Hi--

I am posting this for a friend...who is 4' 11" and has very small hands. She has always had hand brakes on the top of the bars (not sure of the technical name...we call them sissy brakes).

She has a new, custom bike without the hand breaks and doesn't feel completely comfortable with her current braking ability...she can just manage to grip the drop breaks. The builder of the bike and subsequent bike mechanics (all men) have said there is nothing else that can be done. She's been told they are shimmed to the max.


Are there any small riders out there who have found a way to work around this? Let me know if you need additional details. And thanks in advance for your responses.