# Grips, gloves and hand fatigue



## hitek79 (Oct 24, 2008)

I feel like the typical grips suck for extended downhilling. I wish they were about 25% larger. I tend to get blisters on my hands towards the end of the day. Has anyone tried the Ergon grips on a DH bike?

Second question is how long do you keep a pair of gloves? I've been using the same pair for about 3 years because I'm a cheap you know what. I'm thinking this probably isn't helping my situation as they getting pretty worn out at this point.

Last question is does anyone here use a grip exerciser? I'm thinking of buying one of these and using while I'm at work. My right hand is my dominate hand, but my left is constantly getting fatigued from braking. Thinking of doing 100 squeezes a few times a day(insert joke here). Thoughts?

Gripmaster Hand Strengthener, Black


----------



## ferday (Jan 15, 2004)

i use odi rogues, the largest diameter lock on. buddy tried ergons and ditched them after 1 ride, said it interfered with good bike handling. i also will wear gloves way too long, but i prefer gloves without any padding anyways so probably not much help there...are they too loose? some tight fitting gloves should help with the blisters

never hurts to increase the strength of any of the cycling muscles!

try a bit more sweep on your bar...i use syntace 17* and they are super comfy


----------



## genemk (Sep 15, 2009)

ODI Rogues all the way. I love mine. That along with proper bar height, sweep and a nice suspension should help out. Also, I don't know how you ride, but staying loose on the grips and active on the bike (flowing vs. plowing) should help too. Sometimes people get the death grip and lock up hanging on for dear life. That can wear your hands way quicker. I blow through 1-2 pairs of gloves a year it seems like due to holes that appear along seems and other random places. If the side of the gloves touching the bar are deformed and don't hug your hand as well as they used to it's probably time to upgrade.


----------



## Johnny No.5 (Mar 20, 2008)

I love the OURY block grips. Big around but super soft. I've ridden them without gloves before and liked it but on park days with run after run my hands get sore. For me it seems like the extra bit of fabric in the palms leads to my hands getting sore and is why I don't wear gloves with my DJ.


----------



## kenbentit (Jan 2, 2003)

I also like the Rogue's and Oury grips as well as the ODI North Shore (slightly smaller diameter than the Rogue with a softer feel). For me, thin gloves with no padding on the palms has been the best setup for comfort. All the padded gloves I've tried tend to bunch up once they get a bit sweaty and that just kills my palms. I got a set of Novik gloves a few months ago and they've been incredibly comfortable and durable.


----------



## htrdoug (Mar 19, 2011)

Make sure your gloves aren't too tight,gloves that fit nicely when trying them on will be too restrictive when riding. It'll make your hands go numb and weaken your grip,which will make you squeeze even harder to hang on,I used to race motorcycle Hare Scrambles(3 and 1/2 hr woods racing) and had every hand issue possible,blisters,constant hand ache through the week,had such bad numbness that my hands even slipped off the bars on big steep downhills. Switched to 2XL gloves(some brands even 3xl) even though a XL glove feels nice on my hands when I try them on. Revelation! FARK! all my years of racing getting "AlsoRan" results could have been way different.Didn't figure out the glove issue until the rest of my body was too fragged to continue racing.(that's OK with me,I do mototrials now:thumbsup
Personally,I find thin grips more comfy and easier on my hands,but before I discovered the glove issue I was always trying to solve my issues with thick grips, With thinner grips I relax much more and don't feel like I need death grip to hold onto the bars.


You might also try raising up your brake levers so you pull with your first knuckle rather than your fingertips when you brake,feels weird at first but I feel the tension in my hands is much lower that way,I also have better more precise control that way,seems counter-intuitive but it's working for me.


----------



## Calhoun (Nov 11, 2008)

Might look at the ESI Chunkies. My first season of DH I had a lot of hand problems. Switched to the Chunkies and noticed a lot less fatigue. Like everyone else I prefer thin, non-padded gloves.

And also look into adjusting riding position and style as mentioned above. Simple adjustments on the bars will go a long way.


----------



## miklorsmith (Aug 16, 2006)

My issue has been in my fingers, mostly ring finger and pinkie from hanging onto the bar during braking on high-speed chatter. I went to a 2.7" front tire and carbon DH bar. They do help. If this sounds like your experience, also try not to brake in high speed chatter so you can hang on with your strong fingers which are the index and middle. Also, as said above, pay attention to your grip - if you're using death grip that'll wear you out quickly. Follow Brian Lopes' advice and don't drag your brakes, hit em hard to adjust speed to where you want then get off em.


----------



## DOCRIGID (Sep 16, 2009)

all great advice! what helped me the most is to try to ride with the majority of your weight on your pedals, not on your bar.


----------



## hitek79 (Oct 24, 2008)

cool guys, thanks for all the input. Good points in here. When I hit rock gardens I definitely hold on too tight. I'll try moving my brakes up some too.


----------



## jmountain (Jun 11, 2011)

I found for me that tweaking my bar rotation some so that the angle of the grip matched the palms of my hands while in riding position helped a lot.

It's something that may seem obvious but I had someone hold the bike straight or you could put it into a trainer so that you can be in position and adjust it easily. In short I had mine rotated a little too far back and once set right to match my hands it helped reduce fatigue quite a lot.


----------



## morandi (Jun 20, 2008)

ESI chunkys are great grips if you suffer from hand fatigue.
As a side note, avoid "upgrading" to Eastons new 35mm bar. I have had zero hand fatigue issues, and I recently slapped on the Easton 35mm aluminum bar/stem and my hands and forearms were aching at the end of my ride. That thing is sooo flippin' stiff, it is almost too stiff!


----------



## ustemuf (Oct 12, 2009)

morandi said:


> ESI chunkys are great grips if you suffer from hand fatigue.
> As a side note, avoid "upgrading" to Eastons new 35mm bar. I have had zero hand fatigue issues, and I recently slapped on the Easton 35mm aluminum bar/stem and my hands and forearms were aching at the end of my ride. That thing is sooo flippin' stiff, it is almost too stiff!


i am sure the actual bar has nothing to do with your hand fatigue, as i just rode ALL day yesterday with them and no problems at all. in fact, these are the best bars i've used yet in terms of feel and control.

more than likely it's the angle your bar is setup at, the size of your grips, the bike is wrong size for you (or bar height/stem length), your suspension setup, or simply your technique when holding on.

a year ago when i was riding at the bike park i was getting HORRIBLE hand fatigue.. could barely even hold on and it was just the beginning of the day. i changed the angle of my bars and it disappeared on the next run.


----------



## morandi (Jun 20, 2008)

ustemuf said:


> i am sure the actual bar has nothing to do with your hand fatigue, as i just rode ALL day yesterday with them and no problems at all. in fact, these are the best bars i've used yet in terms of feel and control.
> 
> more than likely it's the angle your bar is setup at, the size of your grips, the bike is wrong size for you (or bar height/stem length), your suspension setup, or simply your technique when holding on.
> 
> a year ago when i was riding at the bike park i was getting HORRIBLE hand fatigue.. could barely even hold on and it was just the beginning of the day. i changed the angle of my bars and it disappeared on the next run.


They are great in terms of control. I felt like I could move the bike around on a different level, I felt like a bada$$ with these bars, but just a numb bada$$. 
Will try playing with the angle. Nothing on the bike changed other than the bars/stem. Stem length same, bars are wider though. I am really tempted to cut them down to my usual 30", the 800mm width seems insane to me and makes me feel inadequate.


----------



## ustemuf (Oct 12, 2009)

if nothing else changed, i'll put money down that it is the angle of the bar. the width will also change the way it feels, the wider it is the less range of motion you have to bring the bars up into your chest. it also means that you are resting more weight down on the front of the bar.

800 is way too wide for 99.9% of people. i cut mine to 770 right off the bat to start with.


----------



## aedubber (Apr 17, 2011)

I just setup my bike with the deity blacklable bars as the fantom dm stem .. Feels so good and perfect now for me .. I would get fatigue as well but none yesterday when I was riding all day too ... I adjusted perfectly and made a world of difference .. I think I need some thinner grips tho cuz my gloves have some pads for my palms and the odi rogue grips are thick.


----------



## ride the biscuit (Jun 4, 2009)

did anyone mention to make sure your brakes are bled properly to get full power? and make sure theyre mounted in a comfortable position

when i had some pretty awful grip fatigue and soreness after, it turned out my brakes were in desperate need of a bleed.


----------



## aedubber (Apr 17, 2011)

I will also add that if you have thick grips and gloves with padding in the palm area that can also hurt your hands, i know this was the case for me recently too .. Just went to some thinner grips and gloves with no pads in the palm area. I can actually grip and hold onto the bars without lots of tension which helps me ride a lot looser too !


----------



## Ithnu (Feb 16, 2007)

htrdoug said:


> You might also try raising up your brake levers so you pull with your first knuckle rather than your fingertips when you brake,feels weird at first but I feel the tension in my hands is much lower that way,I also have better more precise control that way,seems counter-intuitive but it's working for me.


I usually put my levers so that my hand is in plane with my arms, that way my wrist is straight. Your idea to brake with the knuckle instead of the finger tip sounds interesting, I'm going to have to try that.


----------



## bustanutley (Feb 23, 2008)

I recently nixed the gloves and just ride bare meat. Much better.


----------

