Originally Posted by
rms13
Tried shims on my wife's road bike that was previous generation Sora. The shims bring the lever closer to the drops but does nothing to change the effort to brake from hoods. Ended up converting her bike to flat bars and she was happier with that. She's a casual rider. Shimano made women specific brifters for a short time but nearly impossible to find them now. Sram levers have adjustment to bring the lever closer to the drops but not sure if that changes the amount of effort needed to brake from drops. Newer Shimano might have these adjustments but I haven't looked into it in a while
One point is that it takes a lot less braking force to stop a 60 pound kid than a 200 pound adult.
But, the new brakes are a handful.
The two Fuji Ace bikes I bought had brake levers similar to the Dia Compe Blaze brakes, which are much smaller than even the modern Tektro brake levers, but seemed to fit well.
Of course, that means some other mounting for shifters (DT, Stem, Bar End, to of the bar paddles, etc).
I'm seeing a couple of references to the "Women's Brifters", but can't find details. Have you heard any model numbers?