Women's specific shifters/ brakes

[cawright1375]

My fiancee recently got a road bike and the shop we purchased it from has been super helpful in terms of fit and adjusting it to her. However we keep running into one key problem - her brakes. The bike has Shimano Sora shifters/ brake levers and she can only get two fingers (index & middle) on the levers to brake. Even when she has them gripped as tightly as possible, she can't get her ring or pinky fingers on either hand to even get on the lever. And thus can't fully engage the brakes to feel confident about stopping while going downhill (i.e. stopping at the base of a hill) The shop inserted a spacer inside the mechanism which helps and they adjusted the barrel on the cable.

She also says the area comprising the base of her thumb and index finger gets sore because of feeling she has to over extend her hand to break. So my question to the women who ride a lot is, have you had/ have this issue and if so how have you solved it and also what gruppo are you using?
We have the option of upgrading to my Ultegra shifters/ brake levers and in all liklihood will be doing that. But I was curious if Sram or Campy have better gear for women?

 

[Pietro]

My fiancee recently got a road bike and the shop we purchased it from has been super helpful in terms of fit and adjusting it to her. However we keep running into one key problem - her brakes. The bike has Shimano Sora shifters/ brake levers and she can only get two fingers (index & middle) on the levers to brake. Even when she has them gripped as tightly as possible, she can't get her ring or pinky fingers on either hand to even get on the lever. And thus can't fully engage the brakes to feel confident about stopping while going downhill (i.e. stopping at the base of a hill) The shop inserted a spacer inside the mechanism which helps and they adjusted the barrel on the cable.

She also says the area comprising the base of her thumb and index finger gets sore because of feeling she has to over extend her hand to break. So my question to the women who ride a lot is, have you had/ have this issue and if so how have you solved it and also what gruppo are you using?
We have the option of upgrading to my Ultegra shifters/ brake levers and in all liklihood will be doing that. But I was curious if Sram or Campy have better gear for women?

First, 'anatomic' handlebars or traditional round ones? Use the round ones as it places the hand closer to the shifter. Second shimano R700(I think) have reach adjust. Ultegra, 105, DA(7800) do not. For the LH shifter/front der effort, I'd stay away from Sram...even if they do have reach adjust.

 

[cawright1375]

They are anatomical bars, those were adjusted to as they weren't level and that helped too.

I'll look into the reach adjust levers as I had not heard of those. And any other tips are still welcome!

Thanks

 

[ElChingon]

I thought they were called Shee-mano

 

[Mr.DNA]

I'm pretty sure the Cane Creek SCR-5C brake levers are designed for small hands. But they are brake levers only, so you would probably have to move to bar-end shifters. Even so, the cost would amount to less than the price of one brifter.

 

[Black Dog]

She should be able to stop the bike with the index and middle fingers from the drops. The brakes are designed this way.

 

[BroDeal]

Shimano makes special brifters for small hands. They also make shims that can be used to shorten the reach, which is what your bike shop may have inserted.

People with small hands often find Campy more comfortable because the body of the shifter is narrower than Shimano.

As mentioned, anatomic bars usually do not work well for people with small hands.

 

[bikebike]

I'm a female cyclist who started out on a sora-equipped road bike. I have small hands and short fingers - and I remember definitely feeling 'insecure' in braking at first with only being able to reach the brakes with index and 3rd finger. Four years later and I still only brake with index and 3rd finger - the difference is fingers and hands that have adapted to what initially felt uncomfortable and wrong, and a confidence in my ability to brake on any terrain in a way that would never require grabbing the brake lever with all four fingers. My advice to your fiance is to persist with what she's got, rather than change equipment around.

 

[Ovidius]

My wife found this difficult too. Partially I think it is experience (her main issue was understanding that Road bike brakes are less abrasing than v-brakes) and using the drop position to increase leverage for braking.

It is possible that changing levers will help her, however it's a difficult choice and most groupsets are not user friendly. The idea that campag is better for small hands is irrelevant, that refers to comfort, not to the ability to brake.

At the moment my wife is using 105 with Specialized slim shims pushing the brake into the bar. She also uses a Bontrager WSD bar - possibly one of the best Womens bars out there.