Women's Brakes/Shifters?

Rode my Mukluk 10 miles today as it's the longest trip I've done with him and realized the brake levers are too far away from the bar and once your hands get sweaty the grip shifts are really hard to twist. Any ideas? I do have gloves but didn't think to use them.

Brakes are the biggest concern since the reach is hard. Since my Mamba is at the LBS I can't see what brake levers are used. Mamba has SRAM BB5 and the Mukluk has Avid BB5 disc brakes. Mukluk has Tektro CL530 brake levers but I don't see what levers are for the Mamba on the Trek site.

Any ideas?

It is very common these days that (cable actuated) brake levers are adjustable. All it takes is one adjustment screw to move the "released" position closer to the handle bars.

Although the owner's manual doesn't mention it, that's normally what the little pin just outboard of the clamp does. Duh, I can't remember what that part is called :o but it's like a little threaded rod with an Allen head (2.5 mm??). Can't hurt to try it, just count the turns, and if it doesn't do what you want, take it back to its original position. :)

Picture here (Flash, so I don't know how to embed it)

You may need to readjust your brake cable after adjusting the lever position.

Disc brakes, both hydraulic and mechanical, can also have the reach adjusted. (that's what it is called) There are little allen screws on the inside. This is a critical and often overlooked element of correct bike set up. Sometimes repositioning the brake levers closer in can really help, as can the proper angle. So there are three potential adjustments you can do, really. I've done this on all my mountain bikes... disc brakes, center pull and side pull.

Useful tutorial, although it could use photos:
http://www.mtbtips.com/mountain-bike...etup-position/


Here's the screw for adjusting the reach.
http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/...0e1-670-70.jpg


Great photo of correct hand angle on the brakes. Note the "one finger" set up... this is how disc brakes should be set up ( not for grabbing a handful)
http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/...0zs-670-75.jpg

Brake position shifted closer to center of bar
http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/...usm-670-75.jpg
another tutorial for setting up the whole cockpit with photos...
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/articl...in-bike-20662/

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Originally Posted by Bethany1

I do have gloves but didn't think to use them.
Any ideas?

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My levers are adjustable and maybe so are yours.
But why don't you wear gloves? The ones with long fingers are comfortable even in summer. You don't feel the sweat and also they protect your hands in case of an accident. Your instinct is to put your hands in front of your body to protect it so the most common injury are the hands. Put your gloves on and you'll get used to them quickly. Also if I don't wear quality gloves, I get blisters from the grips.

All bike brake levers are adjustable. If you aren't sure about it, just have your local shop guy help you.

And double ditto on gloves. I can't think of riding without them. They also protect from general abrasions ( tree bark etc)

Great posts on adjusting brake levers.

I have yet to find a pair of gloves I like and I have been riding for 30 years. So am going to move myself to gear and accessories and see what everyone has to say. Maybe I should look at full fingered as the short ones always seem to cut off my circulation and if they are to big they bunch up in the palm...

Maybe try men's gloves? I can't wear men's gloves at all, but if women's gloves give you trouble, maybe your hands are shaped more like a typical man's.

The one-finger braking comment shouldn't be overlooked. When adjusting the reach on brake levers, it is much easier to achieve a comfortable reach for one finger than it is to try to get the reach in close enough for two or three fingers to grab.

I bit the bullet and set my brakes up for one finger (including moving the brakes toward the inside of the handlebar to allign the "hook" of the brake lever with my pointer finger). Set up this way, my middle finger would just grab air if I tried to use it to brake unless I moved my whole hand over. It took less than a day to get used to one finger braking. With disc brakes, there is no need for more than a single finger to apply as much stopping power as we could possibly need.

One-finger braking was one of the first things we were taught at the Midwest Women's Mountain Bike Clinic. The drill wasn't just that we use one finger while braking, but that we keep that one finger resting lightly on the brakes at all times. DH laughed at me a bit on our recent three-day mountain bike tour because he said he never saw me without one finger on my brake levers during the course of about 21 hours of riding.

The only thing about braking with less than your full hand is that you need to be VERY sure the cable is set so that that the lever will never, ever, ever come to the bar, no matter how hard you squeeze or what you land on. People have lost fingers that way.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation still insists on full-hand braking, even though you have a LOT more throttle control if you brake only with two, and even though it's really a non-issue with hydraulic brakes. But I'd be a lot more nervous about it with a cable actuated brake, and when you don't have a throttle you need to control, I don't see a lot of reason not to brake with all four.

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when you don't have a throttle you need to control, I don't see a lot of reason not to brake with all four.

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Reason: Steering control. The more fingers you have still on the handlebar, the more control you have over the steering of that handlebar.

I can not imagine riding trails with multiple fingers hovering over my brakes while only my pinky, or 2 fingers are wrapped around the handlebar. On a long tricky decent I noticed a marked decrease in hand fatigue when I changed to 1 finger braking (from 2), allowing all of my other fingers to remain on the grips.

With a motorcycle, you are not (I guess) negatively impacted by stearing by simply pressing on the handlebars. In MTB, I find the need to finess them, pull them toward me, push them away from me, etc frequently. I can't do that if I don't have fingers on the grips.

To raise my front wheel, for example, I press hard on the pedal while pulling toward me with the bars and leaning back. Imagine taking a long stick between your hands and breaking it with your foot. I don't imagine I could do that with all my fingers hovering over the brake lever. In fact, that would likely result in a very abrupt and unplanned stop!

This might be one of those cases where motorcycle techniques don't carry over very well. I've never ridden a motorcycle though, so I could be wrong.

Also, with a MTB set up properly for 1 finger braking, even if the lever DID come all the way to the handlebar, it would not catch my other fingers becuase it would be too far to the inside.

Using a full hand to brake on an MTB, especially one with disc brakes, is a good way to grab too much brake in a panic and fly over the handlebars. I agree that you have to set the brake levers up properly to allow for it though.

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This might be one of those cases where motorcycle techniques don't carry over very well. I've never ridden a motorcycle though, so I could be wrong.

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I don't know anything about dirt bikes, but teaching one finger braking is much the standard with any professional mountain coaching/training in the US and Canada. (that I have been exposed to) What I was told is that with MTB disc brakes you don't need more than one finger for control. My suspicion is that is has to do with not overpowering your discs. You are much less likely to endo braking with one finger than with a handful.