Originally Posted by
tmoritz
Some flat bar brake levers have an adjustable stop so you can reduce the gap between the handle bar and the brake lever for those riders who have short fingers. The trade off here is you will have less brake shoe travel. You can compensate for this by making sure the rims are true and minimizing brake shoe clearance.
Good explanation, TM. But I would go beyond just saying SOME flat bar levers and say that MOST modern mtb brake levers have adjustable reach. Some (Avid SD-7 for sure, maybe others also) even have adjustable cable pull (which amounts to leverage) which can help to fine tune the balance between "bottoming out" your levers and not having enough hand strength.