Quote Originally Posted by Ana View Post
I had 105 on my last bicycle and the shifters were quite large. Although I could brake in the drops, it hadn't even occurred to me that I might be able to brake in the hoods since it was so inconceivable based on the size of the shifters versus my hands. Basically, I did not realize how unsafe it was until I switched over to Campy, whose shifters are much smaller and fit my hands very well!

I am 5'3.5" with short arms/small hands and your situation seems quite normal to me from my experience
Ditto on this...I am small with small hands, plus I have broken both hands and all my fingers at least once (my left hand has fared worse, the ring finger on that one has been broken three times). I have ridden Shimano 105, Tiagra, Ultegra, Dura Ace, and now am riding Campy Chorus. The Campy Chorus is by far the easiest for braking and shifting, particularly on the left side.

Also, I played a lot with my handlebars. I now have Specialized WS on there, it makes a huge difference. I also, being small, insisted on 38" bars, despite EVERY bike shop eyeballing me, telling me a 40" would work, until they actually measured me and they all said, "Why you ARE small, aren't you!"