My hands are wearing out from a lifetime of metalwork. I’d like to keep vibrations down on the bike without having to use really thick bar tape or be sitting too upright. Do suspension stems really reduce buzz or just reduce shocks, can expensive carbon bars actually make a difference, or are there any special bar tapes that help without being over 3mm thick? Sam Fish, framebuilder, via email
If you want to improve hand comfort on a road bike, switching out for a thicker handlebar tape is the easiest and lowest-cost solution for reducing road feedback to your hands on the bike.
Senior technical editor Warren Rossiter opts for the 5mm thick Wolf Tooth’s Supple Tape. This is made from a rubber-like tacky material that adheres to itself, rather than needing a sticky backing tape.
This makes it easy to wrap, clean and rewrap many times, which is especially useful for off-road riding where it might get more mucky.
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However, Sam explained he'd rather avoid excessively thick bar tapes.
The good news is that this one is also available in a more standard 2.5mm thickness, the Wolftooth Supple Lite tape, which may be better suited to your paws and still give a great cushioning effect. You can also adjust how you wrap the tape to give the desired thickness.
We'd also recommend you try a suspension stem, which we've recently been testing.
These aren’t cheap, with the USE Vybe GR at £180, but it offers great tunability and is a little less pricey than the other major alternative, the Redshift Shockstop Stem.
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It might be worth trying a decent pair of cycling gloves first before shelling out – Warren Rossiter has found the Sportful TC mitts or full-finger gloves to be effective on bumpy roads.
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Back to the cockpit, you can try carbon bars, but beware that some models can be overly stiff, which could compound your problems rather than help alleviate them.
Check out the Prime Orra Aero gravel bar, which combines good vibration dampening with a reasonable price.
Don’t discount alloy bars though. FSA’s A-Wing AGX bar could be a good option, as could Ritchey’s Comp Ergomax or the Ritchey Corralitos bar.
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Adding a little rise with your handlebar could help reduce the pressure on your hands too, which is likely to help improve comfort.
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