tetonrider

My wife has exceptionally small hands, which causes her to strain a bit more while braking on extended descents, as well as shifting. I believe I can add shims to her Ultegra brifters to reduce the reach of the levers (by 10mm or 20mm, depending on the shim used), but this will not affect the throw of the lever.

Does anyone have experience with the Shimano R700? (Here is a link to the specific product page on the Shimano web site.)

I am trying to figure out if there is anything special about the shape, length or throw on these levers that makes them distinct from regular Ulty brifters. From all my searches, the only thing I can see for certain is that they come with the shims.

I'm happy to get the appropriate shims for her -- but if there's something about the R700 that is inherently better for folks with smaller hands (i.e. more than just the shims), then I'd consider spending more cash to get the right solution.

Thanks for any insight.

mrbubbles

Get her a set of Campagnolo shifters. If you do not want to go that route, those shims will work, but not as good as Campagnolo shifters.

Jared88

I don't think you need to get her new shifters, because the shims will work with the current ultegra shifters.

Ingleside

I just set up my girlfriend's 10 speed 105 shifters with a pair of Specialized slim shims and she loves them. From what i understood the 700 is just a shifter that allows the use of different shims that are provided with the shifter. i figured $10 was better than a new pair of shifters.

Trevor98

I take it your worried more about the throw of the shift levers than the reach of the brakes (shims solve that problem). I've never seen the R700 but your concern has merit. I don't think that the R700 has different lever throw to shift from what I can gather from the website. I too am interested in finding a solution as my wife has small hands as well.

AnthonyG

I have very small hands too and I happen to use Shimano R600 levers. All they are realy is the standard levers with the shims already in place. I had to buy levers anyway and I picked them up for a good price second hand on eBay. The shims will be fine in that regard.

Now in my view the handlebars are just as important when it comes to lever reach. The old classic curve bars are much better then ergo bars with a flat section as they allow you to get your hand closer to the lever. I also have the cable adjustment realy quite slack on the brakes which alows me to pull the lever in close before I need to put any force into it.

I was using Modolo Venus handlebars which I kind of liked the shape of but they were still too deep for me with a 140mm drop. The also had a reach of 90mm which doesn't make them a small bar realy even at a width of 38cm.

I've recently purchased some Ritchey logic Pro handlebars from this eBay seller, https://cgi.ebay.com.au/Ritchey-Logic...QQcmdZViewItem and I like them so far although I haven't been on that many rides with them.

Thats an eBay Australia link so search for the sellers name on US eBay.

They have a short reach at 75mm and a shallow drop at 135mm. I've set them up tilted down with the bottom of the handlebars comming back up a fraction which gives me very good access to the brake levers. I put my hands right into the top curve so they effectively have a VERY shallow drop along with a few other positions which is nice.

Regards, Anthony

tetonrider

Thanks for all the replies.

That's exactly the info I was looking for. We're not looking to spend extra money -- particularly if it won't address the problem. So...unless there was a big difference with the R600/R700 other than the shims, it wouldn't make sense to go that route.

We'll give the shims a try and keep our fingers crossed. If they don't solve her problem, it may be time to explore alternatives (different bars).

Thank you!

tetonrider

I have a set of shims that came with a Trek bike -- and they're too big for the 105 shifters -- and looks like they could fall out under the right circumstances. Also, because they don't properly align with the lever, some of the affect of the shim is negated. Here's are photos of the problem.






I understand there are true Ultegra shims that should solve the problem.