Small hands and hoods

Thank you all for making it possible to ask a question from my base of complete ignorance. Please forgive me if I’ve missed it, but I’ve searched all of the threads without finding an answer that seems to fit. I’m 57 and coming back to a bike after 25 years. I’ve just bought a Trek 45-cm 1000C WSD, fitted by a well-respected LBS guy. He says he’s flummoxed by my problem, but realizes he’s probably had more than one bike returned by a woman (especially) in the same situation.

I have small hands (6.5 in. wrist to end of middle finger, 5.5 in. tip of outstretched thumb to outer hand edge, if that’s important), but not particularly weak ones. Although I can brake, I can’t reach around the hood to grip the brake lever firmly, and I can’t easily shift gears (which requires an inward push with my middle finger on the brake lever). It’s as if the hood itself is just too big around for my hand. The LBS fitter says he can see the problem—I have to turn my whole wrist out to shift. The combination makes my hands hurt even riding around the parking lot. I can imagine what it would feel like after a couple of hours. The LBS suggests switching out the dropped handlebar to a flat bar to change the shift mechanism. This will obviously limit my position options and probably efficiency. I’m not a snob about the look of the thing.

It just doesn’t seem like the width of the handle bars, and the bike itself seems the right size. Has anyone else had to cope with this? How did you deal with it? Is it really the hood, and if so is there a small or WSD solution? Or is it my inexperience, and would stretching exercises (for which thanks to the forum) help? Thanks for any help you can provide.

kmoty...i do have a suggestion but because i am such a dunce i do not know the make & model of my bars & brakes which are WSD and for small hands :p

i have an e-mail out to my personal mechanic (my fiancee) to retrieve the info and i will pass it on as soon as i get it... ;)

Thanks. I'll look forward to hearing more.

Karen

Shimano Ultegra for small hands shifters
handle bars Cinelli.. but there are lots of small ones out there.

I was fitted before i even decided which bike to get...the lbs owner is VERY knowledgable (his #1 employee's wife is tiny) *besides...this is the 4th high-end bike my fiancee has purchased from him!!!! i would hope you LBS could order small parts for you...it is sooooo important for your bike to fit you!!!! if you need more info i will be happy to add to this tonight when i can actually look at the components and give you model #"s

I'm sure the LBS can order small parts and adapt them, just might need some direction. The owner's wife is past her due date, and I know he wasn't completely focused (as he acknowledged). Thanks once more.

Karen

I have Shimano on my mountain bike and LOVE it!

I have tiny hands. Nothing worked well when it came to Shimano for me, and I was not about to put a straight bar on my road bike... :eek:

I am a total Campagnolo girl... it is worth the extra $$$ to have the ability to grab my brakes with my hands firmly gripping the bar...

There is another difference in the comfort factor. If you examine both shifters closely, you'll find that the pivot point for the braking mechanism is mounted closer to where the cable is pulled on the Campagnolo. This means that when you are braking from the top of the hoods, it requires less leverage. I consider this a comfort issue because in the Northwest, if you're not climbing, you're braking. The leverage advantage to the Campagnolo means less work for your hands, so it's more comfortable.

The last thing that I would say about comfort is to compare the front shifting of each make. The Shimano requires that the brake lever be pushed sideways a considerable amount before the shift is made. The Campagnolo can be pushed a few clicks, then returned to resting, and then a few more to make a shift. This becomes a comfort issue if you have smaller hands than the average male that the shifters were all designed for. For people with smaller hands or shorter fingers, the Campagnolo is usually the preferred choice.

I just measured my hands and they are nearly the same size as yours.

I use the Shimano short reach levers and have the itty bitty handlebars and have never had an issue.

That being said, my buddy Steph who is itty bitty-er than me uses Campy.

So I think you could go either way...hopefully you'd be able to try both and compare them.

Thanks. I'm collecting this useful input and will take it to the LBS for a conversation. I'm also learning how the forum apps work, so ask forgiveness if I get it wrong. No need to reply (NNTR for me).

Karen

I agree with the Campy fans. I have ridden both, and I'm so much more comfortable with Campy. The hoods seem to be shaped more for my hands, and are much easier to ride for long distances.

Another Campy girl here!

I don't care if the LBS guys joke about my "crazy italian" components-shimano isn't comfortable for my hands.

Another ditto for Campy. I have very small, and weak, hands. I can't even grip the hoods of my hubby's Shimano levers but my Campys are a snap. Just got a new bike with Campy because I liked my old ones so much.

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Originally Posted by kmoty

Thanks. I'm collecting this useful input and will take it to the LBS for a conversation. I'm also learning how the forum apps work, so ask forgiveness if I get it wrong. No need to reply (NNTR for me).

Karen

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no apologies hun - we were all new here once!! as for taking the info to your LBS - just be sure you tell them it came from the ladies on the TE board! THAT should score big bonus points for you!! ;)


I'm JUST KIDDING!!! we have this running joke about some of us going into our LBS and telling them "well on the board......." and having them roll their eyes!! :D

My hands are a bit smaller than yours. Of all the bikes I've tried, my Campy shifters have been the only ones that fit me, though I did not get to try Shimano for little hands.

My hands aren't exceptionally small for a woman (size 7 gloves), but I definitely prefer Campy Ergopower shifting to Shimano STI. Bar-ends are also nice for those with small hands. With those, size doesn't matter. :cool: However, there's still the braking issue there.

But, if you have a Shimano bike, the Campy option would be way too pricy - I'd just try to find the Ultegra short-reach levers as others have suggested.

Good luck!

Emily

Thanks to everyone for the good advice. After trying the Shimano short-reach and the Campagnolo levers I ordered the Campagnolos. Sort of like fitting a Volkswagon beetle with a Ferrari engine, I suppose, but there was no comparison for comfort and consequent safety. For anyone else faced with this problem, in order to retrofit the Campagnolo to a Trek bike, you need to change out the rear gears from 8 to 9- or 10-speed, and that might require additional parts changes (e.g. the rear wheel). My LBS will do the best they can to keep the cost down and think it will be $225-$250 if they don’t have to change out the wheel (remembering I have a 45-cm bike).

Karen

KMoty, I posted a few days ago with the same complaints on the Shimano STI shifters. My hands are a tiny bit smaller than yours. I have had a hell of a time trying to shift the front rings on every bike I have tested. I've been to four shops now, and they all claim to have never run into a woman with this problem before -- like I'm a freak of nature! They tell me I'll get used to the shifters! Like I'm going to spend $1000 on a bike that I can't shift?

My biggest problem at this point is that I would LOVE to test the Campies, but have not found a single bike at any of my LBS with Campy components. Why do the manufacturers insist on using Shimano? It's crazy! We have to let the manufacturers know that we have this problem and they must attend to it!

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Originally Posted by kmoty

Thanks to everyone for the good advice. After trying the Shimano short-reach and the Campagnolo levers I ordered the Campagnolos. Sort of like fitting a Volkswagon beetle with a Ferrari engine, I suppose, but there was no comparison for comfort and consequent safety. For anyone else faced with this problem, in order to retrofit the Campagnolo to a Trek bike, you need to change out the rear gears from 8 to 9- or 10-speed, and that might require additional parts changes (e.g. the rear wheel). My LBS will do the best they can to keep the cost down and think it will be $225-$250 if they don’t have to change out the wheel (remembering I have a 45-cm bike).

Karen

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I know this post is old but for anyone thinking of doing the same thing, just get a jtek shiftmate. Works very well for mating Campy shifters to a Shimano drivetrain. Hence, my Italian Sushi bike or as Maillotpois calls it "Sushi with Marinara."

http://www.jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm

Kmoty, I have exactly the same size hands as you. I too have a bit of a problem reaching around the hoods to brake firmly, but I have gotten way better at it over the past month. My hands have gotten stronger for the purpose. Luckily, I have bar-end shifters so the shifting is not an issue for me.
What I do want to say is that YES, stretching and exercising your hands will over time give you much more hand strength AND will even give you a slightly longer reach around.
How do I know this? I play the banjo. When I took it up years ago, making the chord stretches with my reach was REALLY difficult, and I could barely hold the strings down while stretching in order to fret clear notes. My hands would shake at the effort. Experienced players told me to wait and practice. And sure enough, after some months of practice my hands became much stronger and my reach became noticably longer! In fact, now when I stretch out my two hands palms together, my left hand can stretch out from pinky to thumb about a half inch longer than my right hand now, becasue my left hand is the one always stretching on the banjo neck to frets notes. :)
Another example is my husband who is a fiddler and at one time had to have his left thumb re-attached after a bad tablesaw accident. Aside from losing function in 2 fingers, his reach was severely limited as well. Years later, I bought him a different fiddle as a gift. At first he said he would never be able to play it, because the fiddle he was comfortable with had a shorter and more slender neck- he told me he would never be able to make the reaches on the new regular fiddle. I said just try it for a month. Well, his hand slowly stretched and adapted, even despite the old scarred areas and frozen joints, and he now plays that regular sized fiddle.

But aside from these issues, I don't think you should be in actual bad PAIN when shifting or braking! If you can make "some" bike changes, then perhaps your hands will stretch and get stronger to make up the difference leftover.

Lisa - interesting that you should mention playing the banjo and stretching your left hand. I have experienced the same thing playing the guitar. I have always struggled with the fact that I have small hands and over the years have tried so many different neck sizes and shapes and been through multiple guitars. My left hand stretches a full inch wider than my right!! I don't think my right hand will ever be too much stronger because I now have a bone spur at the base of my right thumb which isn't too bad when playing the guitar, but is a problem with braking and shifting on the bike. I have Campy, so that helps. I always use full fingered gloves so I can protect my hands. That also seems to help with grabbing the brakes.

Happy riding and playing!!
Nina

Are we talking road or mountain bike shifters here? My sis in law (sil) got a roadbike with 105 or tiagra (lower end shimano shifters where the gear changer is on the inside and it's very uncomfortable for her. I got the ultegras on mine and she immediately commented that that was much more comfortable for her. Then of course, i ride salsa 'paco' bars (short and shallow style bar. You should perhaps find out if a switch to a higher end shimano brake lever (ultegra or dura ace) would do the trick. This would probably, then, not require the other change outs you talked about. Just a thought, if it applies.:)

I might as well "cross" post here.
I just got Eva bars. they did the trick I can now get a firm purchase on my brakes. It didn't take much... I already had the salsa poco bars too, but they weren't enough/right..
It's so nice to be able to grip my brakes without pain!!

Eva bars - yeah I wondered about those. I'll have to mention them to my sil. Are they expensive?

Eztra-vert, Campy hoods are much narrower side to side than Shimano. There is a big difference in the shape where shim and a short bar wouldn't help, plus the push on the lever of Ultegra is, I think, stiffer.

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Originally Posted by extra-vert

Eva bars - yeah I wondered about those. I'll have to mention them to my sil. Are they expensive?

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You can find them on line for about 70 bucks

Sorry, I've been out of the loop here for a long time. Just a reassurance, many bike shops apparently treat all women as though we're freaks of nature -- we're not of course, we're just not configured like men (don't go there). My bike shop seemed to take it as a challenge and to learn a lot on my challenges; they now carry and suggest more options for smaller women. As long as your bike guys, and yes, they're usually guys, are civilized and sentient keep working with them. If they're not, try to find another shop.

K

Another cheap (which I liked) option you could try is putting shims in your brakes. The shims go in the top, and so the entire lever is brought closer to you (does that make sense???) making braking and shifting easier. Just make sure the brakes get adjusted properly after that. My LBS did it for me for free, and it solved the problem.