Bicycle Mechanics - Small Hand - Cant get into Big Chainring

Hi everyone.

Well, my wife got a new Trek 2000 a couple of months ago. I was so suprised she wanted one. Well, now she is up and running 50-60 mile rides on Saturdays and talking about her first English Century. Was I ever suprised.

Now comes the issue she is having. I know the Short Reach Brifters....may help, but am not sure. In addition to the fact that she is having a trouble having the strength to get from the middle chainring to the big chainring. It is not just an issue of the reach, though that may help. She can get from the small chain ring to the middle with no problem. She has not problems on the rear shifter.

Do you think that the short reach shifters will give her more leverage also. We dont mind spending the $ to change over, but hate to spend it if she still wont be able to get to the big ring.

If all else fails, should she just go with middle / little and go to a smaller cassette in the rear to get some benefits?

Thanks

Matt

It may be the limit screw is too tight, usually shifting fron 2 to 3 is pretty easy especially on a high end bike.

So did you make yourself a bike widower? Just kidding.

I maybe wrong on this. Short reach, long reach is about how far you can adjust the brake pads from the pivot in case of changing wheel size like from 27 In. to 700mm. I don't think any company makes different size brake, shifter levers.

I tend to agree with KleinMp99. If you can shift one gear to the next effortlessly but can't shift it to another gear, the problem is probably in the adjustment of the limiter. You can identify it by looking for two small screws side by side, most of them(Well, at least on my bike.) are stamped "H" and "L" right next to them, so you can tell which one is high limiter and which one is low limiter.

I believe that the original question was about short reach STI levers made for smaller hands, not the reach of the brake calipers. There may in fact be a problem with the limit screws, but you should be able to find a shop with a bike in stock with the short reach levers. If not, a good shop would let you try them oout and return them if they don't do the trick. Try having them check the drivetrain first, and see how that goes. If there is still too much effort involved, have them order you a set of the short reach levers.

DEMON

pcsanity, have you wife adjust her shifting technique. Have her shift with a higher cadence and have her back off on pedal pressure. Just a slight back off on pedal pressure will help considerably. After a few short rides she'll be able to pull off the shifts flawlessly.

The reason I recommend a higher cadence is similar to why you need the RPM's up in car. Have you ever shifted into high gear in your car at 2000 RPM? If you do the engine lugs. But, if you get the revs up and then shift, its seemless.

Thanks everybody.

We went into the shop yesterday and they put some of the shims under her levers to pull them in a bit. she is now able to get the second joint around the levers.

Miami, the cadence helped quite a bit also.

I better watch out now that she can get in that big ring.

Matt