When commuting or going to school on flat roads with few turns and stable traffic, there aren't many brakes or hand-rings, so you might want to change your grip slightly.

It seems humans are designed to get tired from staying in the same posture.

The longer the ride, the more you'll want to change your posture.

However, unlike road bikes, cross bikes have a simple handlebar shape.

I'd like to share what variations exist and their characteristics, based on my personal experience.

Bicycle magazines sometimes state that "there is only one way to grip a flat handlebar."

This is incorrect.

When actually riding,

• Standard

This is the most common grip.

Let's call it "Standard" here because it's "the most common grip."

You can grip it in the most natural posture, and it offers high grip stability.

It seems to be the easiest posture with less strain on the palms.

The center of gravity is at the center of the grip. *Position of the red dot in the image.

Your fingers can reach the brake levers, so you can quickly apply the brakes even if a person or car suddenly pops out from the side.

It is highly safe and considered the most recommended grip.

• Side Grip

This is a slight variation of the standard grip, where the center of gravity is shifted a little more towards the ends of the handlebars.

The grip stability is almost the same as the standard grip, so the ease of gripping doesn't change.

If the standard grip is fine, that's good, but your hands will get tired during long rides.

Just by slightly changing the center of gravity, the strain on your palms can be significantly reduced.

Normally, if you're riding in the same posture, you'll unconsciously adopt a slightly different grip, but by consciously changing your grip, recognizing that you'll get tired, you can more easily alleviate fatigue.

Finger Grip

You grip the handlebars with just your fingers.

This is a grip where you hold the grip without using your palm.

You rest the pad of your palm (the "bean" part) on the handlebar grip.

You don't put much of your upper body weight on it in this position.

Since it's just your fingers, you can't put much weight on it.

Your upper body is in a slightly more upright position than when gripping firmly, so you can also change your upper body posture slightly.

This has a stress-relieving effect.

End Grip

You grip the ends of the handlebars.

The center of gravity is at the ends of the handlebars.

Since this is a completely different grip from the standard one, it can help relieve stress.

In this case, you will grip the brake lever with your thumb.

Perhaps, while the standard grip uses the index and middle fingers, gripping with the thumb might feel a bit unsettling.

Nevertheless, as you'll realize when you actually ride, it's quite smooth to operate.

There seems to be no safety issue.

There is little data on the grip strength of individual fingers, and even after researching, I couldn't find anything definitive, but it seems that the grip strength is strongest in the order of index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers.

It's difficult to generalize because there's no data comparing the grip strength of the thumb alone with other fingers, but combining several data points suggests that the grip strength of the thumb and index finger alone is about the same.

In other words, you can grip the brake lever with your thumb with a similar feeling as gripping it with just your index finger in the standard grip.

In this position, the weight of your upper body is supported by one point on each palm (two points in total), so staying in this posture for a long time can put a significant strain on your palms.

I believe "bar ends," which are extension handlebars, resolve this issue.

Only those who have used them will understand how they feel, so I ordered them just for a review.

I'll share my impressions in a future article.

Palm Rest

It looks like a normal grip, but it makes contact with the grip over a wider area.

This reduces the pressure on the palm, alleviating strain.

Since the brake lever is also gripped by wrapping around it, you can apply the brakes immediately in an emergency, and there are no safety issues at all.

The image is of gripping the brake lever with the middle finger, not the index finger.

Thumb-off Palm Rest

This is a method of gripping the handlebars even more loosely than the palm rest described above.

Although it's called "gripping," the thumb is not on the handlebar, so there is almost no gripping force.

If you were to suddenly brake in this state, or in the event of a collision with a car or other object, the rider would likely be thrown forward, so safety would not be high.

However, in the case of bicycles, even if you grip the handlebars firmly, the rider will likely be thrown forward in the event of an accident, so it's difficult to compare how bad this particular grip is.

This can be used on long rides, in rural areas with few side roads, where the possibility of people or cars suddenly appearing from the side is low, or in places with good visibility where safety is ensured, to alleviate strain on the palms.

Your fingers are on the brake lever, so you can still apply the brakes.

However, since your thumb isn't on the handlebar, it might be a bit harder to grip.

Summary

As you can see, although cross bikes with flat bars are often thought to have only one grip type, stress can be alleviated by making small changes in how you grip.

While completely different gripping methods, like those on road bikes, are a bit difficult, cross bikes have their own ways to alleviate discomfort.

And by adding optional center bars or end bars, you can further increase the variations or make gripping safer.

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External writer: Koichi Okuno