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Some folks here already gave great advice, but generally speaking the typical mountain bike/hybrid setup that most people have is oftentimes really uncomfortable for casual neighborhood or trail rides that most people use them for. Mountain bikes have an aggressive posture intended for short, intense use, not cruising through the neighborhood or a paved trail.
A couple of quick suggestions you can try without replacing the entire bike:
1) Lower your seat and/or raise the handlebars to take pressure off of your wrists. A lot of bikes are setup with the handlebars slammed all the way down on the stem for the maximum aggressive posture. If your seat is already at the right height but you have spacers on your handlebars, you can move the bars up the stem which will reduce the angle and pressure on your wrists. If this isn't possible, you can purchase a stem extender for a few $$ which can give you this flexibility to bring the bars up higher.
2) As some others have mentioned, changing the handlebars can change an entire bike. Look for something with a more swept back bend so you don't need to reach as far forward on your wrists.
3) Lowering your tire pressure (if it is high) can reduce the amount of vibration felt in the road and over bumps and take some of the impact off of your wrists area. This can be especially helpful if your bike already has wide-ish mountain bike tires on it.
4) In combination with the bars, ergonomic hand grips can go a long way towards helping alleviate hand/wrist pain. An ergonomic grip will let you rest your palms in an open posture on the grip rather than holding onto a round grip.
I set up my wife's rig with a short tall stem that reeled in the bars by quite a bit. Plus, I added extensions for more grip options. Now it's more of a cruiser and she says it's much more comfortable getting the weight off her arms. https://www.trekbicyclesuperstore.co...8aAgfDEALw_wcB
I'd use gloves and put some extra tape on the handle bars along with taking a brief break and shake/flex hand for circulation.
Personally I'd fit wide drop bars. Flat bars are no good for extended duration riding. (For reference I 've been seriously cycling for 45 years.) Flat bars on mountain bikes are fine for real serious off roading, but if you are riding mostly on the road, you either need pull-back bars (think english 3 speeds) or drop bars.
Same here. As mentioned, it's the sitting position and weight on your wrists. I don't know if they make an attachment bar that lets you it upright on a mountain bike, but short of getting a different style bike, that's the answer. Gloves and those little side upright bars did not help me at all. You need to get the weight off the wrists.
Or use handlebars designed to fit the human anatomy rather than styled. Like road racers do, who spend 10 and 12 hours in the saddle with far lower bar positions than any mountain-style bike being used to piddle around the neighborhood.
I don't think that the op cares. He hasn't been back since he first posted. Nevertheless, he has received very good advice, for someone who couldn't bother to reply.
Focus on your posture while driving. Only you know your posture, and take some time to think what is the reason for such numbness. May be you are exerting over stress to the nerve. Your distance isn't the problem, its your posture which should be corrected, and you can correct it by changing a bike or your position.
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