Handle bars, brakes, and shifters, oh my!

[GraysonKelly]

Thanks Zen! I'm gonna print out that picture and take it to my LBS so they can see what I'm talking about! Thanks!
Gray

[anakiwa]

It sounds like your issue is more with the position of your handlebars, not the position of the shifters on the handlebar (are you comfortable in the drops?- moving the shifters around usually makes either the hoods or the drops feel better, but might make the other feel worse). A shorter stem with a steeper angle (to raise the handlebars) might be the best thing (more narrow handlebars might help too, but only if the ones you've got are too wide).
Hope that helps

[anakiwa]

Another thought- you can rotate the bars somewhat to bring the levers up (this is pretty easy to do yourself- where the stem clamps around the handlebars- you can loosen it, turn the handlebars up, then retighten). This will make it easier to reach the hoods, but it'll be harder to reach the drops.