The Chainlink

Never fits like a glove

I'm starting to feel like I have very odd sized hands.  This year I have bought about 5 different sets of gloves and none of them fit right after a few rides. 

The main issue is my pinky finger and then ring finger going numb on longer rides (+20 miles).  I always choose gloves that will have good padding at the "exposed" nerves in my hand; After 5 rides or so the gloves always stretch out in the palm move the pads!!  I've tried Bontrager, Giro, and Pearl Izumi gloves all of them stretch too much in the palms.

Is anyone else having this problem?  Has anyone else had better luck with other brands? Should I just give up and wrap my hands with gauze like the Karate Kid or a boxer? My hand size seems to be between a medium and a large for most brands.

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Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on August 7, 2015 at 7:32pm

In relation to the picture it makes sense to me that nothing should ever apply pressure to the blue indicated section of your hand while doing "work" under stress (really ever) and only slight pressure in the pink area. There is no muscle (natural padding) there. I believe that one should not grip any handlebar in anyway that contacts the area indicated in blue or heavily stresses the area indicated in pink. Try concentrating on minimizing stress in these areas while you ride and see if you have improvement.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 8, 2015 at 10:29pm

I am curious about the physiological basis of the above statement.  Doesn't seem to relate to me to the OP's stated problem.

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on August 9, 2015 at 3:53pm

It might. It might not. These issues are potentially complex. I think it's worth considering.

If the gloves stretch then pads are farther apart and one then leans on the center of the palm (potentially). I didn't mean to discount your very thoughtful diagnosis.

Permalink Reply by Greg Berry on August 10, 2015 at 7:10am

I really appreciate you taking the time for that photo. This has been one area of frustration as I was looking for a solution, "where are all the  technical 'images' or details of how to support the body on a bicycle!"  I find my hands naturally want to place objects (even the handlebars) within the middle (blue) area and it takes a mental effort to position hands differently on the bars.

This past weekend I tried to keep all the weight on the areas you did not shade, and work some loose gloves.  For the most part my hands never felt fatigue; more importantly, never went numb!  This weekend was the first weekend where my hands did not pose an issue, which allowed me to complete 72 miles this weekend.

Permalink Reply by Irvin Steinert on August 10, 2015 at 8:03am

Cool! Glad I was able to help. Good job on the mileage. I only did about 10.

Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on August 10, 2015 at 10:08pm

The areas that are not shaded in the image Irvin created are the areas with dense nerve and blood supplies that you want to avoid compressing. The areas that Irvin shaded are anatomically designed to be the places that are the center of where pressure is placed, and the concavity of the center of the hand is not an accident- there is ligamentous tissue making sure that nothing is bulging out there in order to have room in the center of the palm to maintain a grasp on an object and in part to help distribute the pressure evenly.

Please take a look at how the main body of the ulnar nerve runs in the palm:

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