[dslfoolish]

it seems that every time i ride down a very rough descent that has a very harsh ride, my arms "jiggle" and shake around. This results in the skin on my arms turning very red and "itching." but its not like itching on the skin, its like itching and irritation inside my arm. I get this a lot. Im quite skinny and i dont have a lot of fat in my arms, so i dont think thats the problem.

hopefully im not the only one with this problem. its very annoying and definitely takes out of the fun of fast descents.

 

[Krause]

I use to have that too. I started working out my upper body a bit more and focusing on my forearms too (most people ignore them) Things like reverse preacher curl and even somethin as simple as connecting a weight to a stick (like a cut broom stick) on a 3 foot string and holding it out and "twisting" it up using your wrists/forearm.

Just having more muscle in that releativly hard to build up spot will hold everything more steady, same as building muscle around joints helps with any pain you get in the area.

 

[LyNx]

What type of bike do you ride - is it a rigid, hardtail or full squish? How new are you to MTBing? Sounds like you're getting a lot of vibration which is causing your nerve endings/muscles to react unfavourably - if you've only just started this is prob because your body isn't used to this yet. As suggested try doing some excercises to build your forearm strength and overall upper body and time will let your body get accustomed to the vibration.

Also check the bike over carefully to see if anything is loose, bent etc that might be causing the vibrations.

 

[dslfoolish]

i actually ride a FS Jamis Dakar XLT 1.0. It has a manitou minute 1:00 along with a swinger 3-way. I have a feeling the SPV is at fault for me getting rattled out of my skull. SPV really sucks for small-bump sensitivity (at least the SPV Evolves).

and yeah, i think it may be because im really skinny in the upper body. Perhaps if i bulked up a little bit it can hold on a bit better and not get so jarred up.

 

[BigRingBash]

just loosen your grip a bit on the handlebars, ride the bike more w/ your weight and feet(really hard to explain on a message board) too much weight up front, and tensing up a bit cause your muscles to feel as if you are holding on to a jackhammer. I used to get the same sensation when using a vertical power drill. Try to keep your body weight over the center of the bike and let the bike move under you forward or backward this weights the pedals instead of your arms. Cool stuff. Later bud, JC

 

[dslfoolish]

just loosen your grip a bit on the handlebars, ride the bike more w/ your weight and feet(really hard to explain on a message board) too much weight up front, and tensing up a bit cause your muscles to feel as if you are holding on to a jackhammer. I used to get the same sensation when using a vertical power drill. Try to keep your body weight over the center of the bike and let the bike move under you forward or backward this weights the pedals instead of your arms. Cool stuff. Later bud, JC

thanks for the advice. i actually do this. kind of shift almost all my weight onto my legs so that the handlebars are basically freely rattling and my hands are barely used-- only to keep them tracking straight.

thanks for all the great advice.

 

[LyNx]

If you're not death gripping the HB's (completely forgot about this and used to do it when I 1st started and had the same feeling) then I think it's a matter of building some muscle up. Try to go over in the Shock forum and see if anyone can offer tips on the SPV setup so it works a bit better.