Hand strength and shifting

[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.