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During long rides, I'll often eventually get numb hands.
Before I go down the bike fit/new stem/new seatpost/new frame 🫣 route, I've got some scope to move saddle back or forward a smidge.
ChatGPT suggests either approach may work! lol.
So what would your vote be ? Back or forward?
(I'm assuming if I move the saddle back, I'll have to drop the seatpost slightly, or raise it a little if a move the saddle forward)
[This is in relation to a new drop bar gravel bike]
Are you making a point to move your hands about on the bars from time to time? I'm certainly guilty of slotting into the hoods and then not moving my hands until I start to feel a tingle in my hands. Shifting my hands from time to time tends to help.
If the relationship between your saddle and BB is good, I'd be reluctant to start messing with that in a bid to reduce an issue elsewhere on the bike. Especially on a road or gravel bike where you're likely to be in a seated position for longer periods of time.
I vote back. OR forward and more nose-up.
I tend to adjust my saddles in a sort of upward facing arc, i.e. back and more nose-down, or forward and more nose-up. Works best with cut-out saddles, the more weight is taken forward of your sit-bones, the less weight on your hands!
I wince whenever I see people with these aggressive nose-down saddles, screams arm and hand pain to me.
If the relationship between your saddle and BB is good
The bike is less than two weeks old and the saddle position on the rails is the same as when it came out of the factory (though I did tilt the nose down a tiny bit), so I'm not sure it's current position is optimum from a thigh/knee perspective...and I'm not adverse of some testing.
(I'll probably get a bike fit when I've got quite a few more long rides on it...this is just a stop-gap in the meantime)
You could do the unthinkable and flip the stem.
If you have short legs for your height, you will probably want the saddle central to rearward on the rails, to counterbalance a long torso.
Going back means effective saddle height has increased.
Flip stem pointing skyward, have hoods pointing skyward a fraction by brifters and don't grip the bars too tightly.
Going shorter reach and higher bars will both help - maybe try one at a time and see which is best? So slightly shorter stem, more spacers under the stem (if poss), or flipping the stem (which is effectively both shortening the reach and lifting the bars so might do the trick on it's own)......
Counter intuitive as it may seem I get less shoulder and neck pain with my bars slightly lower (up to a point).
With my recent bike fit one of the key hand comfort things was getting the angle of the bar right (lower bars essentially parallel with the ground) and then getting the brifters up higher so that they didn't cause any pressure where the nerves/blood vessels enter the hand. That did involve retaping the bars.
It's interesting looking at my road bike (it was gravel bike being fitted) that it has exactly the same pre fit issue with the tails of the bar pointing down to get the hoods in roughly the right place. I do wonder if that's a factory thing that there's a natural tendency for ease of assembly to mount levers in the middle of the drop and not at the top.
You could do the unthinkable and flip the stem.
Hmmm, that's gonna look ugly with the gap below the top spacer...🤷
I do wonder if that's a factory thing that there's a natural tendency for ease of assembly to mount levers in the middle of the drop and not at the top.
A lot of bikes come assembled with the levers on the bars but untaped - it’s down to the shop mechanic to do the final assembly, bars to stem, adjusting levers, taping the bars etc. Can also be a function of the bar shape - I aim for the tops of bars to be just below horizontal and the levers/hoods to create a horizontal platform that supports the wrists, not just the hands.
You could do the unthinkable and flip the stem.
Hmmm, that's gonna look ugly with the gap below the top spacer...🤷
And this perfectly illustrates the madness from bike and component manufacturers in the roadie world:- Loads of spacers under the stem to compensate for a stem that drops the bars too much !
They seem to still think we're all 22 year olds with the flexibility of Stretch Armstrong and Morph, knuckle-dragging arms longer than Mr Tickle's, and want a stem longer than the rudder on an oil tanker.
I absolutely hate that the 1st thing most people have to do with a new bike costing thousands is spend a couple of hundred quid more on a new stem, new bars, and re-cable gears and chop + bleed brakes.
(Shout out to Shand who fitted the right stem, bars and seat post for me from the get-go on my Stooshie)
In fairness, I'd much rather have a few spacers I can switch around than a steerer cut too short...
Moving the saddle back 10mm may help take some weight off your hands. I find I shuffle into a position that feels comfy as well as balanced on the bike so I see saddle position as a nudge towards a better position rather than saddle height or bar angle that changes how you sit.
Might be worth adjusting the bar angle - I finished setting up a new bike the other week and found rotating the bar down about 3-5 degrees felt best in the end, on the hoods I was more relaxed over the front end despite the controls going lower (the drops/hooks get a bit closer tho).
The other thing to try is vibration-reducing layers under the tape. It may be that your position is well balanced but the bike just sends vibrations through. I got some nerve damage in my fingers years back and seem more sensitive to pins and needles now, a layer of deadening material under the bars resolved it on one bike that creates more high frequency vibrations at the bar.
I added some gel pads under the bar tape which helped a lot. I also searched for gloves with gel in the right place. Mitts are easy to find. Long finger gloves less so. I searched in several bike shops and struggled to find any that fitted and were less than £70.
But I happened to be in Halfords and found my ideal pair of Boardman gloves for £18.
a layer of deadening material under the bars resolved it on one bike that creates more high frequency vibrations at the bar
If your hands are big enough that stuff is pretty good but it does chunk up the bars if you also use thicker tape as well. I found it worked pretty well on one quite harsh bike.
I would stick to the tops with it personally (or at least keep the area behind the brifters clear of it. I had some under Specialised Bar Phat (all part of the kit) and it was a bit tight for clearance around the Campag levers.
^ I used sections that just cover the upper side of bar for about 90-120 degrees around, on the tops either side of the bend and on the hooks. Standard thickness cork tape on top. I usually add a strip of tape in those areas anyway and focus on the area just behind the STI / lever plastic body bc that's often a transition that creates a bump or pressure point and it's where the rear of my hand rests. Depends on your preferred controls, bar shape and set up though, some combos go together more seamlessly than others there.
Mitts are easy to find. Long finger gloves less so. I searched in several bike shops and struggled to find any that fitted and were less than £70.
I bought some Castelli Arenberg mitts, they come in a long finger version but they are possibly the £70 models you mention.
To be honest though between the Arenberg gloves and padded bars (Fizik gel pads with Enve tape on Lauf smoothie bars) I notice very little difference, I still believe it is something like 90% about position.