Hand fatigue

[ElyDave]

25km on the open road today, no hand fatigue, but I was definitely tense and overgripping as evidenced by an ache in the triceps.

Relax!

 

[bladderhead]

Leg-fatigue without hand-fatigue. When that happens you know the bike has learnt how to behave.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Brains are remarkable things.

They are!




I just wished everybody had one.

 

[Osiris]

Yesterday I did my usual 32 mile loop, and decided to try changing my grip technique. Instead of applying an even and constant squeeze to the handlebars, this time I only applied enough force to prevent the handlebar from prying my fingers open with each pedal stroke. It worked! No noticeable muscle fatigue after two hours of riding, and no soreness this morning.

The new Di2 levers helped quite a bit. Shifting gears used to require pushing the shift lever a considerable distance with two fingers, leaving only my pinky and ring finger wrapped around the handlebars. Now just a light tap from my index finger on the shift button is all it requires. Shifting several gears at a time no longer means multiple presses on the shift lever; just hold the shift button down, and you're done. Perfect shifts every time. My only complaint is that the Di2 derailleur actually works too well. It operates so smoothly and quietly that there are times when I'm not sure I've actually shifted gears.

 

[nobrakes]

I discovered this evening that cycling one handed is a good way to learn - particularly going up hills. I detected the beginnings of a new rocking movement in the pelvis that seemed like it might be the thing that stops the bike wobbling around.

 

[Don1]

disco moves whilst listening to sat night fever....... is that rocking longitudinally OR latrally?

 

[Seth Cooper]

The new Di2 levers helped quite a bit. Shifting gears used to require pushing the shift lever a considerable distance with two fingers, leaving only my pinky and ring finger wrapped around the handlebars. Now just a light tap from my index finger on the shift button is all it requires. Shifting several gears at a time no longer means multiple presses on the shift lever; just hold the shift button down, and you're done. Perfect shifts every time. My only complaint is that the Di2 derailleur actually works too well. It operates so smoothly and quietly that there are times when I'm not sure I've actually shifted gears.

I feel that the e-tap setup I have is more useful on my cruzbike that it was on my DF, I can palm / loosely grip the brifter hoods and shift with my pinky fingers, or grip the drops and shift with my index fingers, but either way I can just focus on guiding the bike and not working the shift levers.

 

[nobrakes]

disco moves whilst listening to sat night fever....... is that rocking longitudinally OR latrally?

Longitudinal I think.... although it will take more time to figure it out. If I tried to mak it a conscious action I went into drunkard mode.

 

[Osiris]

I feel that the e-tap setup I have is more useful on my cruzbike that it was on my DF, I can palm / loosely grip the brifter hoods and shift with my pinky fingers, or grip the drops and shift with my index fingers, but either way I can just focus on guiding the bike and not working the shift levers.

If money was no object, I would have opted for the e-tap system. It would have taken me only minutes to install, and there would have been no unsightly wires to hide. But when Larry Oslund offered his Di2 components for a fraction of what e-tap would have cost me, I couldn't resist.

 

[Vicki C.]

My V20 has been in the shop for the past three weeks, waiting to have your Di2 stuff installed. In the meantime, I had no choice but to ride my M5. What I didn't realize was that after 400+ miles on the V20, my arms had gotten so accustomed to pulling/pushing on the handlebars that it made riding the M5 for more than a few yards nearly impossible. Imperceptible muscle movements in my arms caused it to weave all over the place, and the faster I'd go, the worse it became. It took about 45 minutes of steady riding before my body re-learned how to ride it. With any luck, I should be getting the V20 back today, but after 3 weeks of riding the M5 exclusively, I don't know whether I'll be able to ride it!

I had the same experience having to ride my Tour Easy one day. Ten miles to stop the shimmy. But getting back to the Cruzbike was a snap.