tenniss elbow

[BmoreKen]

Anyone get tennis elbow related to riding SS? I mean, from pulling up on bars while grinding out steep climbs? Perhaps transitioning to a swept bar like a Jones Loop bar or similar will help?

I'm currently running a 7 deg sweep riser bar. Thought the pain in my elbow was from riding rigid so I put a Reba on there, helped a little but the tendonitis is back with a vengeance after riding some tight, twisty trails with lots of short steep climbs that had me wrastling the bar. Maybe I shouldn't do that (?).

Thoughts????

[racefit]

SS rigid here with similar occasional issues.

[JeffL]

Same problem here. I've even had surgery to relieve the pain from lateral epicondylitis, which helped for about a year but the pain still comes back if I don't do the proper exercises. I ride SS rigid, but I'm not sure if my cycling or paddling is the real cause. This device and associated exercises helps alot. More than surgical relief, in fact...

Amazon.com: Thera-Band Flexbar Hand Exerciser - Tennis Elbow Relief Bar: Health & Personal Care

[random walk]

I had a bad case of it when I started SSing (also rigid). I installed some Ergon GC2 grips; between that and consciously relaxing my death grip on climbs, it eventually went away.

[Vader]

I only have issues in one elbow. Maybe it's from something else.

[JeffL]

All my trouble has always been in only one elbow. And Ergons don't help - I've used Ergons for over 5 years and they help greatly with wrist issues. But only the Theraband exerciser I linked above helps me with the tennis elbow pain.

[BmoreKen]

Some of the guys I ride with use Jones bars or Mary bars or similar and swear by them, primarily for the control they feel while riding through technical singletrack. And these guys get vertical a lot, frequently unweighting the front, wheelies, manuals, etc.

When I put my hands out and simulate a rowing motion, it feels much more comfortable with the hands rotated at an angle simulating greater sweep. But when I simulate my preferred position for downhill, then I'm looking for much less sweep. This is why I abandoned the Carnegie bars (24 deg sweep) in the past - they felt "OK" for cruising around, pretty good for tight/twisty technical singletrack, but not good for fast downhills. Maybe I just didn't give them enough time to get used to it.

[max-a-mill]

try rotating your bars back so they sweep back but also down a little. makes all the difference for me. never liked the ergons.

[Wish I Were Riding]

Some of the guys I ride with use Jones bars or Mary bars or similar and swear by them, primarily for the control they feel while riding through technical singletrack. And these guys get vertical a lot, frequently unweighting the front, wheelies, manuals, etc.

When I put my hands out and simulate a rowing motion, it feels much more comfortable with the hands rotated at an angle simulating greater sweep. But when I simulate my preferred position for downhill, then I'm looking for much less sweep. This is why I abandoned the Carnegie bars (24 deg sweep) in the past - they felt "OK" for cruising around, pretty good for tight/twisty technical singletrack, but not good for fast downhills. Maybe I just didn't give them enough time to get used to it.

I get this issue sometimes. Do you use bar ends? From reading your posts it doesn't sound like you do. I found that using bar ends felt good but killed my elbows. I have used all forms of swept bars, but I have gone back to more of a traditional wide bar.

I have not tried rotating them down at all like the previous post ^.

[saki]

i have this also on my left elbow. i ride a rigid 29er

[BruceBrown]

i have this also on my left elbow. i ride a rigid 29er

Tendonitis in the elbow - main cause, poor shoulder function.

[Flat Ark]

I get elbow pain if I use a widish bar. One with 10 or more degrees of sweep makes it worse. A narrow flat bar (FSA SL-K) with bar ends alleviated the issue for me. A wide bar makes me flare out my elbows which also was causing some neck/shoulder stiffness. The FSA bar causes me to keep my elbows tucked and my upper body (neck/shoulders) relaxed through the rough stuff.

[Charlie Cheswick]

I had it bad when I first started SSing, especially in my left elbow. My remedy was bar ends. It may sound crazy but just turning your grip 90 degrees takes a lot of the strain off your elbow and allows your biceps to pull in more of a straight line. I now do all my climbing on the bar ends and no more pain.

[saki]

wow thanks bruce i thougt it was old age

[Walt]

I have had numerous bouts of elbow tendonitis going back more than 10 years from when I was a serious rock climber, and I tried *everything* - acupuncture, diet, new grips/positions on the bike, ibuprofen, etc. I knew surgical outcomes are mediocre at best (and I didn't have the $ anyway) but then I read this:

Phys Ed: An Easy Fix for Tennis Elbow? - NYTimes.com

Note that the researchers actually had to *stop the study* because the bar/exercise was working so well that it would have been unethical to continue making the placebo/PT group continue.

And no, it's not a scam. The exercise is easy to learn (even if you're a spaz like me) and the bar costs like $15. Nothing else to buy. Do it 5 times a day for 10-20 reps on each arm and I pretty much guarantee you'll be good to go in a couple of weeks.

Amazon.com: Thera-Band Flexbar Hand Exerciser - Tennis Elbow Relief Bar: Sports & Outdoors

-Walt

[saki]

hey walt thanks 15 bucks and looks way more convenient thanks

[rti27]

yes as nuts as it sounds, mounted bar end inside the grips about 16" apart, reason being changing hand positions seems to help me a ton, maybe bar end could provide the same relief but i like the lowered position.