Hi everyone! After waiting a couple of weeks for my new bike (Surly Long Haul Trucker), I picked it up today only to discover that I am pretty much unable to shift from the middle chainring to the big chainring. It has Ultegra brifters instead of the bar end shifters that the Long Haul Trucker usually comes with. I have no problem with shifting the cassette with my right hand, but I simply cannot shift into the biggest ring with my left hand consistently (I managed to do it a couple of times, but can't do it all of the time). The shop tried a bunch of adjustments, to no avail. My left hand is sore and a bit raw from me trying to shift. The shop told me to keep trying with the bike to see if things loosened up at all, and I still couldn't shift, they'll put bar end shifters on. There is a shim in shifter so that I can reach the brake, and one of the guys at the shop thought that it was making it harder to shift.

Has anyone had this problem before and if so, what was the fix? I have very small hands, and I'm wondering if they're simply too small to use these types of shifters and if I should use bar end shifters instead. I'm terribly disappointed -- I was so looking forward to my new bike, but instead I'm feeling too feeble to ride it!

Any ideas are greatly appreciated!