I am hoping you all can help me out. I'm a brand new "cyclist" (although I probably don't even qualify yet). I recently purchased this bike as my first one. Prior to this, my riding history consisted of a few rides in childhood, but never with hand brakes or gears. I'm struggling to get really get in the groove, but I've probably only logged about 20 miles, in 3 or 4 mile sessions.

Here are the things that I am worrying about:

1) the palms of my hands start to hurt within 2 or 3 minutes of riding. I've managed to ride for about 25 minutes at a time but my hands are killing me when I'm done. I keep them on the hoods. I can't lift them up or move them while riding without wobbling crazily. I also wobble a lot when i am pedalling hard. This leads me to believe that I'm putting too much weight on my hands but I don't know what to change to fix it.
2) I have a hard time pulling the brake levers from the hoods. It's definitely easier to engage from the drops, but I'm not comfortable riding in the drops. I feel like i"m reaching really far to be able to pull on the brake lever from about the middle of the lever. (My brake levers: Shimano INTEGRATED WITH ST-A070)

A little bit of size data, if that helps: I'm a pretty petite lady, 5'1" or so, small bone structure. I'm worried that my hands are too small for the brakes/handlebars/something and that there's nothing that can be done.

I'd appreciate any advice about how to overcome these two items. Thank you!

BTW - this probably belonged on the newbie thread. I didn't see it until I'd already posted. Sorry! Guess I'm a super newbie.

Try using a good pair of gloves on your hands. At your size, I would also suggest a proper bike fit to make sure the bike isn't too long for you. And also at that size, I do think that using the brakes from the hoods will be hard. The drops will be better, and a proper fit should make riding in the drops feel better. If you have a small frame bike, you also probably have a really short stem which will make the bike feel 'wobbly' until you put enough time on it to get used to the feel.

Also with some Shimano brakes, there is a small shim that can be placed inside to move the lever closer to the bar which will make it easier to reach for small hands.

Welcome. What you have is a bike that needs to be adjusted to fit you. Keep at it, ask a lot of questions here-Fitting Your Bike don't give up. Sometimes you have to buy some different size parts to make it all come together. If you can afford a professional fitting do so before you buy a bunch of stuff you may not need. Good luck and keep riding!

Did you buy a used bike or bike online? It's not a big deal if you did but either way you should take the bike to a lbs and pay $50 for a basic fitting.
Many entry level bikes come with an extra set of brake levers on the top of the bar. They may be a great option for you with the smaller hands. I'm not sure what the proper name for those brake levers is but a lbs will be able to guide you. they came on a felt z95 that I bought a few years ago.
i definitely think a good fitting will take pressure off of your hands. If you are not wearing padded gloves try getting a pair. That and a good fit should bring you comfort

In line/interupter levers. Used to be popular on cyclocross bikes, problem is that you can't shift easily from that position and they take away some of the braking power by interrupting the cable.

My wife is also petite with small hands and could never get comfortable braking on a drop bar bike. . The levers probably came with rubber shims that will bring the levers closer to your hands so make sure those are inserted if not already. Proper fitting might help too because changing where the levers are on the bend of the bar can effectively make the lever pull less

Good advice above. In summary, if you can afford to pay for a professional fitting, do it. Get shims for your brake handles and seriously consider getting in-line levers (Cross Creek makes good ones). Riding gloves with gel padding -- not only help alleviate riding pain, but saves skin in case of a spill. Half-length (i.e., fingerless) ones are fine (especially for the summer).

Once you get your bike dialed in, fun should replace the pain. Hope you get there soon!

A few thoughts :-). First off you need to get more time on the bike, a basic simple fitting will get your seat height right (usually called saddle). But we settle in and get more flexible as we get more saddle time. They tell me if we raised the seat or dropped the handle bars that typically our hips are not in proper position at first, then we gain the flexibility we need and our pelvis position changes to a better one. So I try not to change more than one thing at a time, then give that change some time/miles to evaluate it unless it is totally intolerable. The tilt or angle to your saddle will change how much weight is on your hands, but this is countered by how the saddle press's on your anatomy.....bringing the nose up seems to take weight off the hands. But core abdominal strength is an issue too, we really IMHO should be able to hold the ride position without using our hands to hold us up in that position, so core strength exercises may help (need to get on that myself). A road bike feels a little weird at first, but your perception at 500 miles in will be MUCH different.

Thank you guys so much for the advice! I really appreciate it. I did buy the bike online so I'm sure I could use a fitting to have the best possible experience. I will find a local bike shop and get a fitting there. And I will keep at it! a

Thanks again!

Good luck with the fitting. I hope that a few small tweaks will bring more comfort and more enjoyment.

For a quick fix you can get the stem flipped. That will raise the bars and bring them back a bit.

Try riding with your hands on the bar, as you ride more you can move to the hoods and then the drops.

I guess you bought size 47 so it should fit.