Being new to cycling, the only componentry I have had extended experience with are SRAM Rival that came on my road bike. Well...my cx bike came with a Ultegra/105 mix. The brifters are 105...and they just seem so big!!! I feel like my hands can't get low enough on the brake levers to squeeze them right.
Are the other Shimano brifters the same size? Will I have to switch derailleurs and brifters over to SRAM?
Any other small handed people?
btw...
it's not so much the shifting...it's reaching for and pulling the brake levers from the hoods. very very far reach for my small hands compared to sram rival...
might have the convert the bike over to sram...sigh...
Specialized makes a rubber shim for Shimano brifters. I have used them on both Ultegra and Dura Ace brifters and both work very well making a significant difference for my small hands. I had to order the Dura Ace shims direct from Specialized but most Specialized dealers tend to have the 105/Ultegra shims on hand. This may be a quick and inexpensive way to fix the problem.
Celery, you should read the recent threads all about this that Elk has been starting.
As others have noted, you can easily shim the shimano brakes, either by buying the shim they sell or by inserting something in the hole created when you depress the brake levers (such as a piece of felt- floor protectors for furniture work well and have adhesive to make them stick).
Also, you can switch your bars to smaller reach bars. I have elf bars which have about a 2 cm shorter reach than my previous salsa poco and deda bars. Smaller reach to the bars means you can reach a little more for the brakes.
Another factor-- shimano brakes have quite a lot of resistance. I now use sram brakes and find them easier to depress. Rival 2009 will also have an adjustable reach (when available) and Red already has that feature.