Finding The Best Hand Position When Cycling - 6 Top Tips

How should you hold your handlebars on a road bike? Poor technique or staying in one position for too long can lead to hand and arm pain, so getting it right can help you ride further, faster and more comfortably. On the hoods, in the drops and on the tops, Manon is here to help you find the best hand position and get maximum enjoyment from your cycling!

0:00 Intro
1:02 Positioning bars & levers
1:56 Gripping the bars
2:48 Covering the brakes
3:19 Holding the hoods
4:36 Mix up your position
5:15 Use the hoods for leverage

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What have you found to be the most comfortable and efficient position for you? 🚴 Let us know in the comments below! 💬

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[gcn]

What have you found to be the most comfortable and efficient position for you? 🚴

[bengt_axle]

If your problem with the bars is too much pressure on the hands, the first adjustment you should consider is....the saddle setback. If you do not have enough setback, the weight of your upper torso cannot be counter-balanced by your hips. Moving the saddle backwards will correct this. You can then pick the appropriate stem to get the right reach (slight flex in arms etc.). As your core becomes stronger, or as you begin to push harder on the pedals, you may need less setback to keep your hands just floating on the hoods. You can then move the saddle forwards, especially for racing or shorter, high-intensity rides. The perfect adjustments of saddle and handlebar will allow your hands to just float on the hoods and even allow you to pull up with your fingers wrapped around the hoods. You should not feel pressure or weight when pedaling moderately hard. Instead your hands should be just stabilizing for and aft movement.

[phil_d]

Before doing anything to handlebar position, make sure you have the correct reach. This can be adjusted by stem length, but also handlebar width and the position of the lever onto handlebar.

The biggest change for me was dropping the bar width from a 42cm to a 38cm on a size 49 frame. I angle the bar so the drops are horizontal to the ground and then position the hoods so you have a neutral wrist position. Finally angling the hoods inwards slightly rotates the wrist/forearm into a more neutral position.

[brianrichards]

Good bar tape helps too. I shift my start point towards the hoods a bit so i can overlayer more at the bend and get a better cushion. Also leaves more space for head unit and light.

[mitchelldirt]

Getting my new bike next week (going from mountain bike to the Canyon Grizl), so this is perfect timing! Cheers 🍻

[jramirezar]

Great video... Recently I watch others videos about bike fit, and tried some of their advice, one of the most important was the cleat position, I moved it all the way back, that was like 8 mm... It felt incredible stable for me, no more sore hands and shoulders since I'm stable on the saddle. I had to tweak also the saddle a bit backwards and lower it too, it's a matter of trying positions. I choose a stretch of road and took with me a measuring tape, a small beam torque wrench (Venzo), a level and just tried a few times shifting positions of the saddle and cleats. I got an incredibly comfortable position without moving my handlebars at all...

[VyantQuijt]

My go-to is palms on the outside of the bend, behind the hoods, for a more relaxed position

[theknights]

It’s amazing how much difference a tiny tweak of handlebars can make to your comfort. Nearly 10 years ago I had to pack my bike in a bike box for a foreign ride and when I put it back together I didn’t quite tighten the handlebars in the stem enough. This meant the they slipped a bit and when I did tighten them they had rotated by just a few degrees down.

Through that holiday I rode all the time on the drops which had been something I didn’t feel too comfortable with before. As a “weekend warrior”kind of triathlete I know how much you get from the aero position and being on the drops. This happy accidental position tweak of my handlebars meant I could stay aero for much to get and improved my bike splits at subsequent triathlon races.

[MrGmooney]

Thanks for your tips, One thing I do is to build up the grip on the bars using bubble wrap and then wrap thick extra soft grippy tape over the underlay bubble wrap.
This acts like a shock absorber when riding on very bumpy surfaces like cobbles or rough patches filled in potholes.

[NELSON]

Learning to relax and drop those shoulders is a biggie, breaking ingrained muscle memory!

[EduardoSalas]

Also, for me, it's OK not to have symmetrical/matching hand positions sometimes. One hand on the top and the other on the hood feels OK for bits of time.

[DaigoroToyama]

Very informative as always. I find #2 (how relaxed/tight should your hands be when holding the bar) extremely important. Also, being able to refrain from putting too much pressure on your handlebar requires a reasonably strong core that supports your upper body.

[robertwaldren]

100% agree with those who emphasized starting with correct fit - frame size, stem length, bar width, lever position and reach, saddle position, and cleat position can all affect how you fit on the bike and how your weight is distributed. And while it seems more and more in vogue lately to ride without gloves, it worth experimenting to see if different gloves make a difference in your comfort and control. Last but not least, try different bar tape, as there are differences in cushioning and grip. I regularly do fairly long rides (40-100+ miles), so I double-wrap the tops of my bars for more cushioning when I'm in an upright position.

[geoffreyhoney]

Stellar content again gcn and Manon! This is really comprehensive and it's helpful to revisit these first principles! When I was a registered massage therapist and going for 100k+ rides on my days off on my touring bike, in spite of these tricks, would end up with ulnar or median nerve pain. I found that if I wrapped the top of my bars with blue closed cell foam(dense tight foam) to the hoods, and then covered that with black hockey tape (yes, I'm Canadian) I could avoid the nerve pain whilst not affecting the appearance of the bike too much! Super content, excellently delivered! Love this type of video! More please!

[williamsmothers]

I have hand injuries, so this topic is very important to me. I have a new set of narrower handlebars. I have been riding for some time with what came on the bike and think that isn't helping any. Thanks for the tip on hood placement. I was going to take the bike to a shop, just to save time, and have them replace the handlebars and tape it up, but I am good with tools. Having the opportunity to set the hoods properly has convinced me to do this myself. Now to find the

[NormanLyon]

Core and upper body strength help out so much by helping to balance out where the handlebar to saddle interface can handle the stress.

[g.fortin]

Great vid Manon !! Good info :- ) Look forward to seeing more.

[The_Rumpo_Kd]

This something I’ve always struggled with, even on a mountain bike but not as much. Some days are worse than others and is more of a problem on my left hand than right. I put it down to the fact that I’ve broken it twice. I tend to put gel inserts under the hoods on my road bike which I find helps more than padded gloves.

[rangersmith]

A real thing that can help with hand numbness: Relax your shoulders and bend your elbows. This requires some core strength and might not be immediately workable, but keep reminding yourself to do it, and your core will respond.

[YangusCool]

I recently turned the hoods inwards on both my bikes and its so much more comfortable. Plus I have better control