Brake lever reach

yk said:

I have hard time reaching brake levers from drop bar.position.
Is it normal ? Any solution ? TIA

Are you using "anatomic" bars? Switching to normal bars (if you can find any
these days) may help. Or try repositioning the brake levers on the bars.

There are also some brifters designed for smaller hands.

Art Harris

Arthur Harris said:

yk said:

I have hard time reaching brake levers from drop bar.position.
Is it normal ? Any solution ? TIA

Are you using "anatomic" bars? Switching to normal bars (if you can
find any these days) may help. Or try repositioning the brake levers
on the bars.

Agreed, "classic" bars make a big difference. Also, some anatomics
provide shorter reach than most others, eg. 3T Morphe.

~PB

Don't know what levers you are using, but you might be able to stick or
fasten a thin spacer between the top of the levers and the body (where
the lever rests)... so the lever would be slightly closed without being
touched. You'd lose a little of the travel in the lever... but you have
to accept that anyway if you want them easier to reach.

-Ron Ruff

Ron Ruff said:

Don't know what levers you are using, but you might be able to stick or
fasten a thin spacer between the top of the levers and the body (where
the lever rests)... so the lever would be slightly closed without being
touched. You'd lose a little of the travel in the lever... but you have
to accept that anyway if you want them easier to reach.

I've done this with scraps of Cinelli cork handlebar tape.

Word is that the new 10-speed Shimano 105 STI levers (2006) will come
with a set of 3 pairs of spacer shims for exactly this purpose.

Sheldon "No Problems With My Long Fingers" Brown
+-----------------------------------------+
| I’ll be performing in drag in |
| The Summer Revels |
| June 25 & 26, Museum Wharf, Boston |
| http://revels.org |
http://home.comcast.net/~rousseau.j/revels/Sites-Images/29.jpg
+-----------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Sheldon Brown said:

Word is that the new 10-speed Shimano 105 STI levers (2006) will come
with a set of 3 pairs of spacer shims for exactly this purpose.

Sheldon "No Problems With My Long Fingers" Brown

Me neither, but here they are on the Shimano-Europe site:

http://tinyurl.com/dqosp

Jeff

JeffWills said:

Sheldon Brown said:

Word is that the new 10-speed Shimano 105 STI levers (2006) will come
with a set of 3 pairs of spacer shims for exactly this purpose.

Sheldon "No Problems With My Long Fingers" Brown

Me neither, but here they are on the Shimano-Europe site:

http://tinyurl.com/dqosp

Jeff

Oops- that's the Ultegras. Here's the 105's:

http://tinyurl.com/e4mvd

Jeff

Sheldon Brown said:

Word is that the new 10-speed Shimano 105 STI levers (2006) will come
with a set of 3 pairs of spacer shims for exactly this purpose.

Sounds like a great feature!... any chance it will trickle up to DA and
Ultegra?

-Ron Ruff