Edinburgh Napier University

  Although the overall benefits of cycling to health and wellbeing are well understood, the prevalence of several painful and debilitating injuries of the wrist, including ulnar neuropathy and carpal tunnel syndrome is relatively high amongst cyclists. Traditional grips allow the wrist to collapse down and out (extension and radial deviation), which places more load on the outer parts of the hand and more strain on connective tissues in the wrist while existing ergonomic grips increase load bearing surface in a single direction and do not fully eliminate extension and radial deviation.

The aim of this project is to develop a novel anatomically informed bicycle grip with the potential to reduce wrist injury/fatigue and improve comfort among cyclists by distributing load more evenly and reducing pressure. It is important to consider the extent of postural changes beyond the wrist (elbows/shoulders) which may result from using a non-cylindrical grip to inform the final design. The proposed protocol will employ a mixed-methods design to examine both the biomechanical and physical adaptations occurring from the use of a non-cylindrical grip and the effect on user comfort and perceived fatigue.