Shimano STI shifters and short fingers

[gdw]

I have been attempting to convert a friends bike to a triple and have run into a major problem - her fingers are too short to reliably upshift the front derailleur. The lever throw is too long for her to accomplish the upshift in one motion. The derailleur is set up properly and I am able to shift it up and down with no problems but unfortunately she can't. The shifters are NOS 8 speed Shimano 105's and the bar is a womens specific design for small hands.

My questions for the forum are: Has anyone used the 9 speed Ultegra STI shifters with adjustable reach? If so, is the reach substantially shorter than Shimano's standard units and do they work reliably with a triple? I have a 9 speed cassette which will fit on her rear freehub and her crankset has 9 speed rings so this would be an easy fix. The other and less expensive option is to dump the Shimano shifters and purchase a set of 10 speed Campy Daytona's for $100 less and run a ShimErgo drive train. See this link for info on this conversion- http://www.hubbub.com/ergoleverswshim9.htm

She has tried and likes Ergo shifters and does not have the reach problem she had with STI. I'm partial to Campagnolo and would prefer this solution. Has anyone tried the HUBBUB conversion? If so, does it shift well? I'm sick of working on the bike and would have installed barend shifters on it but unfortunately she tried and doesn't like them. I appreciate any assistance the forum can provide.

[Adent]

I've been using the Shimano brifters with adjustable reach for about a year with an Ultegra triple and they work fine. I got them because I liked their feel a bit better than the standard Ultegra items, even though I don't have especially small hands. I don't have the standard ones to measure to say exactly how much shorter their reach is.

[Birddog]

Have you given Bar End Shifters any consideration? Or perhaps just one on the FD?

Birddog

[CNote]

Have you given Bar End Shifters any consideration? Or perhaps just one on the FD?

Birddog

Yes, try bar con on the front. Triples work much better with friction bar cons anyhow.

[Nora]

I have no idea how well Terry T-Bar (http://www.terrybicycles.com/detail.html?c=Bike+Parts+%26+Accessories&sc=Terry+Specific+Parts&item_no=22000) works, but it might solve the problem.

[zap]

Go Campy. My wife never liked ShimaNo due to the lever travel.

Well, that was one reason........

[Too Tall]

How carefully have your set the lower tip of the lever with the bar bottom? Sometimes hitting the decreasing portion of the bar radius is subtle and a small adjustment will do the trick. I've put my big old mitts around the so called short reach shimano levers and honestly could not see much diff. Anyone know zactly what the difference is infact?

[vaxn8r]

My questions for the forum are: Has anyone used the 9 speed Ultegra STI shifters with adjustable reach? If so, is the reach substantially shorter than Shimano's standard units and do they work reliably with a triple?
The answer is yes. My wife has them (shimano's untis) on her road bike and it makes it a lot easier for her to shift. She has the triple set up too. It's really a cool design set-up with a little spacer or insert which brings the levers in closer to the bar or the hands. It looks like it belongs that way rather than an afermarket adjustment. I recommend it.