Hand strength and shifting

[Kathi]

I'm small but not "frail" woman with small hands! My fingers aren't long enough to push the lever far enough to engage the big ring. I slide my hand to the side of the hood so my fingers have enough reach to shift to my big ring. My fingers go pretty far underneath the hood before the chain engages.

I, too, had problems with my brake levers and it was just a matter of loosening the brake cables. Makes the reach a lot easier too.

[dravens]

I contacted Specialized customer service and they emailed me:

" Sorry to hear about your shifter situation. I am not aware of any of our women’s bikes (or really any of our bikes) having excessively ‘heavy’ shifters. This is the first that I have heard of a shifter being too hard to push, unless the shifter was broken. The fact that you have tried two separate shifters and had the same experience with both can only lead me to believe that the problem is with your hand strength. Sorry… but your hand strength is the only common denominator left on this one… If there is anything I can do to be of assistance, please let me know…."

So when are women's specific design bicycles going to have a shifter and brake that belongs on a woman's bike?

The bike store fixed the shifter but it is still takes quite a bit of force to operate.

[Kiwi Stoker]

When Shimano et al design something. But you have got to remember you are using cables to move something and the front chainring movement is very large.

If all else fails regarding strengthening your hands, electronic shifting would be the way to go.

[nscrbug]

I agree with Kiwi. And like I said in my post above, I'm in the same boat as you dravens, except I'm using Shimano Ultegra shifters. I am seriously looking into the new Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting. It's due out in mid-September. Although I did test ride a bike with SRAM Force on it, and I thought it was a huge improvement over the Shimano shifting...so that is the other option I'm looking at. Either way, it's an expensive switch for sure. But I agree, that I think somebody should come out with a women's specific shifting mechanism that doesn't require a super long "throw". I also firmly believe that, at least in my particular case, the shifting is heavy due to the way the cables are routed underneath the bar tape on all of these newer bikes. My older Trek has the old style 105 shifters, where the cable exits at the inner side of the shifter, and I can shift my big ring with 1 finger...the difference is THAT huge.

[lph]

Shifting is not a question of hand strength!

A shifter that requires any sizeable amount of effort when correctly set up, tensioned and sized for the user is a badly designed shifter. Shifting is not completely effortless, but it should be nowhere near a question of having enough hand strength. That's just absurd. I'm rarely this absolute about things, but this I truely believe.

I have struggled with many shifters, but I've fixed just about all of them by taking them apart, lubing them, tweaking position and/or rerouting cables. I have big strong hands, but shortish fingers, and easy shifting has a lot to do with correct positioning and proper reach. It's a limited range you're working with, and the shifter should be designed for easy use within that range.

[OakLeaf]

Shifting is not a question of hand strength!

Well, yes and no ... None of us has actually tested the OP's hand strength. Most people, even sedentary people, have plenty hand strength to operate shifters that are working properly. But on a board like this one we know for sure that there are lots of people on either end of the bell curve on whatever variable you want to name.

Hand size is definitely an issue, and obviously women statistically have smaller (and differently shaped) hands than men, and one definitely does wish for smaller levers. On the other hand, by making them smaller, you decrease the leverage, and then you either have to generate more force at your hand, or add additional complications of gears and pulleys that would increase the risk of failure.



My feet are very very weak. It's not something to be ashamed of, and it's also not something to demand equipment to coddle them (in fact, it was all those stupid orthotics that MADE my feet so weak). It's something to work on. No shame. No sexism. Just work.

[Hi Ho Silver]

I agree with Kiwi. And like I said in my post above, I'm in the same boat as you dravens, except I'm using Shimano Ultegra shifters. I am seriously looking into the new Ultegra Di2 electronic shifting. It's due out in mid-September. Although I did test ride a bike with SRAM Force on it, and I thought it was a huge improvement over the Shimano shifting...so that is the other option I'm looking at. Either way, it's an expensive switch for sure. But I agree, that I think somebody should come out with a women's specific shifting mechanism that doesn't require a super long "throw". I also firmly believe that, at least in my particular case, the shifting is heavy due to the way the cables are routed underneath the bar tape on all of these newer bikes. My older Trek has the old style 105 shifters, where the cable exits at the inner side of the shifter, and I can shift my big ring with 1 finger...the difference is THAT huge.

The SRAM shifters don't have as long a "throw" as my Shimano triple does, and the response is immediate -as soon as you move shift lever, the derailleur starts moving, there is no slop or "take up".

As far as the cable routing goes, I think you've probably hit on the big problem with shifting on newer bikes. The amount of resistance caused by the extreme bends resulting from routing the cable along the bar under the tape has to be pretty high. When I replace my handlebar tape, I intend to experiment with the routing just to see if I can make it even easier to shift.

Jean

[Caddy]

When I tested the Specialized tricross, the left Shimano shifter was definitely more of a pain to move. Besides biking, I'm also a pianist with a fairly strong death grip so I'm fairly certain it was not a matter of hand strength.

To the OP: glad the bike shop fixed it. Shifting shouldn't be a hassle and hand strength is only one contributing factor. Specialized and bike shop personnel should tinker with the components first instead of simply telling you to strengthen your hand.

[Mama Coosa]

Tons of women have issues shifting the front derailleur. Like others have said, it usually does come down to a combination of hand strength and cable housing routing.

Also, most manufacturers build their bikes with Jagwire housing or a house brand that is likely made by Jagwire. This also makes an enormous difference. Jagwire sucks. A lot. Shell out a little coin to have Shimano housing installed and you'll notice a significant improvement. There's a lot less friction in Shimano housing.

I also highly recommend Di2 to anyone. It's super awesome being able to just push a button and make the derailleur shift. Plus, once it's set up, you don't really have to adjust it unless you change wheels.

[featuretile]

I have a Ruby Compact with 105. It was always a little harder to shift the left (front chain rings) than the right, but not impossible. Then I put a MTB cassette and XT derailleur on the bike to have more low gears. I brought the bike to a new mechanic who works out of his home and was recommended by the club elder (83 year old man who still leads rides). Not only did he perfectly tune the new non-standard setup, but he did something to the front shifter as well. The first maiden voyage I shifted the front with a lot of pressure as I had previously done and the chain popped off, and I thought I would have to bring it back. Put on the chain and tried shifting with a light touch and no pressure - and I mean none. It was perfect and effortless and haven't dropped the chain since. So, I think your bike was not adjusted properly (and neither was mine before). I have not used SRAM, but I would imagine it is the mechanic that needs help and not you needing hand strengthening exercises.