Small hands and STI Levers

[dsmcleod]

I've been coaching the women's cycling team for a couple of years at the University of Kansas and have come up against a mechanical issue that I'd like your input on. My wife, and some of my riders have "small" hands (in comparison to their male counterparts) and find it difficult to use Shimano levers. They find that they just cannot reach the levers when on the hoods or in the drops (even with the available shims for groups like Tiagra).

What recommendations do you have for female-friendly shifters? What solutions have you come up with if you've faced this problem yourself (or with teammates)?

Thanks

DMc

[bounceswoosh]

Are the shims the same as the "Shimano 105 STI, 10 speed w/Bontrager FIT reach adjust" stuff my Madone 4.5 WSD has?

For my mountain bike, I chose SRAM shifters because, unlike the Shimano stuff, they were unattached to the brake levers, so I could wiggle things around and give myself better reach via angles. Guess that doesn't help for road bikes, though =/ I think I heard that SRAM is getting into the road bike business, so maybe that's something to look at.

[Eden]

I personally think that some of it is just becoming comfortable using STI levers and drop handlebars. Almost all of our new riders large and small are uncomfortable riding in the drops at first and many complain that they feel like they can't reach the brakes.

I'm small, only 5ft even, and I have small hands and feet. I have standard unaltered Shimano DA levers on my race bike, with non-ergo handlbars (I tried them once and did not like them). I've never felt that I have any problems braking or shifting. I've also been riding for over 20 years, long before anything was made for us smaller folks, so I've become comfortable in this. I have a set of Tiagra short reach levers on my cross bike, and to tell the truth I don't really feel the difference, maybe I can get a tiny bit more of my pinky around them, but I don't brake with my pinky.

I also know from long experience, how I like my handlebars positioned and where I like my levers mounted on the bars - I think that lever position can make a big difference in comfort. When I picked up one bike, the shop had the bars tilted quite far up, I think to give a more upright "comfort" position, and to put the hoods high and angled up. I've seen many bikes come set up this way and I thought it was awful. It was a chore to ride in the drops that way - felt like I was always sliding down. I like my bars and hoods pretty close to level.

[dex]

My small hands and stubby fingers are very, very happy with the Shimano R700 levers. I had definite reach problems with the Tiagra that came on my bike--I could only brake from the hoods, and even then I was stretching my fingers to get far enough down the lever to pull them in. Since making the switch, I can reach the levers with ease the hoods or the drops.

It can be a pricey switch, since they usual retail for ~$350, but I found mine on eBay last year for way less.

[VeloVT]

Shimano makes a short-reach shifter, the ST-R700:

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/cont...e-st_road.html

These came stock on my Scott Contessa CR1 Pro. Although I had standard Ultegra shifters before and did not have a problem with reach (I don't have super-small hands), I have nonetheless found the short reach shifters more comfortable than standard shifters.

[ehirsch83]

SRAM!!!!!!!!

I used to have the hardest time with Shimano. I rode on Ultegra and I could not, for the life of me, get from the small to the big ring and vice versa. I literally had times when I would stop and get off the bike and manually adjust it.

I switched to SRAM and have been in love ever since, I am currently on my 2nd bike with it(riding Rival- it is equivalent to Ultegra) and am hoping to one day move up the line to Red, but right now Rival is perfect for me.

The double tap technology removes all issues that occur with the distance of the throw on shimano levers. I would definitaly look into it if you can. + SRAM is interchangable mostly with Shimano, so I bet you could switch out the levers and not have to mess with much else.

[dsmcleod]

Thanks for the quick responses.

SRAM is nice because the pivot point is higher and thus allows you to brake more easily when on the hoods. The down side is that the hoods are "fat" in comparison to Shimano.

Anyone like the "slim" nature of Campy for fit?

Thanks for the R700 links.

[rij73]

Another vote for the R700 levers. My small hands are very happy with them.

[Andrea]

SRAM Red has adjustable reach- supposedly Levi Leipheimer's Favorite feature of the group because he's got small hands. It's rumored that they'll be adding that feature to their other groups in the future.

[Kathi]

I love the slim nature of Campy. I use Campy Record on both of my road bikes and find them very comfortable in my small hands. Especially between the thumb and forefinger.

Handlebars make a difference too. I use the Modolo "Venus" bars. My shoulders measure 34 and they come narrow enough for me. My old bars were 38 and I didn't realize that a too wide bar affected my reach to the shifters. Even with Campy it was quite a stretch to reach the brakes from the drops. Now, with the design of the Venus bars I can reach the brakes comfortably with my ring and middle fingers.

Here's a couple of threads with my comments on the bars

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...t=modolo+venus

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...t=modolo+venus

And the bars on my Serotta.

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=8515

BTW, my middle finger measures 2.75" and I have had 1st graders with larger hands than mine.

[ehirsch83]

Thanks for the quick responses.

SRAM is nice because the pivot point is higher and thus allows you to brake more easily when on the hoods. The down side is that the hoods are "fat" in comparison to Shimano.

Anyone like the "slim" nature of Campy for fit?

Thanks for the R700 links.

Remember when racing, one tends to be in the drops 95% of the time( I find the only exception to be on climbs, during crits and fast pace lines there is no need to come out of the drops) so the fat feeling shouldn't be an issue, and I never noticed that they felt fat actually-haha.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I got Shimano ST-R600 (9-speed) short reach brifters on my new Luna.

Now my fingers can actually reach AROUND the brake levers instead of just pulling with the ends of my fingers like with my old Shimano plain brake levers.
A much more secure feeling, especially on steep downhills.

[Kathi]

When I bought my Serotta my fitter was pushing me toward Shimano specifically the R 700. To me the hoods felt fat and clunky compared to the slimness of my Campy hoods. I also did not like the ergonomics of the shifters, they seemed harder for me to brake from the hoods.

I agonized over which way I should go and decided to stay with what worked and felt to most comfortable to me. I stayed with Campy and in the long run I'm glad I did.

Years ago I had Shimano 105's on my bike. To shift I had to slide my hand sideways off the hoods to have enough reach to get the gears to engage. With the thumb shifters on Campy I do not have any problems.

[anakiwa]

Another happy R700 shifter owner here.

[madscot13]

you know they say that the campy hoods are smaller but I think the shimano feels nicer on my thumbs because there is more curve to the tops. This is expecially appreciable on the higher end Ultegra/ DA. the R600 (9speed) and R700 (10 speed) are similiar in my opinion.