My Small Hands or Which road drop handlebars will bring my handscloser to my brake levers?

[Me]

Hi all,

I've googled this a few times but can't come up with an answer I can
understand so apologies if you have already replied to a similar question.

Last week I put drop bars on my v-braked mtb for the winter months on
the road.

I have a 90cm stem that brings my 42cm bars to a good position when I'm
in the drops and on the top of the bars.

My question:

I've only used sti's and ergos before and I find that my new Dia-comp
287v brake levers (the lever bit itself and not the hoods) seem to be a
bit further away from the drops than I can comfortable reach. They are
fine to operate in the hoods, but when I'm in the drops my fingers
barely reach the lever itself so I can't rest my fingers on them in
traffic. I can get one finger to them but inorder to get 2 I need to
roll my wrists forwards a bit. Oddly enough, everything about the set up
is perfect, other than that particular measuremnt, I wonder if the
dia-comps need more leverage to pull the v-brake cable and are set
further away from the hoods?

Whats the best way to bring the levers closer to the bar? They don't
seem to have any type of reach adjustment aka mtb levers. It just seems
that my sti's and pervious ergos have a curve in the lever which brings
the ends closer. I'd put a pair on but I'm running my mtb as a
singlespeed and the gear shifter bit wouldn't be necesary.

Are any bars made that will shorten the distance between the bar's drop
and the lever itself? Would a womens bar do the trick?

A final question. Can someone tell me what bar manufactures mean when
they describe their REACH and DROP measurements?

Any help would be appreciated!

cheers

 

[packmagician]

Most modern "anatomic" handlebars do not work well for people with small hands because they tend to increase the distance to the lever. Two things that I do that help (I have pretty small hands). First, I move the levers farther down on the bars than is normal. It makes it a bit less comfortable to ride on the brake hoods, of course, but it's less of a stretch to reach the levers. Second, I leave the brake adjustment a bit on the loose side so that I can get a couple of fingers around the lever before the pads hit the rim. I'm using ITM bars, which have a somewhat less pronounced "anatomic" bend to them as well.

 

[andy]

Check out the Salsa POCO bars, very nice for small hands.
andy
"packmagician" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news[email protected]...
>
> Most modern "anatomic" handlebars do not work well for people with small
> hands because they tend to increase the distance to the lever. Two
> things that I do that help (I have pretty small hands). First, I move
> the levers farther down on the bars than is normal. It makes it a bit
> less comfortable to ride on the brake hoods, of course, but it's less
> of a stretch to reach the levers. Second, I leave the brake adjustment
> a bit on the loose side so that I can get a couple of fingers around the
> lever before the pads hit the rim. I'm using ITM bars, which have a
> somewhat less pronounced "anatomic" bend to them as well.
>
>
> --
> packmagician
>
>
>

 

[Morten Reippuert Knudsen]

Me <[email protected]> wrote:

> A final question. Can someone tell me what bar manufactures mean when
> they describe their REACH and DROP measurements?

> Any help would be appreciated!

I know that 3T's prima199 prima220 and grandprix bars is nade in 3 different
shapes:

anatmic
round deep
round

take a look on the last of the 3 shapes, ITM used to make to round +
an anatmnic shape as well (at least the pro220, pro260 and pro2
existed in the 3 different shapes)

--
Morten Reippuert Knudsen <http://blog.reippuert.dk>

PowerMac G5: 1.6GHz, 1.25GB RAM, 300+80GB Disk, 8xDVD+/-RW, Bluetooth
mus+tastatur, FX5200 Ultra, iSight, eyeTV200 & LaCie Photon18Vision TFT

 

[Super Slinky]

Me says...

> Hi all,
>
> I've googled this a few times but can't come up with an answer I can
> understand so apologies if you have already replied to a similar question.
>
> Last week I put drop bars on my v-braked mtb for the winter months on
> the road.
>
> I have a 90cm stem that brings my 42cm bars to a good position when I'm
> in the drops and on the top of the bars.
>
> My question:
>
> I've only used sti's and ergos before and I find that my new Dia-comp
> 287v brake levers (the lever bit itself and not the hoods) seem to be a
> bit further away from the drops than I can comfortable reach. They are
> fine to operate in the hoods, but when I'm in the drops my fingers
> barely reach the lever itself so I can't rest my fingers on them in
> traffic. I can get one finger to them but inorder to get 2 I need to
> roll my wrists forwards a bit. Oddly enough, everything about the set up
> is perfect, other than that particular measuremnt, I wonder if the
> dia-comps need more leverage to pull the v-brake cable and are set
> further away from the hoods?
>
> Whats the best way to bring the levers closer to the bar? They don't
> seem to have any type of reach adjustment aka mtb levers. It just seems
> that my sti's and pervious ergos have a curve in the lever which brings
> the ends closer. I'd put a pair on but I'm running my mtb as a
> singlespeed and the gear shifter bit wouldn't be necesary.
>
> Are any bars made that will shorten the distance between the bar's drop
> and the lever itself? Would a womens bar do the trick?
>
> A final question. Can someone tell me what bar manufactures mean when
> they describe their REACH and DROP measurements?
>
> Any help would be appreciated!
>
> cheers

In addition to the Salsa bar already mentioned, Deda makes shallow bars
that might fit you better than what you have. Reach measures how far the
bars protrude from the straight part where the clamp is. Drop measures
the distance from the straight part of the bar to the lowest part that
points to the rear of the bike. If you are lucky, the specs will tell
you how it is measured, for example from the center of the tube at both
ends of the measurement, or center to center. Unfortunately, the
measuring conventions may vary depending on the manufacturer.

 

[dianne_1234]

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 20:43:52 +0000, Me <[email protected]> wrote:

>...drop bars...Dia-comp 287v brake levers
>Whats the best way to bring the levers closer to the bar?

I've heard of a shim clamped between the bar and the lever body, under
the upper part of the lever body.

 

[Dan Daniel]

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 20:43:52 +0000, Me <[email protected]> wrote:


>
>Whats the best way to bring the levers closer to the bar?

Hard to explain, but I added a 'shim' to my 105 levers. Imagine a
spacer at the top of the silver handle where it comes to rest against
the main body. This pushed the handle closer to the handlebars. I made
the spacers from aluminum, lathed and beveled to fit inside the top of
the lever, drilled and tapped to hold in place. Worked like a charm. I
could put the hoods where I wanted and get the reach that I wanted, a
combination that I couldn't achieve before.

They don't
>seem to have any type of reach adjustment aka mtb levers. It just seems
>that my sti's and pervious ergos have a curve in the lever which brings
>the ends closer. I'd put a pair on but I'm running my mtb as a
>singlespeed and the gear shifter bit wouldn't be necesary.
>
>Are any bars made that will shorten the distance between the bar's drop
>and the lever itself? Would a womens bar do the trick?
>

I have never had this kind of reach problem with traditional round
bend drop bars. I've only had it with brake levers and 'anatomic' bend
bars. I have the same model brake levers on a round and an anatomic,
bars with very similar reaches and drops, and I needed the shim on the
anatomic but not on the round.

I wonder if the 'historical confluence' of dual pivot brakes,
integrated shifters, and anatomic bends led to changes that make
simple aero brake levers sit differently on anatomic bars?

 

[Paul Kopit]

On Tue, 09 Nov 2004 20:43:52 +0000, Me <[email protected]> wrote:

>Are any bars made that will shorten the distance between the bar's drop
>and the lever itself? Would a womens bar do the trick?

Getting drop bars without a "modolo" bend will get your hands closer
to the levers. The bar won't have a flat spot but a gentle,
continuous curve.

 

[Provence1971]

Try Deda, Easton or Cinelli handlebars. They offer the shortest reach/shallowest drop on the market. I have relatively small hands and use Deda Newton shallow drop bars which have an 80 mm reach and are 135 mm in the drops. They fit my hands perfectly. I have no problems with reaching the brakes from the drops, they are very stiff which i like and their classic looks are a bonus

 

[B]

Ritchey WCS classic drop135, reach 82
R Biomax Pro drop 130, reach 75
Salsa Poco drop, 140 reach 70
B

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