Salsa Short and Shallow bars question

[anakiwa]

Hi everyone-

I'm in the process of ordering a new bike. I have small hands and was considering the Short and Shallow bars (with short reach STI shifters). However, my bike fitter said that sometimes it's hard to brake from the drops with the Short and Shallow bars. Anyone have any experience with this? Other suggestions for reasonably priced short reach bars (that come in a size 38)?

Thanks

[Kathi]

I have very small hands and love the Modolo Venus bar, which starts at at a 34 cm. It's very easy to reach the brake levers. Another bar is the 3T Eva. I have no experience with it as it doesn't come small enough for me. I believe it starts at a 38 cm.

I looked at the Salsa Poco and agree that the reach to the levers isn't very good for small hands.

[RoadRaven]

I have a lovely new bike... the EMC2 Femetape... and it has the sweetest bars and shifters... designed for women, the whole bike is a dream.

But the handlebars are a dream... narrower, angled slightly differently, and short reach levers...

See if you can get Eric McKenzie's bars... the women specific EMC2 is (at the risk of repeating myself) a dream

[Bad JuJu]

My relatively new Bianchi Veloce has a "Deda 4 Girls" handlebar (I swear--that's what's printed on the bar itself!), and it's extremely comfortable and small-hand-friendly. I have no idea what size it is, but it's just right 4 me.

And BTW, that's one adorable chocolate-covered lab in your avatar.

[Kathi]

My relatively new Bianchi Veloce has a "Deda 4 Girls" handlebar (I swear--that's what's printed on the bar itself!), and it's extremely comfortable and small-hand-friendly. I have no idea what size it is, but it's just right 4 me.

And BTW, that's one adorable chocolate-covered lab in your avatar.

The Deda 4girls are not good for tiny hands, trust me, I used them on my old bike for 4 years and it was a struggle to reach the brake levers. I did like them but the Modolo Venus gives me a better reach to the brake levers.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have Short n Shallow bars on my bike and have no problem with them. I farily small, but I think my span may be longer than most petite women's spans. Compared to most women my size I would think my fingers may be longer (this is judging by my past life of drilling bowling balls).

How small are your hands? I don't have any problems, but I may not be a good source on this!

[anakiwa]

And BTW, that's one adorable chocolate-covered lab in your avatar.

Most of the time she is- looks like you've got an equally adorable one yourself

My hands are small, but not tiny (size 6 1/2 if you're familiar with surgical gloves- when buying regular gloves I'm XS or S unisex and S or M womens). The bars on my current Trek (some kind of Bontrager bars probably) with regular STI shifters is definitely a stretch. I originally couldn't do anything from the drops- then someone repositioned the shifters and put some shims in. It's much better, but I still can't always shift from the drops.

Amanda- do you brake/shift regularly from the drops? How big are your hands?

[anakiwa]

I looked at the Salsa Poco and agree that the reach to the levers isn't very good for small hands.

Did you try them with short-reach shifters or regular ones?

[btchance]

I had Salsa Bars put on my bike (can't remember if they are the Short and Shallow or Poco bars, I think Poco). I wear size 6 surgical gloves and have had no problems reaching the brakes from the drops. I can even shift in the rear while in the drops.

Ohh, and I kept the shifters that came with my Fuji Finest 1.0.

[Aggie_Ama]

I am not sure what size 6 surgical gloves are- I pulled out the tape measure!


From tip of middle finger to base of palm is 6.5" and from the thumb to the base of palm is a little over 5.5".

I do shift from the drops occassionally. I brake more from the drops though. I have Shimano Sora shifters, which have the thumb shifters on the hoods. They are different from 105/Ultegra/Dura Ace. That may also be a difference for me.

Do they have the Salsa bars in stock to try? I love the ergo bump on them is the only reason I will really miss them when I get a new bike.

[btchance]

Basically size 6 surgical gloves means pretty small. The smallest I've seen is 5 1/2. But on the measuring tape, from middle finger to palm is 6.5", from thumb to palm is 4.5"

My LBS had to order them for me. Took less than a week to get it done.

[anakiwa]

[QUOTE=Aggie_Ama;153409]From tip of middle finger to base of palm is 6.5" and from the thumb to the base of palm is a little over 5.5".

QUOTE]

What do you mean by thumb to base of palm?

From the tip of my middle finger to the base of my palm is 6 3/4", but my thumb seems to be considerably shorter than 5.5"

I'm going to go in to the shop this week, I think they'll have a model I can try, but I'm not sure that it will have shifters attached.

[Kathi]

I use Campy Record brifters and no shims are available for them, so getting handlebars that were designed for better reach to the levers was my only solution. My LBS wanted me to go with Shimano so I they could use the shims but shimano brifters feel so awkward and big in my hands. I don't know what I would have done if someone on another forum hadn't recommended the Modolo's.

My middle finger from tip to palm measures 6". My thumb measures 4".

Anikiwa I'm not sure which levers the LBS used, they were put on the Serotta size cycle that was used to fit me for my custom frame.

The other reason that I went with the Venus is size. I need a 34cm width handlebar and the Venus is the was the only one that I know of that came that small.