Adjust Shimano STI levers for reach

I adjusted mine by looking carefully at pictures of professionals in magazines and advertisements, and noting the positioning.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Tezza
Hi,
I need some help to make it easier for smaller female hands to grasp STI levers while on the drop bars.
Is it possible to adjust STI Tiagra (Flight Deck) levers for reach?
If yes, how do you do it?
Thanks in advance

I have the same problem with not being able to reach, properly, the STI Levers from the drops.
For me it boiled down to this.
How much time do i spend in the drops? Is it worth changing the position of my levers to accomodate shifting in the drops?
I dont spend enough time in the drops to justify changing the position of my STI's to enable only a marginally better shifting process.

An attachment to the levers to help her shift?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Tezza
Hi,
I need some help to make it easier for smaller female hands to grasp STI levers while on the drop bars.
Is it possible to adjust STI Tiagra (Flight Deck) levers for reach?
If yes, how do you do it?
Thanks in advance

Don't know if this helps or not, but Terry Bicycles says the following about their Symmetry road bike.

"Shimano Ultegra STI 9 speed indexed with 10% shims for smaller reach."

Perhaps you can find someone with a Terry you can look at that will give you a more specific idea. (Terry also sells some women-specific brake levers, but not for STI.)

Also, though it may not be worth the $$$, the 2004 Dura Ace levers are said to be 10% narrower than the 2003. Since Terry's using Ultegra levers on a Tiagra drivetrain, presumably DuraAce would work as well. It might be safest to wait a month or so until the 2004 DuraAce is definitely out, though some shops are taking orders already.

Stephen

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by sathomasga
... Terry Bicycles says the following about their Symmetry road bike.

"Shimano Ultegra STI 9 speed indexed with 10% shims for smaller reach."

These might be the Shimano ST-R600 9-speed STI brake/shifter units (scroll down a bit), an Ultegra variant that provides "interchangeable wedges" to adjust lever position. Note, these are NOT the standard Ultegra STI levers.

For 8 speeds, the Shimao Sora STI is also features a reach adjustment - according the the link above, "Sora and R600 brifters are the ONLY drop bar brake levers available that feature a reach adjustment".

However, replacing STI levers is a pretty expensive.