Handlebars for small hands

[mwos]

I'm building a new bike this spring and am researching handlebars.

I looked at the handlebars that companies who build WSD bikes are using and came up with this list. When I did a search for specific information on some of the models I didn't find much. So maybe some of you can give me the pros and cons of each.

The handlebars need to be 36-38 cm, short reach and good for small hands. However, my hands are more like kids hands. On my current setup I have problems reaching the brakes from the drops. Shimano has short reach levers but the levers feel bulky from the hoods so I'm leaning toward staying with Campy.

Here's the list:

Deda 4Girls, currently using and like very much/w Record Brifters.
Deda Piega
Salsa, Short and Shallow
Morphe TTT, 3T Eva
Bontrager Race, XXX Lite, X Lite and Race Lite
S Works F.A.C.T. Carbon Ergo Women's
ITM K-Sword Carbon, Itm Elle

Thanks,
Kathi

[molly22]

I have the Bontrager racelite in a 36". i found (2 years ago) there was a limited selection in the smaller sizes. I wanted something more elegant, but it was not to be. I have dura ace stuff and I have no problem shifting or braking.

I will mention, the handlebars are thicker in the middle than most, so I needed to buy new areobars to accommodate this. Also due to the narrowness of the bars, when I have all the bells and whistles on (computer, areobars, aerobar pads, polar watch) it looks like a rummage sale.

good luck and enjoy your new bike.

[bironi]

Kathi,

I too like short and shallow bars. I have the Salsa Short & Shallow on my Moots, but recently discovered a Salsa Poco is even more short and shallow. I would have bought one, but was shopping for a shiny one. I ended up buying a used Cinelli, but it is not as tight as the Short & Shallow, but close. Here is a link to check it out. Hope you are back on the road soon.

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=5171&category=873

Byron

[Fixed]

bro ritchey bio-max pro i.m.h.o. they work great for small hands they are on my son's bike cheers :beer:

[GoJavs]

Salsa Short & Shallows are great bars and inexpensive too. I've got different bars on every bike I own and I wish I could just flip them all to Short & Shallows.

[rpm]

Salsa Poco bars, shorter and shallower than Short and Shallows. I just tried them, and I like them.

[Rapid Tourist]

Another to add to your list is the Modolo Venus. Reach is 7.8 cm and drop is 13 or so. I just ordered it but haven't tried it yet.

[Serotta_Andrew]

Another to add to your list is the Modolo Venus. Reach is 7.8 cm and drop is 13 or so. I just ordered it but haven't tried it yet.


I would second the Modolo Venus as it comes in widths from 34 to 40 and the reach to the lever is aprox 1 to 1.5 cm closer to the bar so women can actually grab the levers with full contact.

[Smiley]

POCO bars are the default for this fitter , 7.0 cm reach and 13.5 cm drop. And they can be bought at many web outlets cheaply www.aebike.com is my favorite. I also am using for myself a Ritchey BioMax II with a 7.5 cm reach and a 13 cm drop . These may work better for you since the radius of the bend makes for a flat transition to a Shimano 9 speed brifter which the POCO's just don't do as well. Its probably a better fit for you if you go Campy for a shorter hood and therefore overall reach , don't go for the new shimano 10 speed stuff as those hoods are longer , so much so that I had to shorten my TT on my new bike to get my fit just right . Best of luck and I am sure CJ will factor all these things in the equation .

[Eric E]

I've never understood why there is a big, backwards-facing bump on the drop section of these anatomical bars - they seem very uncomfortable relative to my TTT morphe bars...

Eric

[flydhest]

just to add in, my wife loves her pocos and she is small of hand.

[GregL]

My wife has the Salsa Poco handlebars on her bike. She says that they are the most comfortable bar she has ever used.

Regards,
Greg

[samcat]

She has ridden both the Venus and a Poco. Likes the the Morphes best due to the flatter ramp and the slight flare to the drops.

Finds them easiest to ride long distance on the hoods (Centaur Ergo) and feels comfortable with the reach to the brakes in the drops...

I've put them on both of her bikes. Her orig. Venus (sold to her by Andrew) is in the "swap" box...and i'm looking for a backup Morphe for her...

Andrew, she sends a hug...


PH

[Dave]

There are at least three things that bars for the small rider need to address. One is usually a desire for a short reach to avoid an overly short stem. The bend should also place the brake/shift lever as high as possible with the top of the brake hood horizontal or angled up just a bit. The last item is the need to keep the reach to the brake lever as short as possible.

The only bars I've seen that can demonstrate a real improvment in the reach to the brake lever are the TTT ergonomic models like the Morphe and EVA. Go to their website, click on ergonomic bars and check out the pictures. The 77mm distance to the brake lever is about as short as you can get and still have enough travel to properly work the brakes. The problem, which is also clearly shown, is the downward angle of the brake hood. I would not find this comfortable. The design does not look to have much freedom to alter this angle without fouling up some other feature.

http://www.3ttt.com/ing/fr_curve.htm

I have small hands for a man, but not nearly as tiny as my 5'-0" tall wife. I currently use the Salsa Poco. I mainly bought them for the short reach, when I was experimenting with a further back saddle position. Poco bars don't position the brake lever any closer to the bar than many others. These bars have to be rotated up 10-15 degrees and the ergo lever positioned quite high to get the top of the brake hood level. The reach to the brake lever is a lot more than 77mm. I have solved this problem by modifying the ergo lever to reduce the reach to the brake lever by about 13mm. All it takes is some carefully applied 5-minute epoxy behind the quick release pin to prevent the brake lever from opening fully. With this modification, I'm able to match the brake lever reach advertised for the TTT ergonomic bars. I can send detailed instructions for this mod to anyone who want's it. It's a bit tricky to do the first time, but I've now done several pairs and it's really quite simple to do.

As for the anatomic bumps, they are quite comfortable, but I've felt like I would like my hands a bit further forward than the center of these bumps. Just this week I used some epoxy plumbers putty to straighten out the bumps on these bars. I placed some of the putty ahead, behind and under the bumps to make it straight along the top and bottom, but more oval shaped. I haven't had a chance to try them yet on a mountain descent, but it feels geat riding on the trainer.

[NateM]

Kathi,
using Daves epoxy fix your choice of bar will expand. I did this with a Easton ec90pro trad bend and Rec levers and couldnt be happier.It will move the lever easily 1/2" closer to bar.

[Smiley]

"All it takes is some carefully applied 5-minute epoxy behind the quick release pin to prevent the brake lever from opening fully. With this modification, I'm able to match the brake lever reach advertised for the TTT ergonomic bars"

Dave , is this not in effect what the Specialized shims do for the Shimano brifters where they add a wedge at the lever ? Care to show us this in a PDF or a drawing ? Curious , Thanks Smiley

ps: My wife rides POCO's and loves them but as I said before they don't ramp quite level with 9 speed shimano brifters .

[Dave]

"All it takes is some carefully applied 5-minute epoxy behind the quick release pin to prevent the brake lever from opening fully. With this modification, I'm able to match the brake lever reach advertised for the TTT ergonomic bars"

Dave , is this not in effect what the Specialized shims do for the Shimano brifters where they add a wedge at the lever ? Care to show us this in a PDF or a drawing ? Curious , Thanks Smiley

ps: My wife rides POCO's and loves them but as I said before they don't ramp quite level with 9 speed shimano brifters .

What I do with campy levers does the same thing as the shims for shimano levers. Below are my written instuctions. I modify all of my levers this way. It's even reversible, since the epoxy doesn't adhere all that well to the composite body of the ergo lever. I've used an Xacto knife to pry off the epoxy when I wanted to sell a used pair of levers.

Ergo levers use the brake lever release pin as a lever stop. Building up the area behind the pin will move the lever closer to the bar by not allowing the lever to reach its normal resting position. I used a small amount of 5-minute epoxy to build-up the area behind the release pins and it has worked great. The levers are at least 1/2 inch closer to the bars and I have the levers within easy reach while riding in the drops. There is still plenty of lever travel to operate the brakes, but the levers come within 1/8 inch of hitting the bars under full braking force. Shifting has not been affected by this modification. The inner lever still works the same.

The required tools and materials to build-up the ergo lever body with epoxy are:

120 grit sandpaper, miniature sanding drum
acetone or lacquer thinner
masking tape
5-minute epoxy glue
toothpicks or jewelers screwdriver (to apply epoxy)
rags or paper towels
small electric drill or “Dremel” tool
single-edge razor blade, Xacto knife, or utility knife

1. Push the brake release pin into the released position.

2. Clean the area where the quick release pin rests with acetone to remove any dirt or grease.

3. Place a small piece of masking tape on the brake lever to cover the area adjacent to the pin-rest, to avoid getting glue on the lever. Additional masking can be done on the lever body to prevent adhesive from contacting the lever body, if desired.

4. Lightly sand the pin-rest area to provide a rough surface for good adhesion of the epoxy. This can be done by rolling up a small piece of 120-grit sandpaper to the approximate diameter of the pin and sanding by hand. The rolled-up sandpaper can also be placed in a drill to sand the area quickly (but gently). The small sanding drums that came with my Dremel tool are a bit too large for this process.

5. When all the above preparation is complete, the bike must be stood up so the pin-rest area is pointing straight up. If the bike is mounted in a workstand , this is easy. If the levers are off the bike then it’s easier still.

6. Mix a small amount of 5-minute epoxy and apply a large “drop” to the bottom of each of the pin-rest areas. Use a toothpick or jewelers screwdriver to apply the glue. Try to keep the glue away from the brake lever, but if it flows into it, don’t worry. The masking tape on the brake lever will prevent the glue from attaching to the lever. With 5-minute glue you have to work quickly or the glue will get tacky and string from the applicator, creating a mess. Do not allow glue to run onto the outside of the lever body. If it does, use a rag wetted with a small amount of acetone to wipe it off before it hardens.


7. After the glue has hardened (at least 30 minutes) check to see if glue appears stuck to the masking tape on the brake levers, or has run into the small gap between the lever and the body. If it has, use an Xacto knife or single edge razor blade to carefully cut a gap between the lever and the body. It’s best to do this before the glue sets really hard. When this is complete, the brake lever should be free to move without disturbing the built-up epoxy on the pin-rest.

8. After the epoxy has cured more completely (2 hours or more), push the brake release pin into it’s normal position and check the lever position when at rest. If enough epoxy was applied the lever should protrude at least 1/8 inch in front of the lever body (where “10 SPEED” or “CARBON-BB SYSTEM” is written). I use a 1-inch diameter dowel rod as a gage to place between the bars and the shift lever. This is the absolute minimum distance that I would recommend to leave sufficient travel for proper brake operation. If too little epoxy was applied, the lever may not be as close to the bars as you desire. If this is the case, repeat steps 4-7 to add thickness. If too much epoxy was applied, use the rolled sandpaper, mounted in the drill, to sand away some of the epoxy. Be sure to remask the brake lever to prevent scarring the lever during the sanding process. The sanding process should be done slowly to avoid removing too much material and having to repeat steps 4-7. On the second pair that I modified, I got one side sanded to the proper depth quickly, but the other side took several iterations of the sanding and checking process to get it match the other lever. It was still faster than repeating steps 4-7.

[93legendti]

bro ritchey bio-max pro i.m.h.o. they work great for small hands they are on my son's bike cheers :beer:

These and the Salsa Pocos are my favorites.

[Rapid Tourist]

Smiley, didn't you try the biomax bars recently. How do you like them??

Another bar to add to the short reach bunch is the Specialized Ruby. Reach is about 75 mm and it has an ergo flattened top section.

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=14910

[Smiley]

Tourista the Bio Max II are on three frames right now as I like the way they ramp to the flat part of the brifters , my new Uniscasi will have a Deda 215 anatomic shallow drop handle bar at 8.0 reach and 13.5 drop . Nice transition to the Ultegra 10 speed hoods too , very flat .

[mwos]

Thanks for all the great information, I knew I'd get good advice from you guys.

I put a makeshift shim in my brake levers to see if it would help. Reducing the distance between the bar and the lever about 75-80 mm solves my problems with reaching the brakes.

Smiley you're right about Shimano. Yesterday, I saw a Cannondale with the short reach levers and ITM Elle handlebars. I liked the shape of the handlebars, and I thought I was a Campy snob, but Shimano shifters are way to clunky for my hands. So Campy is still my choice in Brifters.

I checked out the handlebars you recommended. The only problem I see is the smallest size some of them come in is 38. My shoulders measure 36 but I'll let CJ determine the correct size.

Dave if I can't find handlebars to solve the reach problem I will definitely try your solution.

Kathi

[Smiley]

mwos , don't go by shoulder width on bars , I like to size up for better handling and breathing with the wider bars . My wife rides 42 cm c to c bars and thats just right for her and she's narrow in the shoulders .

[jckid]

I've never understood why there is a big, backwards-facing bump on the drop section of these anatomical bars - they seem very uncomfortable relative to my TTT morphe bars...

Eric


I'm also using Salsa Poco bars. I'm pretty happy with them. The only thing I'm not sure I like is the "bump on the drop section" mentioned above. However, I should mention that this is the first ergo-type bar I've used, so maybe it just takes a little getting used to. I'm actually using the 40cm Salsa Poco. Most people would probably recommend a 36cm or 38cm bar for me, but I prefer the wider 40cm bars. I feel like I have better control with them, especially on fast descents.

[Dave]

The bump is fine if placing the palm centered over the bump is where you want your hands. I think I'd like mine a bit more forward while descending, so I just modified my bars to eliminate the bump. A small amount of epoxy plumber's putty, applied ahead, behind and under the bump took care of it.

Oatey epoxy putty is neat stuff. It comes in a long stick. Slice off about 1/2 inch and kneed it together. Apply it quickly, bcause it becomes unmanageable in only 15 minutes. It can be sanded to final shape with coarse 40-60 grit sandpaper in about 1 hour.

[93legendti]

Just found this thread and thought I'd add that the FSA K Wing Compact, 78mm reach/125 mm drop, seem really nice for short arms and/or small hands. I think Dave mentioned them a while back.

[thejen12]

There's also a new bar from Nitto, the Neat 153 (I think) that seems to be about the same as the Venus Modolo - and also comes in a 34cm width. I think it's great!

(By the way, I have two sets of lightly used Salsa poco bars in a 36cm width, black - pm me if interested.)

Jenn

[mwos]

To followup, I put the Modolo Venus bars, 34cm, on my Ottrott. I like the smallness of them and they solved my problem with the brake levers.

Kathi