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Road levers and small hands

Started by Jacques Moser · · Last activity · 8 posts · 924 views

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01 / Original postRoad levers and small handsJacques Moser · 12 Mar 2004 02 / This pagePosts 1–8Page 1 of 1 · chronological order 03 / Latest replyPost #8Jacques Moser · 13 Mar 2004

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Original section
Cycling Equipment
Published
12 March 2004
Last activity
13 March 2004
Original author
Jacques Moser
Posts
8
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Public discussion
Total views
924
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0
Topics
Bianchi

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  1. Original post
    Jacques Moser
    Archived post
    #1

    I have relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny ones.
    On my Bianchi road bike, I have difficulties grabbing the
    Campagnolo levers when I am on the drops. On my commuter
    bike, going from straight bars to drop bars, I chose Sora
    levers partly because they are fitted with an adjustment
    screw that allows you to bring the levers closer to the bar
    (this also reduces available cable travel !). Only this way
    can I make it comfortable to grab the levers from the drops.
    Am I the only one to experience this problem ? How do others
    adress it ?

    Jacques

    Report
  2. Paul
    Archived post
    #2

    My Bianchi came with ITM bars which have an anatomic bend. I
    could not reach the brake levers from the drops. I changed
    my bars to Nitto bars, which are round bend, and I find it
    much easier to reach the brakes from the drops.

    Paul

    "Jacques Moser" <[email hidden]>
    wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    I have relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny
    ones. On my Bianchi road bike, I have difficulties
    grabbing the Campagnolo levers when I am on the drops. On
    my commuter bike, going from straight bars to drop bars, I
    chose Sora levers partly because they are fitted with an
    adjustment screw that allows you to bring the levers
    closer to the bar (this also reduces available cable
    travel !). Only this way can I make it comfortable to grab
    the levers from the drops. Am I the only one to experience
    this problem ? How do others adress it ?

    Jacques

    Report
  3. Alan Hoyle
    Archived post
    #3
    Jacques Moser said:

    Am I the only one to experience this problem ? How do
    others adress it ?

    sheldonbrown.comderailers.html

    Scroll down and look for the "Shimano ST-R600"

    I found this link on:

    cyclingforums.comt30481.html

    --
    Alan Hoyle - [email hidden] - alanhoyle.comalanhoyle.com
    "I don't want the world, I just want your half." -TMBG
    Get Horizontal, Play Ultimate.

    Report
  4. Antti Salonen
    Archived post
    #4
    Jacques Moser said:

    I have relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny
    ones. On my Bianchi road bike, I have difficulties
    grabbing the Campagnolo levers when I am on the drops. On
    my commuter bike, going from straight bars to drop bars, I
    chose Sora levers partly because they are fitted with an
    adjustment screw that allows you to bring the levers
    closer to the bar (this also reduces available cable
    travel !). Only this way can I make it comfortable to grab
    the levers from the drops. Am I the only one to experience
    this problem ? How do others adress it ?

    I also have very small hands for a male. On my road bike I
    have used 3T drop bars with the "anatomical" bend, the exact
    models being Prima 220 and Morphe. The levers are modern
    Campagnolo Ergopower levers.

    I also initially had serious trouble reaching the brake
    levers from the drops, but I've been able to fix the problem
    pretty well. To my experience, both the angle at which the
    bar is positioned and the angle of the levers make a
    difference. I have rotated my bars higher than usual, so
    that the flat section of the drops is higher and the ends of
    the bars point quite low. The levers are positioned so that
    the top of the hood is almost exactly horizontal. Many
    people have their Campagnolo levers mounted higher than
    this, which tends to make it more difficult to reach the
    brake levers from the drops.

    With this setup, I was able to bring the levers much closer
    to the flat section of the drops and easy to grab. In
    general, I suggest that you unwrap the bar tape and start
    playing with both the angle of the bar and the position of
    the levers.

    When I get home tomorrow, I can put some photographs of my
    setup on the web, if you think it could help.

    -as

    Report
  5. Kent Dorfman
    Archived post
    #5

    This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

    ------=_NextPart_000_0021_01C40851.6DD252D0 Content-Type:
    text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-15" Content-Transfer-Encoding:
    quoted-printable

    What does that say about the rest of you? "Jacques Moser"
    <[email hidden]> wrote in =
    message "]news:[email hidden]... I
    have relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny ones.
    On my = Bianchi road bike, I have difficulties grabbing the
    Campagnolo levers when I = am on the drops. On my commuter
    bike, going from straight bars to drop bars, = I chose Sora
    levers partly because they are fitted with an adjustment =
    screw that allows you to bring the levers closer to the bar
    (this also = reduces available cable travel !). Only this
    way can I make it comfortable to = grab the levers from the
    drops. Am I the only one to experience this problem ? How do
    others adress it = ?

    Jacques ------=_NextPart_000_0021_01C40851.6DD252D0 Content-
    Type: text/html; charset="ISO-8859-15" Content-Transfer-
    Encoding: quoted-printable

    <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0
    Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-
    Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-15"> <META
    content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=3DGENERATOR>
    <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
    <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>What does that say about
    the rest of=20 you?</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE=20 style=3D"PADDING-
    RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-
    LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
    <DV>"Jacques Moser" <<A=20
    =
    href=3D""][email hidden]">m-
    oser.removethe= [email hidden]</A>>=20 wrote
    in message <A=20
    =
    href=3D""]news:[email hidden]">new-
    s:pan.2004.03.=
    [email hidden]</A>...</DIV>I=20 have
    relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny
    ones. On my=20 Bianchi<BR>road bike, I have
    difficulties grabbing the Campagnolo = levers
    when=20 I am on<BR>the drops. On my commuter
    bike, going from straight bars to = drop=20
    bars, I<BR>chose Sora levers partly because they
    are fitted with an = adjustment=20 screw<BR>that
    allows you to bring the levers closer to the bar
    (this = also=20 reduces<BR>available cable
    travel !). Only this way can I make it =
    comfortable=20 to grab<BR>the levers from the
    drops.<BR>Am I the only one to = experience
    this=20 problem ? How do others adress it =
    ?<BR><BR>Jacques</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

    ------=_NextPart_000_0021_01C40851.6DD252D0--

    Report
  6. Bbense+Rec Bicy
    Archived post
    #6

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    In article <[email hidden]>,
    Jacques Moser

    Quoted message said:

    I have relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny
    ones. On my Bianchi road bike, I have difficulties grabbing
    the Campagnolo levers when I am on the drops. On my
    commuter bike, going from straight bars to drop bars, I
    chose Sora levers partly because they are fitted with an
    adjustment screw that allows you to bring the levers closer
    to the bar (this also reduces available cable travel !).
    Only this way can I make it comfortable to grab the levers
    from the drops. Am I the only one to experience this
    problem ?

    - - No. I think anybody that takes a small in glove size has
    this problem.

    Quoted message said:

    How do others address it ?

    _ A lot of messing around with brake levers and bar angles
    with the tape off. The position I finally ended up with is
    sub-optimal for everything but braking from the drops, but
    since every ride from my house involves at least a 1K
    descent that's where they are.

    _ It's easier to get this right with bar with standard round
    drops rather than the anatomical ones. Raising the
    handlebars a little also helps. Other solutions are special
    short reach levers or putting a wedge underneath the brake
    mounting clamp.

    _ If there are other solutions, I'd sure like to know
    about them. I've pondered bending the brake levers, but
    I'm too chicken to actually do that. I wouldn't mind too
    much if they broke in garage, but I would terrified if
    they broke on the road. They would break just when you
    needed them the most.

    _ Booker C. Bense

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    Report
  7. Frank Knox
    Archived post
    #7

    "Jacques Moser" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    I have relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny
    ones. On my Bianchi road bike, I have difficulties
    grabbing the Campagnolo levers when I am on the drops. On
    my commuter bike, going from straight bars to drop bars, I
    chose Sora levers partly because they are fitted with an
    adjustment screw that allows you to bring the levers
    closer to the bar (this also reduces available cable
    travel !). Only this way can I make it comfortable to grab
    the levers from the drops. Am I the only one to experience
    this problem ? How do others adress it ?

    Jacques

    Look at the Terry T bar.
    terrybicycles.com220.lasso
    terrybicycles.comterrybicycles.com

    Report
  8. Jacques Moser
    Archived post
    #8
    Antti Salonen said:

    Jacques Moser

    Quoted message said:

    I have relatively small hands, but definitely not tiny
    ones. On my Bianchi road bike, I have difficulties
    grabbing the Campagnolo levers when I am on the drops. On
    my commuter bike, going from straight bars to drop bars,
    I chose Sora levers partly because they are fitted with
    an adjustment screw that allows you to bring the levers
    closer to the bar (this also reduces available cable
    travel !). Only this way can I make it comfortable to
    grab the levers from the drops. Am I the only one to
    experience this problem ? How do others adress it ?

    I also have very small hands for a male. On my road bike I
    have used 3T drop bars with the "anatomical" bend, the
    exact models being Prima 220 and Morphe. The levers are
    modern Campagnolo Ergopower levers.

    I also initially had serious trouble reaching the brake
    levers from the drops, but I've been able to fix the
    problem pretty well. To my experience, both the angle at
    which the bar is positioned and the angle of the levers
    make a difference. I have rotated my bars higher than
    usual, so that the flat section of the drops is higher and
    the ends of the bars point quite low. The levers are
    positioned so that the top of the hood is almost exactly
    horizontal. Many people have their Campagnolo levers
    mounted higher than this, which tends to make it more
    difficult to reach the brake levers from the drops.

    With this setup, I was able to bring the levers much
    closer to the flat section of the drops and easy to grab.
    In general, I suggest that you unwrap the bar tape and
    start playing with both the angle of the bar and the
    position of the levers.

    When I get home tomorrow, I can put some photographs of my
    setup on the web, if you think it could help.

    -as

    Yeah, I've also found out that rotating bars makes a
    difference. But if I make them easier for braking on the
    drops, then the hoods are too low for comfortable cruising
    (too much weight on the hands).

    Report

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