Arthritis

In article <[email hidden]>, Raphael Wolfson

Quoted message said:

I am a 53 year old , with many years of riding I have moderately severe arthritis in my right
hand. I ride an eighteen year old Pro Miyata-Rolf Vector Pro wheels, carbon fork. When I hit a
bump, it feels like i've stuck my finger in an electrical outlet...ouch !! How to dampen the road
shock ? I'll try anything. I gotta ride, but I can't ride much longer like this . My future in
this wonderful sport is at stake. Suggestions ?

The simplest and cheapest thing would be to try new tires- Avocet 700 x 25 (current labelling, old
labelling was 700 x 28) for example, or Rivendell Roll-y Poly, etc. Continental makes a broad range
of 28 mm tires, I ride the Ultra 2000 and am quite happy with them. You can run these at 100 to 110
psi for a big increase in comfort compared to 700 x 23 or smaller tires at 120 or more psi.

A suspension stem of some sort may be helpful, if the above doesn't work. Softride used to sell one,
I don't know if they still do.

Failing all of the above, perhaps you could find a Rock Shox Ruby road suspension fork.

Hope some of this helps!

I am 73 and have the problem too. I've taken a 500mg tablet of Naproxen daily for years, it
takes a few days for it to slowly build up in your system. Some people take as much as a 1000mg
a day without adverse side effects, except it makes your blood 'slicker' and you bleed easy from
small cuts.

But, some of my friends swear by an Advil tablet prior to and after their rides.

What really helped me the most was switching from my 'welded carbon fibre' frame to a new Pegoretti
Duende light weight steel frame with a Reynolds Carbon fork, 700x25 tires inflated to 95 instead of
the 700x23's at 110 air pressure. It made an amazing difference in the 'feel' of my hands, wrists,
elbows and shoulders. Even outside of the 'white line' on the highway it feels nice, whereas the
carbon fibre frame bike rattled my bones. I had been told my numerous people that 'steel' was the
way to go and did not believe them. I am now a believer.

Before buying the new Pegoretti steel bike, I bought a 3" 'stem' extender, at the recommendation of
Lennard Zinn and moved my stem up and down on the carbon fibre bike, until it took some weight off
of my hands. That is a great solution if you want to stay with the bike you have and it only costs
about $20+ bucks.

Good luck.

Tom

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Raphael Wolfson <[email hidden]> wrote:
: I am a 53 year old , with many years of riding I have moderately severe arthritis in my right
: hand. I ride an eighteen year old Pro Miyata-Rolf Vector Pro wheels, carbon fork. When I hit a
: bump, it feels like i've stuck my finger in an electrical outlet...ouch !! How to dampen the road
: shock ? I'll try anything. I gotta ride, but I can't ride much longer like this . My future in
: this wonderful sport is at stake. Suggestions ?

Had 2 broken arm bones near the wrist last year. Had a plate and screws installed to hold it all
together. Lots of pain getting back into riding. I switched to a mountain bike with shocks and fat
tires until I got better.

Also, Good gloves with padding in the right places, two layers of cushy bar ribbon on the bars, and
Ibuprofin make quite a difference

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' [email hidden]
--------------------------------

Raphael Wolfson said:

I am a 53 year old , with many years of riding I have moderately severe arthritis in my right hand.
I ride an eighteen year old Pro Miyata-Rolf Vector Pro wheels, carbon fork. When I hit a bump, it
feels like i've stuck my finger in an electrical outlet...ouch !! How to dampen the road shock ?
I'll try anything. I gotta ride, but I can't ride much longer like this . My future in this
wonderful sport is at stake. Suggestions ?

Grab-On foam bar covers ?? Perhaps still available, certainly they are still available on ebay.
However, if you are resting your whole body on the handlebars these cannot do much. In that case I
recommend a nitto technomic(?) stem to raise up the handlebars so you put more weight on the seat
and not your hands. available at www.rivendellbicycles.com.

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

Raphael Wolfson said:

I am a 53 year old , with many years of riding I have moderately severe arthritis in my right
hand. I ride an eighteen year old Pro Miyata-Rolf Vector Pro wheels, carbon fork. When I hit a
bump, it feels like i've stuck my finger in an electrical outlet...ouch !! How to dampen the road
shock ? I'll try anything. I gotta ride, but I can't ride much longer like this . My future in
this wonderful sport is at stake. Suggestions ?

I have a similar situation... I have to be aware of all bumps and have to adjust accordingly. The
Arthritis affects mainly my left wrist. I usually have to ride with my hands in a fist resting on
the bar instead of around it.

I highly recommend a very high quality glove with lots of padding. The 700-28 tires will help some
but a bump is a bump and usually for me I hit hard on the front and recover on the rear. I do
recommend a heavily corked handlebar tape. I have tried to use a cork gasket material under the bar
tape but it slips around a bit. You could try Aerobars that take the weight off of your hands and
put them more on your elbows (sort of). Handling gets a little compromised though.

I don't recommend weighting the bike down with accessories just to relieve the pain. Longer bike
rides don't translate into a good riding experience for me anyway (as far as pain goes).

NS

Raphael Wolfson <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I am a 53 year old , with many years of riding I have moderately severe arthritis in my right
hand. I ride an eighteen year old Pro Miyata-Rolf Vector Pro wheels, carbon fork. When I hit a
bump, it feels like i've stuck my finger in an electrical outlet...ouch !! How to dampen the road
shock ? I'll try anything. I gotta ride, but I can't ride much longer like this . My future in
this wonderful sport is at stake. Suggestions ?

Tires will make a BIG difference, plus, they are a cheap fix. So, as long as your frame can
accommodate them why not give ‘em a try? I have found that wider tires are quite OK from a rolling
resistance standpoint so if the choice were to quit riding or use wide tires, I'd go for the wide
tires in the twinkling of an eye.

Presently, I use wide or really wide tires depending on where I'm going. Conti 700X28 slicks pumped
up to no more than 90 psig are the thinnest tires I use for the road. (These actually measure 25mm
when fully inflated.) For very rough roads, gravel or off road, I use
700X35 (32actual) treaded tires inflated to 75 psig. But, the fact of the matter is that the 700X35
are OK on good roads and, often I'll leave ‘em on, just for the plush ride, if my hands
are feeling sore.

By the way, I have a suspension fork and tried it for a year. It did no good and was a complete
waste of time for cracked pavement and bad roads. It was somewhat helpful for off the road riding
but I don't do enough of that to justify the 4 pounds.

Getting the bars higher is another thing to try. It helps to have the top of the bars at least level
with the seat to take weight off the hands. For your bike, longer, quill stems are available if
yours is too short. It's a pain to have to swap stems, but worth it…at least you get fresh tape out
of the job.

Steve Shapiro [email hidden]

"NS>" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:fZKRa.84592$N7.10277@sccrnsc03...

Quoted message said:

Raphael Wolfson said:

I am a 53 year old , with many years of riding I have moderately severe arthritis in my right
hand. I ride an eighteen year old Pro Miyata-Rolf Vector Pro wheels, carbon fork. When I hit a
bump, it feels like i've stuck my finger in an electrical outlet...ouch !! How to dampen the
road shock ? I'll try anything. I gotta ride, but I can't ride much longer like this . My future
in this wonderful sport is at stake. Suggestions ?

Shimano WH-7701 and R540 wheel sets supposedly reduce road shock significantly.

I know that they do on my bike.

Dashii

Dashi Toshii said:

Shimano WH-7701 and R540 wheel sets supposedly reduce road shock significantly. I know that they do
on my bike.

No doubt you will be telling us about your testing methodology shortly.
--
David Damerell <[email hidden]> flcl?