# Handlebars for small hands



## txzen (Apr 6, 2005)

I'm trying to help my wife out a bit with her bike. She has problems reaching the brakes from the drops. She has Ultegra levers, and I've already installed the "shim" kit that reduces the reach, but I think I need to do more. 

I know there are some bars out there which by their shape help in this regard. Terry used to make one, but it doesn't seem to be available anymore. 

3T makes the "eva" which by its geometry reduces the reach to 77mm:










I was trying to see if Salsa's HB's had any such contouring and actually sent them an email asking if they could provide me the measument of the reach on their Short & Shallow. I got the following response:



> Well... that measurement acutally has very little to do with the bar. Its more of a reach adjustment of the shifter. There are a couple ways to improve this reach. Shiman makes a road shifter called the R600 that is a short reach lever and made specifically for smaller hands. There is also a shop called Speedgoat (www.speedgoat.com) that does a conversion of your current shimano levers for a shorter reach by drilling a hole and inserting an additional adjusting screw into the lever. Pretty cool custom deal. Anyway.... Hope that helps you out.


Actually, that didn't help. I sent back another email pointing out that various bars have contours which are specifically designed to reduce the reach, and if he could provide me the measurement I was asking for...and got no reply. 

Anyone have another idea besides the (slightly pricey) 3T model?


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## Dave Hickey (Jan 27, 2002)

Check out the Salsa Poco bars. They are great for small hands. I'm not sure of the lever reach but I know they are comfortable for smaller hands

http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?...o+Handlebar&vendorCode=SALSA&major=1&minor=15


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

You can also check the Specialized 'Dolce' bars which are designed for women/small hands. 132 mm drop, 75 mm reach:

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=19275


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Dr_John said:


> You can also check the Specialized 'Dolce' bars which are designed for women/small hands. 132 mm drop, 75 mm reach:
> 
> http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=19275


I have measured a bunch of the older 'small-hand' bars, like the ones from Salsa and Terry, and none of them brought the lever any closer - all about 85mm. The Eva really does bring them into about 77mm as shown and is the best I have found. Have not measured (and would be interested in) the Specialized 'Dolce' bar.

Remember that the 'reach' spec on a bar is not the lever distance, but the forward distance from the center of the tops to the center of the front of the drops (i.e. 100mm on your example pic).

TF


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

Just looked at the Specialized site.

The Dolce appears to only be short and shallow with nothing for the lever distance.

The Women's Road Handlebar (http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=14912) says it has a 75mm 'Brake lever to upper flat section'. It may be worth a try.

The (outrageously priced) Ruby SL Advanced Composite Road Handlebar (http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=14910) implies that the distance is shorter, but gives no measurement.

TF


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

It looks as if you have a better understanding of the issue than whoever emailed you from Salsa.  As you said, it's the _contour_ of the bend which determines how close a particular brake lever comes to the bar, not the bar's reach dimension.

Try increasing the distance between the brake pads and the rim until the downshift paddles just touch the bar with your wife pulling hard on the levers. While that will not move the levers closer, it will increase free play in the system. That allows the rider to pull the levers close into the bars with a light touch before the pads touch the rim and the rider needs to exert significant force.

Because the shim already reduced lever-to-bar distance, it may not be possible to dial in more free play and still have enough braking power. On the other hand, most modern bikes have so much braking power that bottoming out the levers during a hard stop is not really a problem. During an out-and-out panic stop, the downshift paddles usually are forced sideways and allow a bit more lever travel.


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

wim said:


> It looks as if you have a better understanding of the issue than whoever emailed you from Salsa.  As you said, it's the _contour_ of the bend which determines how close a particular brake lever comes to the bar, not the bar's reach dimension.
> 
> Try increasing the distance between the brake pads and the rim until the downshift paddles just touch the bar with your wife pulling hard on the levers. While that will not move the levers closer, it will increase free play in the system. That allows the rider to pull the levers close into the bars with a light touch before the pads touch the rim and the rider needs to exert significant force.
> 
> Because the shim already reduced lever-to-bar distance, it may not be possible to dial in more free play and still have enough braking power. On the other hand, most modern bikes have so much braking power that bottoming out the levers during a hard stop is not really a problem. During an out-and-out panic stop, the downshift paddles usually are forced sideways and allow more lever travel.


Also, the Eva has a little 'dent' to provide more room for the paddle. It somewhat limits the options for positioning the levers on the bars (if you use the dent) and is partially nixed by the bar tape, but is still there. - TF


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## C-40 (Feb 4, 2004)

*limitations...*

Note that the eva bars pictured are shown with campy levers, not shimano. They won't have the same dimensions. Also note that the brake hood of the campy levers is angled downward, which I would find uncomfortable. I want the top of the brake hood level at the minimum or angled up a few degrees.


As others noted, you must leave enough space between the inner shift lever and the bars to operate the brakes. It seems like the logical approach would be to first loosen the cables so that the shift lever barely avoids touching the bars under hard braking. If that setting permits the brake lever to be closer, then perhaps some modification of the shim is in order. I make a similar modification to campy ergo levers that achieves the same brake lever position as the eva bar, so I can choose any bar I want.

Although the shape of a bar's bend has some effect on the distance to the brake lever, it's not great. The bar diameter determines most of the distance. I've tried a lot of bars and never found one that positioned the brake lever significantly closer with the proper brake hood angle.


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## Mark16q (Oct 19, 2004)

I'm running Modolo K's...great for short reach but pricey....and carbon, light and I had to have them  

However, my '07 Langster came with a Specialized brand bar that has a very short reach. While I doubt they're light, they are very comfortable and I don't have to struggle to get on the brakes at all. Which with a fixie can be a good thing at times. Considering how inexpensive the bike was, I doubt the bars are expensive. According to the Specialized site, "Specialized Comp, 6061 alloy, short-reach drop, 31.8mm".

Mark


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## 32and3cross (Feb 28, 2005)

*try these*

My wife is a racer with small hands and had the same issue it was real problem for her esp in NRC crits where you don't want to break but when you have to you want to be able to reach the evers with ease. We found these and they did work wonders for moving the lever position in closer and making easy for her to break from the drops.
http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDetails.asp?productID=5131&categoryID=132

BTW I am not endorsing this store just the bars.

The new specialized womens specific bars share som of teh same features as the Eva'a esp the flattened aera in the bend that oves the levers closer in the drops.

The modolos taht are mention in another post also seem to be a good choice 2 of teh other tiny climbers on my wifes teams use those although i don't think that the reach is as good as the TTTs or the specialized bars.



C-40 said:


> Note that the eva bars pictured are shown with campy levers, not shimano. They won't have the same dimensions. Also note that the brake hood of the campy levers is angled downward, which I would find uncomfortable. I want the top of the brake hood level at the minimum or angled up a few degrees.
> 
> 
> As others noted, you must leave enough space between the inner shift lever and the bars to operate the brakes. It seems like the logical approach would be to first loosen the cables so that the shift lever barely avoids touching the bars under hard braking. If that setting permits the brake lever to be closer, then perhaps some modification of the shim is in order. I make a similar modification to campy ergo levers that achieves the same brake lever position as the eva bar, so I can choose any bar I want.
> ...


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## txzen (Apr 6, 2005)

Thanks for the reponses. And yes, I think I DO have a better understanding of the issue than the Salsa guy I emailed. 

What makes it confusing is the term "reach" on a handlebar is actually the distance the bar goes forward before it drops - i.e. the reach on the eva bar above is 100mm. It's rather hard to find this measurement, actually. 



> My wife is a racer with small hands and had the same issue it was real problem for her esp in NRC crits where you don't want to break but when you have to you want to be able to reach the evers with ease. We found these and they did work wonders for moving the lever position in closer and making easy for her to break from the drops.
> http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productD...categoryID=132


That's the Eva bar I referenced in my post - good to know that it worked for you. 

I did just find the Terry T-bar, which has an small indentation in the bend to bring the hand closer:

http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB='1087-36'




> Note that the eva bars pictured are shown with campy levers, not shimano. They won't have the same dimensions. Also note that the brake hood of the campy levers is angled downward, which I would find uncomfortable. I want the top of the brake hood level at the minimum or angled up a few degrees.


That's it - I've got to get her a new bike!. Actually, good point - I didn't notice as I ride Campy and they looked normal to me. I did measure her lever reach on her setup (which looks to be a "normal" entry-level 3T), and it's right around 90mm. I may give it a shot regardless, and see how it works out. I'd really like her to decend better, and I think what's holding her back is that she refuses/can't brake from the drops. 

Thanks for all of your responses - very informative!


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## SadieKate (Feb 22, 2006)

Resurrecting an old thread because I'm looking for bars with a short reach to the lever but they have to be silver.

I've found Modolo Venus but I can't quite picture what a sanded finish is. Matte as opposed to polish? But, I hope, not the rough anodizing you see on black Ritchey bars?

My biggest problem is using the brake lever from the hoods, not the drops, and I want silver. I am so tired of all the black stuff.

What does a sanded finish mean for silver bars?


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

SadieKate said:


> Resurrecting an old thread because I'm looking for bars with a short reach to the lever but they have to be silver.
> 
> I've found Modolo Venus but I can't quite picture what a sanded finish is. Matte as opposed to polish? But, I hope, not the rough anodizing you see on black Ritchey bars?
> 
> ...


The bars really are not going to make any difference for leverage when using the levers from the hoods.

If you want one of the new style bars (that only come in black) really bad in silver, do a search on how to remove the anodization and polish/clearcoat the aluminum.

TF


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## SadieKate (Feb 22, 2006)

Turbo, what does "new style" mean to you?


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