Jones bars, comfort and numbness

[Charliecres]

I've been trying out some Jones bars for a few months and, having found them a bit uncomfortable in what seems to be the conventional fairly horizontal position, I settled on a more downward pointing set-up, a bit like a flared drop. That's worked well for me on shorter rides but it got quite uncomfortable towards the end of the BB200 and now I've got two numb, tingling little fingers.

At the moment I've got ESI silicone grips (the thinner ones, I think) but I'm wondering if going for something chunkier or some Ergons might help. Or does anyone have any other suggestions re grips, bar position, etc?

If not I think I'll get a second set of OG bars, as they work well on my Stooge, although I've never done more than a few hours on them. Hmmm ...

[ianfitz]

I have mine dropped by about 10degrees and use ergons. I love them but know people who really don't! Read the instructions as (for me at least) I have them turned upwards far more than looks right. Have tried the esi grips and found my wrists would drop and they weren't comfy.

I also had a bit of faffing with stem length before getting it feeling right. But now they are incredible.

As an example I had no hand numbness after the HT 550.

[pushbikemike]

I've tried a few different bar grips combinations over the last 15 years. Including og Mary midge wood chipper flat bars ti bars alloy and carbon but never jones bars( too expensive for me). Although the number of bars I've tried as cost a pretty penny
What seems to work for me for long rides (12 hours plus multi days) is a wide rider bar with chunky long grips ( superstar lock ons at the moment) and bar placement is at least level with saddle or slightly above. I have a stooge and wide Funn bars.
Mike

[jameso]

I used mine angled down around 15 degrees I think. 2 layers of road bar tape. I've had numbness while using them. Not sure it's totally avoidable given enough time. What the Jones bars do is prevent the wrist joint pain I'd get from 5-6hrs+ on riser bars and they just feel more 'right' for me and the bike they're fitted to. Numbness comes from pressure I think and the best way to reduce pressure isn't to change grips (though it'll reduce the effect as pressure/force/area) but to remove weight from your hands, reduce the cause. Try moving your body or C of G up and backwards if you can - bars closer to and/or level with saddle, layback seatpost, etc.

[Charliecres]

Thanks all. The bars are already quite high (at least level with the saddle) but I'll try a 15 degree angle again, which will bring my hands higher, and I might give a shorter stem another go.

[ianfitz]

I didn't say that mine are carbon on the rigid hardtail. They are noticeably more flexy than the Ali ones and make a difference. Still stiff enough to yard on when climbing out the saddle. They really do absorb some trail chatter and for me, given how many hours they get ridden, are worth the money.

I also have a set of ti 'replica' ones from China via the classifieds. They are, as may be expected, between the Ali and carbon ones in terms of stiffness.

[akak]

Have you considered trying the Specialized Grail glove?

https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized ... e-EV221229

I rode the whole distance in them and had no hand soreness. I had never heard of them until I had numbness on a long (for me) 4 hour ride a couple of months ago.

[Charliecres]

Don't think I can stretch to carbon, unfortunately. I currently have bend bars but think I'll get some loops if I can get on with a flatter position. I think it would have helped to stretch out and use different hand positions.

I may also try the Grail gloves. I did look at them a month or two ago but thought they looked more like a summer glove. How warm are they? And how padded do they feel?

[whitestone]

Not Jones specific but I've found minor changes around all the contact points can make a big difference. As you've found, a setup that works well for four or five hours doesn't work after twelve or more. Suspension or rigid fork, standard grips or Ergons, I'd get tingling/numb little fingers after about a hundred miles. I changed stem length, no difference. After doing last year's YD200 route I didn't have feeling in several of my fingers for nearly two weeks for example.

What worked for me was altering the saddle angle. I've a Charge Spoon on a non-dropper seat post that I use for ITTs and I'd been blaming it for getting a really sore contact area (I won't go in to more detail ). I'd been using the UCI mandated horizontal position but for some reason I decided to drop the nose by about 5 degrees. This virtually eliminated the contact area problems but also the tingling in my fingers stopped. A few months later there was this piece in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/ ... ore-medals so it seems like I happened on the same cure by chance.

What I think was happing was that I was getting "thumped" by the front of the saddle so was shifting my weight more on to my hands to ease that pain which of course then set off the tingling/numbness in my fingers.

[jameso]

Don't think I can stretch to carbon, unfortunately.

I use the alu or ti loops, with a stiff Jones truss fork, no issues there - the tyre takes out most of it anyway, the bar tape or grip the rest. Carbon can dull some fine vibration though and from using a dyno hub I think that can be a contributor to numbness.

Whitstone, interesting that your solution was the saddle position. I've found saddle position to be the main comfort addition or cause of other issues on my bikes. Hip angle relates to back angle and +/- tension or compensation in the shoulders, many nerves in the hand are linked to nerve bundles in the shoulders and neck area. It's all linked and too often we just look at the area where we feel the problem yet the solution may be literally at the other end. Something similar lead to a 'fix' for my one ongoing discomfort so I was in total comfort on a road-ish bike over 10 days this Sept, inc 6 on the TNR route which isn't smooth in places!

I'd been using the UCI mandated horizontal position

Why, for UCI racing?

[dlovett]

I had a min bike fit to bring the fat bike in line with the road and mtb bikes. They dropped the jones bars a bit and adjusted the seat position bringing it fractionally forward. They were very keen that we keep adjusting positions, but I find it very comfortable both at Coed y Brennin the day before and the BB200. This is the current position and angle.

[akak]

I may also try the Grail gloves. I did look at them a month or two ago but thought they looked more like a summer glove. How warm are they? And how padded do they feel?

They do have that problem, they feel like they are made out of ladies underwear! I should like a more rugged build especially if I had paid full retail for them. I had some sealskinz in my bag in case I was too cold but that was never an issue. I suppose that they feel strange at first then I don't notice them.

[restlessshawn]

" a bit like a flared drop"

So far flared drops (Midge and Soma Portola) are the only bars I actually feel comfortable on. I've even considered trying to put them on my Inbred but I'd be down to a 35mm stem to allow for the difference in ETT between my CDF and the Inbred. Maybe I should try Jones bars next.

Why does everyone go for the loops and not the cuts? The cut ones look better and I can't imagine using the middle of the loops as a hand position?

[whitestone]

I'd been using the UCI mandated horizontal position

Why, for UCI racing?

Sarcastic joke The UCI often mandate things to the detriment of riders' health, usually because that's "how they did things in 1903". Go into a bike shop and every bike will have the saddle set level.

restlessnative: Loops rather than Cuts? Most setups I've seen have lights mounted on the loop so not really a hand position but the manual does show them being used in that position - http://www.jonesbikes.com/h-bar/ (about halfway down)

[jameso]

Ha. Didn't have you as the UCI type!

RN, I have some cut loops as well as older H bars. I like them, particularly Hs on the SS as the cross join is in a wider position, gives a nice 'hooks' type of grip for climbs. Prefer the full loop for bike packing but not much in it, just useful gear space.

[ianfitz]

Loops are great, as above its a perect place for a light. Hands there is good for a semi aero tuck and there's the potential to lean the forearms over both bars for the full aero position. It makes a massive difference on flat road sections or in a headwind. Usually one or two gears worth

When I ran a longer stem I didn't use them like this though.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

I got tingly/numb fingers for the first time ever on the TNR, which has not quite disappeared yet. There are many things different about my setup which could have contributed to this, but I think the root cause, or biggest factor, is vibration.

For the first time on a multi-day ride, I used a rigid (Travers CF) fork, on a TI Travers frame, with a 2.0 tyre at 40psi, or a bit less by the end. On the longest (optional) off-road descent it did feel very uncomfortable, compared to my normal setup of 100mm suspension and 2.2-2.4 tyre at 24psi. My solution is replacing the fork with a Lauf; not cheap, but in the long run it should be an effective bikepacking friendly option.

I was using CF Jones (<5 deg rear-down pitch), with Wiggle silicon grips (cheap ESI copies, very similar but possibly a bit less absorbent); generally liked these, but still need to get the optimal positioned dialled-in.

Jameso - why do you think a dynamo is a factor? I was running an SP on TNR, another new thing for me, but was not aware of any additional vibrations.

[stucowp]

I have the carbon ones with esi grips, on the lurcher I ran them at 20 degrees and on the stooge I've found that a 24 degree angle is better, not sure if there is some relation to head angle/fork rake vs bar angle, or whether it needs to be horizontal to the head tube as a starting point. I also didn't suffer any hand numbness on the htr and that was fully rigid.

[jameso]

ZDB, sorry should've been clearer, I notice a slight vibration from the dynamo just when road riding on smooth tyres at higher speeds and it can give me some mild numbness, only pins and needles level. I guess it's related to the consistent low level vibration. Don't notice it off road.

[fatbikephil]

Latest vid from Jeff Jones on H-bars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndt8Di_TjJE

[whitestone]

What length grips are folk using on their Jones? Standard 130mm or the extra long 200mm jobbies?

[ianfitz]

What length grips are folk using on their Jones? Standard 130mm or the extra long 200mm jobbies?

Ergons so standard, set at the ends of the bars, I do have a slice of ESI grip inboard of all the controls. It means that with tape on the main loop the corner hand position is super comfy

[ScotRoutes]

I use cut-down foam tubing on my Jones Loops. With the controls as inboard as possible they are 25-30mm longer than a normal grip

[Single Speed George]

I might just be weird, lucky, or just young and resilient , but don't get all thus weird expensive bike packing bars stuff... I have never got any particular hand pain and I have rigged forks. The bars I use are just normal but super wide like 800 haha , flat aluminum bars , with quite fat lock on grips ... Spot on for me anyway and cheep! And just well ,normal

[Ben98]

I might just be weird, lucky, or just young and resilient , but don't get all thus weird expensive bike packing bars stuff... I have never got any particular hand pain and I have rigged forks. The bars I use are just normal but super wide like 800 haha , flat aluminum bars , with quite fat lock on grips ... Spot on for me anyway and cheep! And just well ,normal

Every time I look at your setup it astonishes me that you don't finish each ride with no arms, the whole front end of your bike just looks unbelievably stiff.