wants to be at, get bars of the same width.

Typically a rider with longer arms in relation to their height (for example, I am 6'5" but have a 6' 10 1/2" armspan... insert monkey joke here) will NOT like a taller bar (you can reach low bars just fine!) but will like the bars to be further forward, the opposite is true for riders with shorter arms. Height is really hard to make a recommendation on, if you uncertain of your preference, you can find bars that have the width and sweep that you are looking for but in their lowest height available and experiment with different height bar risers.

Renthal twinwalls (or any bar with a cross-brace) are notoriously rigid (but very strong) which won't do your wrists any favor if they are already bothering you. I would stick with a tapered aluminum bar (single wall) for the best shock absorption/ flex, unless you want to drop some coin for Flexx bars or carbon fiber bars. If your bars are not currently rubber mounted, there are kits to make them so for most bikes (I used a kit from BRP.)

How is your suspension? The more your suspension soaks up, the less beating your body will have to take.

How is your lever position? Can you reach your clutch/ brake without moving your wrists?

If vibration is the issue, there are ways to address that as well. Some items will help reduce shock from impacts (i.e. rubber bar mounts), others will simply attempt to cancel out resonance (i.e. bar end weights) and there is a lot of overlap in these products. Many people resort to these things due to their hands going numb (as with everything else mentioned, it works for some people, while not others.)

Taking note of these few things is definitely worth your time. Having all your controls in a comfortable and natural feeling position makes it much easier to concentrate on where you want the bike to go, instead of what you need to do with your body.

This is what works for me, your mileage may vary.

As I was reading this is looking at the palms of my hands. I've been racing about every other weekend since January and my palms are pretty we'll calluesed up. I have serious callues on all my fingers but both index fingers? I also have a callueses on each palm near the outside, about in the middle.

I use Pro Taper Pillow Top grips and I noticed last week when I replaced them that the pillows were about half missing towards the end of the grips.

I don't suffer from wrist issues.....could my bars be the issue, or how much I have them rotated?

Thanks....

Didn't mean to derail.....but J has brought up some very interesting points..

[spooly]

Originally Posted by jt633

Well guys i feel my age catching up to me seems now when i ride my wrists hurt so bad when i ride continuous that my throttle side wont twist past half throttle i just bent my new bars looking for a new bend my last pair were woods high bend and i think them being too tall didnt help, flexx bars are out of the question but i do plan to buy twinwalls or new pro taper i also have heard that the renthal bars have less sweep? Or are more straight and put less pressure on the wrists if someone could shed some light for me id appreciate it looking at my lap time from sunday i could have easily won my class hadnt i had to stop for 10 mins for wrists

iv injured my wrist s numerous times and there week and easy to tare so I went and bought wrist braces now I never ride without them..one of my best investments yet..it might not solve your problem but if u don't have um I would consider getting some. .

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[Wimpy525]

I pretty tall, I've tried many different bar bends and had ran Pastrana FMX Highbend but they gave me problems in the wrist when I rolled them foward. I found the Trail Tech X bend bar to work best for me very little sweep. They are fairly inexpensive at about 50 bucks.

[GasGasDreamer]

Originally Posted by spooly

iv injured my wrist s numerous times and there week and easy to tare so I went and bought wrist braces now I never ride without them..one of my best investments yet..it might not solve your problem but if u don't have um I would consider getting some. .

what braces do you use?
are these through a medical doctor?
anyone have prescription braces? and feeback on those?
thanks

[swazi_matt]

Originally Posted by spooly

iv injured my wrist s numerous times and there week and easy to tare so I went and bought wrist braces now I never ride without them..one of my best investments yet..it might not solve your problem but if u don't have um I would consider getting some. .

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You are unlikely to get callouses on your palm at the pointing finger because you generally ride with that finger on your brake and clutch (or should!)

[spooly]

Originally Posted by GasGasDreamer

what braces do you use?
are these through a medical doctor?
anyone have prescription braces? and feeback on those?
thanks

ill have info and pics later on them later I must pull the gear out and brush off the mud.. h&h tomorrow

[gasgasman]

I've had right wrist problems for a while. The FLEXX bars helped quite a bit.
I started taking OMEGA 3 supplements, now, no issues at all.

[spooly]

wrist braces. .

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[spooly]

[spooly]