Handle Pain, Any Ideas?

There are a number of old threads about finger pain cause by handles…It’s a common problem. Try reading a few of these:

http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22223
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29046
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32606

The suggestions already given in this thread are good ones:
Your saddle is probably ok (Torker makes decent seats)
Wear a glove, give it some time and take things gently
If pain persists or gets worse, rest your hand and try different handles

I grip my handle like a vise for miles at a time. It is probably bad form, and I have paid for it with tendonitis. All the plastic handles - KH, Torker, Kinport - caused this problem because of their somewhat sharp lip and how hard I maintained my grip. I had to switch my preferred saddle hand from left to right about six months ago because I abused my left hand to the point that it took several months for the tendons in my fingers to heal. It got so bad I couldn’t even grip well enough to turn a doorknob.

The final solution for me and many others has been a Reeder handle. You can’t use them on a stock Torker saddle, though. They screw into Viscount saddles nicely because it has a metal base. Using a Reeder with a Torker, KH or Miyata saddle requires at minimum a stiffener plate, but the best way is to upgrade the seat base to carbon-fiber. This is not a cheap thing to do, and I’d call it a last resort.

I have also tried the Wallis Deathgrip handle, and found it to be quite comfortable. It too would be a good final solution, and I expect others would probably agree.