Best for small hands?

[bnewt07]

Building up a custom frame for my wife, who is 5ft and very petite. She has a Trek WSD but the Shimano levers are always a stretch for her to ride the hoods so tends to change gear from the drops. The bar shape is not ideal either.

Since I'm starting from scratch which do you think is the best lever design for small hands, Campag or Shimano? Do any of them adjust for reach etc?

How about a reccomendation of a really nice small bar (with suitably shallow drop)?

Cheers

[aLexis]

FSA makes a good bar, the Wing Pro compact. I like it better than the Salsa Poco - I find the bump in the ergo drops uncomfortable.
The FSA has a flat top, but not too wide, so it is not too bulky for small hands. The bars measure c-c, but that is measured at the drops, which flare a little. So a 40cm Wing Pro Compact, is really 38cm from hood to hood.

http://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=223&pid=196

(And it comes in white)

[sc53]

My hands are not as small as your wife's, but they are female hands, FWIW--and I am happy with the Nitto Neat 153 (I think that's the model no.) bar and Shimano levers with an insert that puts the levers much closer to your hands. I don't know the name or mfr of the plastic shim thing that inserts into the lever, but all the bike shops have them because lots of women use them. Another good small bar is the Salsa Short 'n Shallow, plus the bar that comes on the Specialized women's-specific models--it is a really tiny bar that was too small for me.

[CNY rider]

Shimano makes a set of shifters that are for people with small hands, or at least they did in the recent past.
I haven't tried them personally.
My LBS did take my "standard" Shimano set-up and put in a little shim that makes the levers sit closer to the hbar and lessens the reach.

[Dave]

The bar I'd recommend is the Easton EC90 SLX3. It's not cheap, but can be had for $175 from Beyond Bikes. It's got a short reach and shallow drop and relatively traditional roundish bend. It also produces a MUCH shorter reach to the brake levers than the FSA K-force compact bars I tried last year. Those bars produced the longest reach I'd seen in many years. :mad:

Campy hoods are the smallest and have the shortest reach of any brand at present and it's not difficult to reduce the reach to the brake levers with a simple modification, which I do to all of my levers. Measuring from the front of the bar's hook, the distance to the front of the brake lever can be reduced into the 45-50mm range.

SRAM Red is the only brand that currently has a brake lever reach adjustment.

There will be many changes next year (this fall). The new Shimano DA levers will have a brake lever reach adjustment and complete redesign, but the reach across the hoods does not appear to be any shorter.

Campy will have entirely new shifters across the board. There may even be small and large hand models, but no verification on that rumor yet. The top three models will be 11 speed and have no backwards compatibility. Centaur and below will remain 10 speed and have backwards compatibilty.

[bnewt07]

Thanks for all that folks.

The shim 'tweak' for a Shimano lever will bring it closer to the bar drops but she struggles more manipulating the lever when riding on the hoods (if that make sense). Bringing the lever closer to the bar might make that worse. I think she maybe wants a slightly slimmer hood-I reckon Campag may be a better way to go.

The bar ideas are excellent.

[rwsaunders]

Shimano makes a set of shifters that are for people with small hands, or at least they did in the recent past.
I haven't tried them personally.
My LBS did take my "standard" Shimano set-up and put in a little shim that makes the levers sit closer to the hbar and lessens the reach.

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/road/105/product.-code-ST-R700.-type-st_road.html

[alimey]

Am also 5ft & w/ very small hands. Here is a second vote for the FSA compact wing pro (or SLK in carbon). Re. hoods I use Shimano Ultegra w/ 2 shims in each side. I also make sure my wheels are true so I can run the pads close to the rims (so the levers don't need to move much), I use kool stop salmon & black pads so I don't need to exert much force & I change my cables frequently so it all works as sweetly as it can.

Another thought - cranks. I wanted 160mm & so bought a TA compact chainset & it looks fine on my 46p Fierte TI. It's all about fit. When I started cycling I just couldn't get a bike small enough. then when my husband & I were in the States we came across a new/old stock Cannondale R800 in 43cm which had a very short top tube. I rode that for several years & then last year bought my Serotta second hand on ebay. The only way I can improve the fit is to go custom . . . (oh yes, and the new reach adjustable DA levers).

I am sure your wife will really really appreciate all you are doing to make sure she gets a good fit on her bike.

[EDS]

Building up a custom frame for my wife, who is 5ft and very petite. She has a Trek WSD but the Shimano levers are always a stretch for her to ride the hoods so tends to change gear from the drops. The bar shape is not ideal either.

Since I'm starting from scratch which do you think is the best lever design for small hands, Campag or Shimano? Do any of them adjust for reach etc?

How about a reccomendation of a really nice small bar (with suitably shallow drop)?

Cheers

SRAM brifters have adjustable reach.

[Sasha18]

A topic after my own hands (which are very small). I put in a third vote for the FSA wing pro. If she doesn't like the flat top, which I like, FSA also makes another compact model. I think the energy. Same shape, no flat top. I think the best lever model out of the box for reach is the Tiagra. Shimano did make an R700, which was adjustable, but it just included some interchangeable shims. You can make those at home by inserting some rubber bumper or something in the space between the lever and the body. The SRAM red adjustable reach is really nice for me, but it's pretty expensive. As someone said, in a few months, all of the SRAM stuff will have this feature.

Another alternative, cane creek makes some brake levers for smaller hands. You could incorporate those with bar-end shifters. I've never tried them.

[rphetteplace]

I think the Cane Creek levers just have a shorter blade same body. The body is really wide. I mean I'm 6'6" and can palm a basketball. I have a set of the regular ones on one of my bikes and find the bodies uncomfortably large.

This is a great thread keep it coming. My fiance and I are about to do a custom and she's 5' tall. She's got hands like a child and really struggles. She didn't like campy or sram levers at all as she found the throw to difficult. fwiw.

[regularguy412]

When I was helping at the LBS last fall building bikes, I put together a bunch of entry level bikes with Shimano levers that use the lever adjustment shims. The shims came in three thicknesses, so a total of six shims were supplied with each bike. Most people didn't need them, so I ended up putting all these extra shims in the spare parts bin. I bet you could pick up any number of these shims for free at your LBS.

Mike in AR:beer:

[thejen12]

I think the Cane Creek levers just have a shorter blade same body. The body is really wide. I mean I'm 6'6" and can palm a basketball. I have a set of the regular ones on one of my bikes and find the bodies uncomfortably large.

I love the Cane Creek levers (and I'm only 5'5"). The shorter reach is great, and I like the wide body when I'm riding on the hoods. After all, there are no shift levers in them so the wide body doesn't interfere with shifting. It's just a nice, flat platform for your hand. No problems reaching the brake levers from the hoods, either.

Jenn

[93legendti]

FSA makes a good bar, the Wing Pro compact. I like it better than the Salsa Poco - I find the bump in the ergo drops uncomfortable.
The FSA has a flat top, but not too wide, so it is not too bulky for small hands. The bars measure c-c, but that is measured at the drops, which flare a little. So a 40cm Wing Pro Compact, is really 38cm from hood to hood.

http://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=223&pid=196

(And it comes in white)
The FSA Omega Shallow Drop is the Wing pro Compact with no flat top. Very nice bar.

[rpm]

+1 on the FSA compact bars. I spend a lot more time on the drops with these bars. Specialized sells nice $10 shims for Shimano levers, both 9 and 10 speed, and they work well.

[Sasha18]

FSA WingPro Compact, Cane Creek levers, Bar end shifters. If you can get past the retrograde look and don't race, this sounds like a great and economical combo.

[93legendti]

+1 on the FSA compact bars. I spend a lot more time on the drops with these bars...'

Me too. I actually have big hands, but a short torso and short arms so the FSA's work really ncie. Another alternative is the Bontrager VR Fit, but the FSA is more comfortable and offers more hand positions.

[Kevan]

bar-end shifters. Keeps the hands close to the bar for control.

[hillrider]

Shimano make short reach shifter, they are generic not tie to a specific road group.
Also as stated in a previous post, Specialized make some shims for the shifters, which is another option

As far a bar the BONTRAGER FIT VR (this is a special women model, because the reach is shorter that the other VR models) is my choice only $50.00 , it has about the shortest reach I have found in any bar and has a flat top :
http://store.trekbikes.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1718&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C442%2C455&iProductID=1718&bShopOnline=1

[mwos]

Another vote for Campy, I have hands the size of a kindergarten student. I like Campy because it is narrow and fits well in the space between my thumb and forefinger. Shifting with the thumb shifter also works well for me.

I use the Modolo Venus handlebars, recommended to me on this forum. They are designed to bring the hand closer to the brake lever. The bars also come in small sizes, down to 34 cm.

[William]

Building up a custom frame for my wife, who is 5ft and very petite. She has a Trek WSD but the Shimano levers are always a stretch for her to ride the hoods so tends to change gear from the drops. The bar shape is not ideal either.

Since I'm starting from scratch which do you think is the best lever design for small hands, Campag or Shimano? Do any of them adjust for reach etc?

How about a reccomendation of a really nice small bar (with suitably shallow drop)?

Cheers

Tiny hands need campy.

Man hands need Shimano.

Pat rides SRAM.




William

[rwsaunders]

Extremely small hands need these.