cycling and tingly hands

[rlholtz]

I cross train twice weekly on an indoor exercycle. I like a lower tucked position but the weight that puts on my hands puts them to sleep. Anyone have a remedy for this?

[johnlvs2run]

Thick wrap on the handles - helps to reduce the vibration.

[coggs]

An indoor "exercycle" shouldn't have significant vibration. My suggestion is to move your hands around periodically on the bars. The different positions should put less pressure on any specifiy nerve endings/meridians. No real benefit to riding on the drops indoors anyway as there is no wind resistance to overcome. A more upright position will enable you to breath easier and should put less weight on your hands.

I agree with a layer of foam under the bar tape while riding on the road. Guess it wouldn't hurt on an indoor trainer, but don't expect the same benefits. Cycling gloves come in with varying level of palm padding. A good padded glove may help.

[johnlvs2run]

It sounds to me that the OP's exercycle is a bicycle on a stand, as he is riding in the drops. As such it would have significant vibration from spinning the small spindle, probably more vibration than outside on the roads. Mine certainly does.

Personally I feel the low tucked position is a good position to practice, especially if one is getting ready for outdoors. Most all of my rare occasions on the bike stand are in the drops, except for some standing/climbing now and then.

As to padding, I'd use regular rubber or cork bicycle wrap, that is designed to reduce the vibration.

[coggs]

???
Trying to figure out how one would get more vibration riding an indoor bike than on the raod. If it really is a road bike on a mag/fluid/wind trainer (as opposed to a spin bike or "exerciser" bike as the poster stated) the front wheel is just sitting on the ground and not even rotating. Where is the bar vibration coming from? Not sure what you mean by spinning a small spindle?

Then again I'm in NE, not Calf. so our roads are full of potholes and frost heaves. Putting a layer of foam under my bar tape helped my problem with numbness a lot.

Now if I could just figure out how to keep my hands from going numb when I scull in rough water. Same issue. When my blades skim across the wave peaks during the recovery the vibration causes the same issue as riding on rough roads.

[johnlvs2run]

The back wheel of my bike sits on a small spindle that it turns for resistance.

Yes, the roads here are relatively smooth.

What kind of foam do you use, and how thick?

[hadleyvbaxendale]

I cross train twice weekly on an indoor exercycle. I like a lower tucked position but the weight that puts on my hands puts them to sleep. Anyone have a remedy for this?

The remedy is to stop putting weight on your hands -- it may take a while to strengthen your legs and back, but even in a tucked position, called hovering, you should never put your weight on your hands.

Practice by using only one hand at a time, and make certain that your butt is back enough and just barely touching the seat side to side as you ride -- the key is getting your weight far enough back so that it is over the pedals.

Tingling hands means bad form.

[ks]

I cross train twice weekly on an indoor exercycle. I like a lower tucked position but the weight that puts on my hands puts them to sleep. Anyone have a remedy for this?

The remedy is to stop putting weight on your hands -- it may take a while to strengthen your legs and back, but even in a tucked position, called hovering, you should never put your weight on your hands.
:
:
Tingling hands means bad form.

Hadley is right, but there are things you can try to keep your hands from going to sleep even if your form is less than perfect. Look carefully at your wrists while you are in the drops -- are they straight as if you were shaking someone's hand, or are they bent up/down/sideways? Leaning on your wrists while they are bent can lead to pressure that may irritate nerves and alter blood flow. Also, you may want to investigate cycling gloves that have specifically placed padding to reduce pressure on certain parts of your hand (check out Specialized brand "body geometry" models).
In the end though, as Hadley indicates, good form that leads to less leaning on your hands is the ultimate solution.