# Small hands and shifting



## 7.62 (Oct 13, 2006)

Hi all,

My wife has a bit of a tough time shifting to the big ring on her Spec Ruby triple. Her hands are small and she can't make the full push of the lever from the hoods which gets her very frustrated. How can I remedy this? 

I don't see the size of the bars being an issue as she doesn't ride in the drops.

Thanks


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

If it's Shimano STI, try this. Not sure how short of a full stroke you can be and still have this 'double-tap' trick work, but it would be easy enough to find out. Is your avatar a caliber?


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## 7.62 (Oct 13, 2006)

wim said:


> If it's Shimano STI, try this. Not sure how short of a full stroke you can be and still have this 'double-tap' trick work, but it would be easy enough to find out. Is your avatar a caliber?


Yeah, they're STI. I'll have her give it a try tomorrow.

Thanks wim.

Oh, and yes, my username is the caliber. :thumbsup:


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## theBreeze (Jan 7, 2002)

Chiming in late here. I also have small hands and often used the "double shift" technique that "wim" suggests.

Recently I needed to replace my shifters (after 7 seasons!) and replaced them with Shimano's short reach shifters. I LOVE them. It makes a huge difference in my comfort and now I can shift from the hoods and drops. If/When upgrading, seriously consider them for your wife.


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## tomacita (May 7, 2007)

*I'm a man but...*

I have circus-worthy freakishly small hands for a 6' 200lb guy. I also got the shimano short reach levers and have found them to be great for the last couple thousand miles. There is also another option. Specialized and possibly some other companies make pads that fit under the hoods and basically don't allow the lever to return as far up. Much to my dismay, it seems as though this is the only difference with the sti shifters I got compared to others. Anyhow, see if you can't find the lever reach adjust pads and that with help immensley. look here: http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=30994


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## tomk96 (Sep 24, 2007)

my wife is having difficulty reaching the levers for braking fom the hoods on her new cross bike. do people like the short reach levers? will he solve the problem? i had never heard of them until i found this thread.


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## Sacha (Jul 19, 2007)

I switched to Campy. No problems for small hands.


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## messyparrot (Sep 17, 2007)

I have SRAM Red and it is completely adjustable.

I luvs it.


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## tomacita (May 7, 2007)

*Just spend the $20*



tomk96 said:


> my wife is having difficulty reaching the levers for braking fom the hoods on her new cross bike. do people like the short reach levers? will he solve the problem? i had never heard of them until i found this thread.


Cool for all the people who can drop hundreds of dollars on the latest gear. As for your wife's ride, just installing the adjustment blocks would do the trick. They solve the problem because they are still the same "brifters" only brought 20mm closer to the drops. Plus you can keep the $555 and know that your money was well spent. http://www.competitivecyclist.com/r...ram-red-doubletap-shift-levers-4470.36.1.html


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## il sogno (Jul 15, 2002)

tomk96 said:


> my wife is having difficulty reaching the levers for braking fom the hoods on her new cross bike. do people like the short reach levers? will he solve the problem? i had never heard of them until i found this thread.


Is she using Shimano?


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## tomk96 (Sep 24, 2007)

il sogno said:


> Is she using Shimano?


yeah, i think she has 105 stuffs.


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## hawker12 (Oct 19, 2003)

I'm a short guy with small hands. You didn't mention her reach to the brake levers but if that is also a problem, Shimano makes a small plastic brake lever spacer that fits on the brake hood and moves the lever a bit closer. I think they cost $10 and they really helped me a lot.


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## 7.62 (Oct 13, 2006)

It looks like those spacers that Spec sells aren't compatible with 105 10sp.. which is what the wifey has and I didn't find anything on the Shimano site. Still looking..

She can hit the brakes with out a prob. Throwing the shifters is the issue. Even double tapping is difficult for her.


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## TurboTurtle (Feb 4, 2004)

theBreeze said:


> Chiming in late here. I also have small hands and often used the "double shift" technique that "wim" suggests.
> 
> Recently I needed to replace my shifters (after 7 seasons!) and replaced them with Shimano's short reach shifters. I LOVE them. It makes a huge difference in my comfort and now I can shift from the hoods and drops. If/When upgrading, seriously consider them for your wife.


How does moving the levers closer to the bars help the side movement of shifting??? - TF


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## zeytin (May 15, 2004)

TurboTurtle said:


> How does moving the levers closer to the bars help the side movement of shifting??? - TF


It brings the shifters within range of your fingers.


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