Anybody else experience wrist pain from pulling up/lifting up on the front handle? The pain is localized on the top of my left wrist (my lifting hand) at the soft tendon area right where the wrist bends. I can’t account for this pain except for the regular routine lifting/pulling up motion on the front handle. It’s manageable, but the pain persists long after riding and pretty much remains constant now. 
no one i know suffers wrist pains. try taking a break for a day or 2. possibly iceing it.
I had that for a while… I basically just did what torker said…i took a break and used R.I.C.E Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. It went away and ive never really had a problem with it since…But ive still got young growing bones…I assume yours are probly done growing back quickly. Just take it easy for a few days and use R.I.C.E.
Good advice you guys! Thanks.
Look at how your hand and forearm are aligned when you grip your handle. When your hand is in line with your forearm (i.e. your wrist is “straight”) you put the least amount of stress on your wrist. Conversely, if your wrist is bent when you make your grip you will be loading some tendons more than others when you pull on the handle.
Take a look at how you grab your handle. Where does the tip of the handle make contact with your hand? At the base of your fingers? At the “heart line” on your hand? A different grip will lead to a different alignment, so experiment and find out what works best for your body and your seat setup.
Also take a look at how much and when you use your handle. Obviously, if you pull hard on your handle when you’re pushing down with your feet, you’re increasing the load on your wrist. You only need to pull a little to increase traction. You may want to pull harder when the going gets bumpy, but you can ease the load on your wrist by putting more of your body weight on the seat.
I think you’re really on to something with wrist alignment! I think also if I wear at least my left wrist guard it will help me keep it in line as it kinda acts like a “splint”.
I believe wrist pain was one of the reasons that Scott came up with the Death Grip. Some of the younger guys gotta remember that us older folks have less tolerence to body stresses than we used to be. Scotts handle allows the hand/wrist to be in a much more natural position. You’d probabaly benefit from that kind of setup in the long run.
[Threadjack] Trapper, would a reeder do that same thing?[/threadjack]
Well, yes actually, but not from pulling up on the seat. After a long ride, I find my forearm muscles are sore, so it hurts to bend my wrist. However, this happens in the hand that’s NOT on the handle, but is waving in the air.
As far as I can tell, this is because as I wave my hand and balance, I really tense all of my arm muscles and don’t realize it.
So, I’d suggest easing up on your grip as well, that might help.
I can say with 100% certainty that it does, albeit with less asthetic flair. Not really a threadjack - same general topic.
I’ve never tried a Reeder so I couldn’t comment on one past the observation that a Reeder appears to be steel tube stock welded together and that Scott’s handle is ergonomically formed carbon fiber. My V-Grip has the Deathgrip design integrated into it (Both are Scott’s products) and it feels so natural when you use it. Very nice.
I now have a very early Wallis saddle on my 26" (a few design changes ago). I switched directly from the rail adapter/CF base/Reeder setup that I’ve had for about four years. The Death Grip made a huge improvement for me by lowering wrist stress, not to mention losing almost a full pound from my saddle. I went right into blister stress, which was easily solved with full-finger gloves.
terrybigwheel your problem is from hopping and generally pulling on the handle, and is partly due to your handle ergonomics and partly because (I believe) you are fairly new at this, so your pulling is probably usually overkill and mistimed. Like the wise ones above said, back off on the pulling stuff and practice other things for a while, and do the RICE thing. Then when you resume, pay attention to how hard you pull and try to back off and get the same result. Remember that hopping is mostly legs, and try to get the timing better between your legs and upper body so that you’re not pulling against your own leg presses, but just to lift the uni.
just relax terry. I’ve never had wrist pain from unicycling aside from impact from falling. But when i started riding bike trials i had it pretty bad, untill someone tols me that it is common to have wristpain when you are new and giving the handle that “white knuckle” grip. you only have to squeese so much to have a grip, try to identify when you are overdoing it, and relax.
The chris reeder handle is a great design. Though it is not formed to fit a hand, the angle is perfect.
Yeah I’ve been thinking of getting a reeder, abd probably will. What is a little strange is that I’ve been riding muni now for alomost 7 months, but it’s only been maybe the last one month or so that I’ve had this pain. I don’t think I’ve changes my technique or routine, but then again, maybe I have; I know that Ihave been pushing myself more. Thanks for the advice all!
I’m thinking something else maybe stressing your wrist, an overuse injury. Maybe you need a girlfriend!!!
I figured that sooner or later someone would make that joke! (I just didn’t expect it from a senior citizen! HA! ) (Besides, I use my right hand for that! 
)
Oh boy…To much info Terry.
Hey, jrdugueod started it! Besides, I just meant that I used my right hand for tire-grabs!
stop passing off the blame…