alathIN

Already switched to SRAM Rival brake levers, which she can actually reach, so that's a plus.
Already recabled with higher grade cables and housings.

She still does not feel super-strong to grip the levers powerfully enough for a panic stop should that be needed.

Other options I am considering:

1) hearing good things about the Kool-stop salmon pads. Word is they are very grippy, but wear out fast. That's OK, I can replace them once a month if necessary.

2) calipers with better mechanical advantage? It's a carbon fork road bike that is originally set up with standard-appearing road bike brake calipers. They are entry level, unlabelled, came OEM on her Fuji Finest 1.5 - if better calipers can help, I'd be fine to put them on (please suggest brand/model if you have a favorite). One note: SHORT REACH CALIPERS DON'T WORK. I tried some SRAM Rival 22 calipers, and with the pads all the way out to the end, they still touch the tires about 1mm.

TenSpeedV2

Have you considered working on her grip/hand strength instead of the bike?

dabac

That little - and with hand strength issues - I'd be inclined to take a rat-tail file either to the brake arm slots or to the dropouts.

HillRider

Kool Stop Salmons are far better than most OEM pads and do not wear our particularly fast unless you consider 1-1/2 to 2 years of daily use in hilly riding conditions as fast wear.

fietsbob

+1) I get years out of KS Salmon Compound pads, my self ..

Inserts: Dura Ace type ; eagle claw Plain Post, cantilevers ; KS Continental Bolt on ; and even in my Magura HS33 Hydro rim brakes .



Magura has re introduced a road bike Hydro rim brake [RT6 or 8], to use road brifters they have a cable to hydro converter , that goes under the stem..

Cable in , Hoses out. (RT6 TT package is with a Aerobar master tor Time trial Rigs.. )


(IDK what happened to SRAM's Hydro Rim brakes , they used to be an option when they put the Hydro master in the brake lever , vs Discs.

Hydros respond well to a light grip, but will still do front Stoppies if you panic Brake.





:>..

alathIN

This was my first thought.

Just to be clear about how much I need: about 1ish mm of pad is actually on the tire. Maybe another 2mm of pad in the gap. about 2/3 of the pad is actually on the brake track. I'd probably need to take close on half a centimeter out of the brake arms and dropouts combined.

alathIN

Yes. For about a nanosecond.

Just out of curiousity, are you married?

fietsbob

Brake pad reach challenged? a bolt on adapter can be made and then you can fit V brakes ..

They were some made for BMX, its a Plate with a bolt to mount it then 2 posts for the brakes to Go On..

a skilled Metalworker make one .


A Side Wall Blow out is in your future .. 100% of the brake pad has to be on the rim . you keep moving the pad as it wears to make that So.





...

TenSpeedV2

Happily divorced actually. She always wanted the bike to be fixed, not the rider or the riders ability. She learned that if she worked on her skills and ability though, magically she got better. The bike can only be fixed and adjusted so much, then the rider needs to work on them self to continue on.

fietsbob

Who chose the Drop Bars, you or Her?

dedhed

BDop OFFSET HOLDERS

alathIN

Right. Nobody is riding it like that - I took those calipers off already, put in the return request on eBay.

I do like the adaptor idea. And, just by a purely random coincidence, my dad is an auto racing engineer with a fully equipped machine shop. The shop is accessible anytime; getting his advice about how to do things is moderately accessible; getting him to actually make/fix/machine/weld something that's outside my skill set is less accessible.

alathIN

That looks really good, and it's plenty of offset for what I am doing.

If my current experiment fails, that may be the next thing I try.

alathIN

I chose them based on her complaints about the old ones.

She loves the bars, bar tape, hoods, and brake/shift levers... all that's a success. It's just what happens on the other end that is controversial.

alathIN

OK, the most accessible/immediate option was to put the old calipers back on with a set of Kool-stop pads I happened to have laying around.

My hope is that with brake levers she can actually reach, and softer/grippier pads, the problem will be solved.

If this doesn't work I'll probably try the offset pads linked above with the Rival calipers as a next step.

Conversion to V-brakes sounds like a big project and would be a third option.

Thanks for all the suggestions - outstanding info service, accessible on Holidays No Less!

fietsbob

the suggestion , get out a half round file and remove material from the brake lever body, where it contacts the bar, so the whole lever angles closer to the rider..

does have merit...

Shimano has wedges of molded rubber, that get included, in the lever, on bikes , so the lever once released, the swing- arc,
does not fully go out of reach as Much as when it is not inserted..

Often does not make it onto the bike on the shop floor

Hang tag bag not big enough for everything, touch up paint vials and lots of things in the shipping carton left off..

So ask for them when you buy the bikes..




...

fietsbob

short ramp type?

I recall, In the past some Italian bar makers pressed in a dent, in the back of the bar,
to let the hand get closer to the lever .

for the female hand.




'/,

xiaoman1 

I bet he doesn't even know what a rolling pin is
Ouch, Ben

canklecat

My hands have only average strength. My mountain bike with cantilever brakes and Kool Stop Eagle 2 salmon or Jagwire black pads require three fingers and a hefty squeeze.

My hybrid bike with V-brakes and Kool Stop black cartridge inserts are a one-finger squeeze. It's easy to lock up the wheels -- too easy for the front so I have to pay attention when I've been riding the mountain bike with cantis for awhile.

A friend recently converted his mountain bike from cantilever to V-brakes. He found the difference was significant, with much better stopping from the V-brakes with less effort. It did require a complete replacement of bits, including the levers. But he says it was worth the effort.

I wouldn't worry about Kool Stop salmon pads wearing out quickly. I ride some fast hilly areas and often brake hard. No signs of unusual wear after two or three months. If anything my hybrid's black Kool Stop inserts have worn more quickly. Still a fair trade for the positive, quiet braking with little hand/finger effort.

shelbyfv

Teach her to brake from the drops.

tcarl

Piano lessons, especially scales and exercises - all the boring stuff. That'll do wonders for hand strength (after a while).

TenSpeedV2

What about adding in cross levers? Personally, I hate them and took them off of my cross bike. Sounds like she/you only want to work on the bike and not her actual hand strength.

DrIsotope

This is what they call "Answering a question no one asked." Did you stop to consider for a moment that the problem is not strictly hand strength, but one of hand size? As a person with XXL hands and the grip strength of a lowlands gorilla, I can feel for the plight of the tiny-handed. My wife is relatively tiny-handed-- her thumbs are smaller than my pinkies. Without the 8º shims in her Tiagra STis, she simply could not reach the levers from the drops-- she could barely get one fingertip on them.

8º shims, 5800 calipers, Kool Stop salmons. I also set them up so the pads sit back from the rim about 1/8", so the levers have more travel, and she can put more force on the levers with them closer to the bars.

TenSpeedV2

OP mentions that she is not super strong to engage the brake lever. I don't see where hand size is mentioned. Strength, yes. Size, no.

DrIsotope

From the very first post: "Already switched to SRAM Rival brake levers, which she can actually reach, so that's a plus."

This leads me to believe that the hands in question are small, and that the reach problem is every bit as important as any related strength issue.