Finding a bike for an RSI sufferer in Seattle

August 11, 2008 11:52 AM

Two part question: How can I get a bicycle that won't exacerbate my wrist repetitive strain injury? Can you recommend a good bike shop in Seattle?

I have some wrist tendonitis issues from a repetitive strain injury sustained through typing. I found there was too much weight on my wrists and vibrations coming through the handlebar in the setup on my previous bike (a Trek 7300), so I stopped riding the bike for a couple of years.

I want to start riding a bike again, for commuting and bike path exercise (not for heavy mountain biking, obviously). What can I do to relieve the problem? I've done some searching on the web, and it seems that riser bars might help relieve the pressure. Aerobars are also mentioned but they are apparently uncomfortable in other ways. I'd rather avoid a recumbent if possible. Any specific suggestions to bike make or model, or things to request at the bike shop? In general I was pretty happy with the 7300 until I developed the wrist issues.

Will cycling gloves help? Padded handlebars?

I'm also looking for a place to buy said bike, hopefully somewhere near Wallingford/Fremont/University District in Seattle, and a place that will be willing to help me solve this issue, even if it is a little work. Recommendations welcome.

posted by grouse to sports, hobbies, & recreation (23 comments total)

I'd rather avoid a recumbent if possible.

An RSI is what made me go recumbent, and I went from even a short bike ride meaning days of pain to a bike ride of any length being painless. I'd suggest you test-ride one. I expect you'll find a night-and-day difference as compared to any upright.

If you're devoted to the idea of an upright, you'll probably want to look into cruisers, which call for putting less of your weight on your extended wrists.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 12:15 PM on August 11, 2008

I can see the benefits of recumbents, but they seem like they would somewhat impractical for my uses—I don't know if I'll be able to find a place to lock it up, and I think it would limit my path riding further. Feel free to correct me.
posted by grouse at 12:24 PM on August 11, 2008

I found these help with wrist issues. They spread the pressure on your hands, and (suitably adjusted) they tend to keep one's wrists straight, which makes a tremendous difference.
posted by buxtonbluecat at 12:25 PM on August 11, 2008

As Zed mentioned, a recumbent would do you well here (and they're faster on the flats!). A triathlon or time trial bike might be comfortable for you as well, as (if you're fitted properly) your upper body is resting on your skeletal system, and not your musculature system. There are various types of areo bars, from the type that look like ski poles to S-bends and R-bends, and you could try those to see what's most comfortable for your wrists. This bike wouldn't be that great for commuting, as you really don't want to ride aero bars in traffic.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 12:28 PM on August 11, 2008

Bents aren't much different to lock up than other bikes. There's one specific design of rack with moving parts intended to fold around an upright's rear wheel that I've seen a couple of times which is unusable; other than that, it's been a non-issue for me (I bike as a primary means of transport, and lock up my bike all over.)

I'm not sure what you mean by "path riding."
posted by Zed_Lopez at 12:42 PM on August 11, 2008

Riding on a dirt path, rather than a concrete surface.
posted by grouse at 12:47 PM on August 11, 2008

If you decide to go for an upright bar, I hear great things about Ergon grips.
posted by box at 1:02 PM on August 11, 2008

More broadly, the main way to reduce the weight on your hands is to raise the handlebars (with modern bikes, this will usually mean either getting a new bar and/or stem, or adding spacers), which puts more of your weight on your butt.

Ways to reduce vibration include carbon-fiber handlebars, suspension forks, dampening devices (bar-end plugs for road bikes, steering dampeners for downhill mtbs) and the old standby--a tire with more air volume.

Personal anecdote: On my town bike/coffee bike/whatever, I switched out the 1.5" commuter tires for huge 2.5" slicks. The difference, comfort-wise, is astonishing. Tires are (relatively) cheap and (very) easy to install--if I were you, it'd be my first step.
posted by box at 1:16 PM on August 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

One more personal recommendation (upright bars only): Oury grips. While I hear great things about Ergon, I've been using Ourys on my own bikes for something like the last twenty years.
posted by box at 1:18 PM on August 11, 2008

I don't have a bike yet. The old Trek is 4800 mi away with a new owner.
posted by grouse at 1:20 PM on August 11, 2008

What box said Get them bars up! Fat tires. Get some weight off of your hands. A bike has three contact points - hands, feet, butt. Too much weight anywhere is not good.

Also, while folks assume that flat bars must be more comfortable than drop bars, let me offer you some food for thought. Stand with your arms hanging straight down, hands at your sides. What are your hands doing? Your palms are facing your hips. When you grab flat bars, the first this you do is rotate your wrists/hands almost 90 degrees, line into the typing position.

With drop bars, you have a hand position 'on the tops' or on the flat portion of the bars. You have another hand position 'on the hoods' where your hands are resting on the brake hoods. Now your hands and wrists are in a more neutral position. You can use the 'drops' or put your hands on the lower portion of the bars. Changing hand positions is good. Riding on flat bars with your hands always oriented the same way might not be so good.

P.S. Don't let anyone tell you you can't ride drop bars off-road, i.e. on a non-technical crushed stone or hard dirt 'bike path.'
posted by fixedgear at 1:38 PM on August 11, 2008

High handlebars (there are lots of extension stems out there), gel handlebar pads and double-wrapped bars. In short and in addition to the above, get the weight off your hands then make them as comfy as possible.
posted by rhizome at 1:48 PM on August 11, 2008

I used to have wrist pain when my main ride was a mountain bike. Since I've switched to a road bike it hasn't been an issue. Drop bars offer a variety of hand positions, and most of the time your wrists are straight, not bent back. Your wrist pain could be very different than mine, of course.

Gloves do help, and there are some that are supposed to specifically address wrist pain. Checking your seat angle too. It should be horizontal or not far off; if it slopes down you have to use your hands to push yourself backwards to stay on the seat.
posted by hydrophonic at 1:50 PM on August 11, 2008

Elevation has little to do with wrist stress and pain. What you need is to strengthen your abs and back so that you're not putting so much pressure on your hands. Idealy you should split your weight between 1/3rd on your butt, 1/3rd on the pedals, and 1/3rd on the handlebars.
posted by wfrgms at 2:57 PM on August 11, 2008

I have tendonitis and rheumatoid arthritis, so I end up paying a lot of attention to my hands and wrists, especially before rides longer than 50-60 miles. Besides not keeping any of my bikes in a very aggressive position and finding the sweet spot with the tilt of the saddle, this is what works for me:

Drop bars: I use a base layer of Bar Phat (Fi-zik makes a similar product) followed by a layer of chunky cork tape, and an out layer of thinner bar tape. It looks very puffy, but that thickness keeps my hands relaxed enough to allow some movement in my wrists without locking them into one angle. I also used Specialized BG Pro gloves (not meaning to come across as a shill, but these are the things that work for me) because the ulnar pad on their gloves have been better at relieving wrist strain and finger numbness than any other kind I've tried. YMMV, of course.

Flat bars: I added extra-long bar extenders/ends to my flat bars and left the rubber grips in place. I then wrapped the bars and extenders in chunky tape to help with hand stress. The bar extenders add a lot of opportunity for changing hand position and I usually don't need gloves with this particular set up (unless it's a very long ride). Also, trekking or butterfly bars offer a lot of hand/wrist positions for a fairly upright posture on the bike.
posted by Heretic at 3:00 PM on August 11, 2008 [1 favorite]

Riding a bicycle within Seattle is a rich and varied experience, but I'm having a little trouble thinking of dirt paths for you to ride on around here.

The Burke-Gilman Trail, for example (a long and slender Eden for cyclists which incidentally connects the neighborhoods you mention and many more) is paved for almost its entire length. There are bare dirt paths beaten into the almost irrepressible maritime vegetation next to the paving for some of it, but unless you wish to further risk your wrist in altercations with the rather remarkably irritable local population of runners, you probably won't be spending much time on them, and the only other dirt that comes to mind (such as in Discovery park) could put you in the way of even more obstreperous hikers.

I bought almost all my bicycle frames from Recycled Cycles-- my passion was early eighties steel Japanese touring frames, and they came up with five wonderful ones, though I never found a Miyata 1000 in my size-- and they are located just south and west of the UW medical Center right on the water. I haven't been there in three years, but they used to have an enormous selection of handlebars and stems at quite good prices. I also recommend Free Range Cycles in Fremont, Wright Bros. Cycle Works, also in Fremont, And 2nd Ascent in Ballard. Greg's Greenlake Cycles is consistently rated as one of the best independent bicycle shops in the country, and it's located a few miles northwest of the northwest corner of the UW campus.
posted by jamjam at 3:13 PM on August 11, 2008

By the way, if you think you'll be at UW for awhile, put your name on a waiting list for one of the on-campus bicycle boxes now. All cyclists I've met who have one get looks on their faces as if they've just achieved lesser Satori whenever they talk about it, and almost every other cyclist will envy you no matter if you ride a Big Wheel once they find out you have one.
posted by jamjam at 3:37 PM on August 11, 2008

I think flat bars are trouble. Part of the solution is changing your hand position every now and then to prevent a repetitive stress on your wrists. Flat bars, even with bar ends, make this more difficult, although those Ergon grips look great. Regardless of whether you go with flat bars or road style drop bars (you can go off road with these, just look for cross bikes) just as with typing you also must keep your wrists straight. This is extremely important. I would suggest riding with your wrist braces on until you adapt your riding style to keep your wrists straight. Several people have suggested raising your bars and I agree. In fitting your bike you are typically trying to create a load bearing triangle between your hands, bum and feet, with about equal weight on each. You may have your old bike set up such that extra weight was on your hands, or even you may just want to take some weight off them and unbalance the triangle if needed. Raising the bars most effectively accomplishes this and moving your seat back can also help. I think most people have their seat way to far forward for efficient riding. I recommend the Lemond system for bike fitting.
posted by caddis at 8:23 AM on August 12, 2008

What about a road bike with some front suspension? I know Cannondale has put out road/cyclocross bikes with a short travel suspension fork up front. Here's a link to a 2007 model. I've been persuing their website, and can't tell if there are any models with suspension in the 2008 lineup or not. But you should be able to find a 2007 model somewhere, or at least a used model. Front suspension and some nice soft grips would help.

Also, you could just get a mountain bike with 4 inches of travel up front, and put slick tires on it? Wouldn't be as efficient as a road bike, but it sure would be comfy.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 12:14 PM on August 12, 2008

I went to Greg's Greenlake today and tried out a couple of bikes. The Sequoia was fun, and the drop bars allowed multiple positions, but the handlebars couldn't really be raised up that high, so I was leaning over the whole time. Not so great.

The Crossroads Elite was pretty upright, which is good, and I found I wasn't putting much weight on my wrists. But still had flat bars, albeit with grippy things on the ends. I found I had a little trouble getting a straight wrist position with these. I think I will check out the offerings at some other shops first. Other ideas welcome.
posted by grouse at 6:31 PM on August 12, 2008

I tried Recycled Cycles, and the Raleigh Detour 3.0. It didn't seem as well put-together as the Crossroads. I don't really hold out much hope of finding anything better. I think I will probably get the Crossroads tomorrow. And some gloves.
posted by grouse at 9:44 PM on August 14, 2008

Idealy you should split your weight between 1/3rd on your butt, 1/3rd on the pedals, and 1/3rd on the handlebars.

I'm going to quibble with this one since my philosophy is that as much weight as possible should be focussed on the pedals. I don't mean that you should aim to stand on the pedals since there are nuances in pedal power between pedaling standing or sitting, but having weight on your hands is the least useful place to have it, the seat being useful for leverage and the pedals being where the action is. Bernard Hinault has said that while climbing you should just barely be touching the handlebars, just enough to point them but generally maintaining them as lightly as possible with your fingertips.

"Raising the handlebars" is not an end in itself, but can be helpful for some. Keep in mind that sometimes using an extension stem is a stopgap when the real problem is a too-small frame.
posted by rhizome at 12:40 PM on August 18, 2008

I tried an Electra Townie, which is a cross between a recumbent and a cruiser. It's about as upright as it gets, which is good. On the other hand, I thought it was just not that great a bike—I had a lot of trouble shifting gears, which just locked up completely at one point, and it's awful on hills. Furthermore the pedals are so low to the ground that my heel scraped it a few times. Not recommended.

I ended up getting the Crossroads Elite (from Gregg's). It is a pretty good bike, although I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't need the upright position. Also got some gloves, which help more than I thought they would. With a suspension fork, gloves, and properly inflated tires I don't really feel any vibrations through the handlebars. I had never used trigger shifts before, and they are much better than grip shifts.
posted by grouse at 11:32 PM on August 21, 2008