Small hands and STI Levers

[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.

[NbyNW]

I had Shimano Ultegra on my previous bike, and while I loved the feel of the mechanics, they were a bit of a reach for me, and I never felt comfortable going downhill on that bike.

My folding bike that I commute on has Shimano Tiagra mounted on bullhorn handlebars. I don't know if it's the design of the Tiagra, or how they're mounted on the handlebars, or the shape of the handlebars, but these are working really well for me.

My touring bike, which I've had for less than two days, has Campy. The reach is not going to be a problem for me. I didn't really notice the "slimness" of the hoods until reading this thread. Again, for the couple of hours I've had on this bike, they've been pretty comfortable, in the sense that I haven't noticed them. Don't know if I will feel differently as I start to go on longer rides, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

[kermit]

I recently changed my bars to Specialized Ruby carbon bars. The drop is smaller and I can now reach around the brake in the drops which I could not do before. Just a suggestion if you have a Specialized dealer in your area.

[Kathi]

I recently changed my bars to Specialized Ruby carbon bars. The drop is smaller and I can now reach around the brake in the drops which I could not do before. Just a suggestion if you have a Specialized dealer in your area.

I checked out the Specialized bars when I built my bike, the smallest size is 38cm which was the case for many of the women's bars I considered.

I wonder why companies who market handlebars to women fail to recognize that some women have narrower shoulders than 38cm.

[bounceswoosh]

I'm not sure how much this helps vs. 38cm, but the Bontrager FIT VR is available in 36cm:

http://bontrager.com/model/06244/en

That's the model that came on my Madone, although I'm not sure which width is on there.

[Kathi]

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.

Besides the width of the Shimano hoods the curves are bothersome. My fingers don't wrap around the curves as easily as they do on Campy. This means less leverage when braking.