At first glance, you're on the right track with your thinking. When you say "adjusting the reach" are you moving the saddle forwards/backwards?

The comment you made that concerns me most is how you describe the fingers feeling tingly and numb throughout the day. Is that after a morning ride? Day after an evening ride? How long are these rides? If you have a day or two off, does it still persist?

---

Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Yea, adjusting the reach moving the saddle forward/backwards. As it sits right now the reach (nose to center or bars) is about 4 cm longer then it was with the arione (53.5 for the fizik, 57.5 with the specialized power).

I usually ride in the evening after work so the numbing/tingly has been persisting through the evening into the night and is still noticeable the next morning. My rides are usually 2-3 hrs during the week and longer in on the weekends. I took a day off this wed and it seemed to get better but after about 5 mins into my ride yesterday the symptoms returned.

if you have a properly situated saddle (which you now do it sounds like), you should also support a fair amount with your trunk. a slight bend in your elbows helps to facilitate this. cycling gloves, moving your hands around, etc can all help with a road fit and avoiding hand numbness.

You can tend to sit much farther forward on the specialized saddle than an Arione. The arione is quite a narrow saddle and even though it is quite a good saddle to nose ride on, most people sit quite far back when in cruise mode, which is what most of your riding seems to be.
The specialized flares out wide quite early on.
There is a significant difference, probably most of the length of the rail.
Move it back more.

But also investigate other fit issues as this may simply have been the straw that broke the back so to speak and that you need to address other fit requirements.
Even with very little weight on the arms if your shoulder and elbow angles are just in the wrong place for you, you can irritate nerves.

That's pressure on the ulnar nerve. The first time i got it i thought i had arthritis and got really panicked at it was numb and horribly painful for days. Not sure you have too much latitude with regards to moving your saddle back and forwards as you need it more or less correctly aligned so your legs are in the right place relative to your pedals. Strengthen your core, Wear padded gloves and maybe raise your bars by a spacer width (forget being slammed).

Ding, ding, ding. The ulnar nerve passes through your wrist just on the pinky side of the crease in the middle of your wrist. I've had this exact issue for 20 years---not just in cycling, but many facets of life affect my left ulnar nerve and left pinky/wring finger numbness.

The "hoods" position while resting on your palms is particular bad. Its perfect for putting most of the pressure directly on your ulnar nerve.

1. Gloves---get gloves that are designed to protect the ulnar nerve. Thick gel padding around the wrist, and strategically placed pressure reliefs. I use the Specialized Body Geometry Gel gloves.
2. Adjust your hand position on the hoods/drops. Instead of resting on your entire palm on the bar (esp. that crease mid-palm), think more about hooking your thumb over the bar. This will put more of the pressure on your thumb pad, and keep it off the ulnar nerve.
3. Change hand positions frequently: hoods with thumbs hooked, hoods on palms, tops, drops...rotate palms around to alleviate pressure. Put clip-ons on your road bike and ride aero sometimes. Anything to avoid constant pressure on your ulnar (or any other) nerve.

If you concentrate on keeping your wrist more in line with your forearm (rather than flexed), then it is very hard to put significant pressure on your ulnar (or median) nerve. It takes some getting used to, but in the end..its better than permanent nerve damage.

Raising the bars MAY help, it didn't do anything for me, though. I've gone back to a reasonably aggressive road position, and have zero nerve issues following the above guidelines.

Interesting. I have the same issue when I use a flat bar. Tried a few bars, raising the stem, grandma grips but it still persists.
I think I'd like drop bars on my mountain bike.

As others have pointed out, your numbness is related to the ulnar nerve. But, the change in this numbness needs to be addressed at the saddle because that's what's different - cure the disease rather than treat the symptoms by changing things at the hands. Because saddles differ so much as to where you sit on them, a saddle change is not an easy translation. While we tend to think and measure in terms of saddle height, fore/aft position, and tilt, those measurements are really just a proxy of pelvic position in space, relative to the feet and hands. So, the net result here for you is that your pelvis isn't in the same place in space as it was before. Trying to correlate that by using the distance from the tip to handlebars is a good effort, but only a reflection of part of the equation.

Anyway, enough babbling. Let's talk a potential solution - here are a couple of things to try:
1. Move the saddle back a bit - maybe 5mm or so to start, which can help cantilever your upper body's weight a bit better and reduce weight on the hands. You might want to measure the two saddles and find where the saddle is 75mm wide, and measure that to the handlebars (and to the bottom bracket, potentially). That might be a bit better indicator of your cockpit distance and if you're close to where you were before.

2. Nudge the nose up a bit - if you have a digital level (or phone app) and a seat post that allows it, tilt your saddle nose up maybe 2-3 tenths of a degree. You're looking for the magic place where you get good pelvic rotation, sit bone support, and a lack of genital/perineum pressure. Sometimes, that's a fairly small window.

---

Travis Rassat
Vector Cycle Works
Noblesville, IN
BikeFit Instructor | FMS | F.I.S.T. | IBFI
Toughman Triathlon Series Ambassador

Awesome. Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

I pushed back the saddle a little and tilted the nose up slightly. Did a short trainer ride and it seemed better. I have a few long rides planned this weekend so we'll see how i feel after that.