Quote Originally Posted by Owlie View Post
Huh, I have small hands and short fingers, and haven't really had a lot of trouble with Shimano. I do need short-reach shift levers(a borrowed bike with regular 105 was not a pleasant experience!), and does Shimano make short-reach 105 or Ultegra? They tend to advertise short-reach brake levers on entry-level bikes, but not so much on the higher-end ones.

Jackie, don't worry. None of us were born knowing this stuff. We all had to learn.
When I mentioned my difficulties with the Shimano 105 brakes during the test ride of the Madone, my sales guy mentioned that the 105s are intended to be shim-able. So they put shims in to lower the engagement point.

The SRAM apparently can be adjusted without shims, which Nate did before I rode the Dolce.