Small hands and hoods

[quint41]

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!

[SadieKate]

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

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

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

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.

[Ninabike]

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

[extra-vert]

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.

[mimitabby]

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!!

[extra-vert]

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

[SadieKate]

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.

[mimitabby]

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

You can find them on line for about 70 bucks

[kmoty]

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

[funkymonkey]

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.