girlfriend brakes!?

les_dennis

My girlfriend had a big crash last year after she lost control of the bike coming down a hill. Fortunately, she's out riding again but is still having problems with braking on steep downhills (15% or more) when she can ride slowly but finds it difficult to stop. I've tried her bike and the brakes seem ok so I think it's probably a strength thing. She has drop handlebars with shimano 105 levers and calipers. Can any anyone recommend any solutions? Not sure if V brakes (with adaptors) would help get more leverage:?:

Thanks in advance!
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alfablue

My girlfriend had similar anxieties about braking on descents (though fortunately not because of an accident). I adjusted her Sora shifters to have a shorter reach and she can now brake with confidence on the hoods. 105 shifters don't have the same built-in adjustability, but I think some Shimano shifters can have shims fitted to reduce reach, I think these will fit 105. Alternatively Shimano R600 (105 quality?) and R700 (Ultegra) shifters are available as short reach.

The brakes are probably fine, it is more likely your g/f's hand size and strength (as you suggest) that is the issue and shortening the reach with one of the above solutions may solve the problem. You could also improve braking with Koolstop Salmon pads.

Monty Dog

Adjust the brakes such that the levers come half way back before starting to bite - most people don't have a strong enough grip with a more open hand. Fitting a women's bar with a tighter shape and shallower drop may help too

richa

Is she descending on the drops? This can feel contrary to what you are trying to achieve (i.e. drops for speed), but allows a much much better grip of the levers than from the hoods.

robbarker

Most bars and levers are designed by men for men, and are too big for a lot of women.

Proper size bars are a good starting point, a 38 or 40cm width is often more than enough for narrower female shoulders, but the most important thing is lever reach.

Have a look at something like this, jewel-like and designed for smaller hands:

http://cycle.shimano-eu.com/publish/con ... _road.html

If grip strength is an issue, buy her a tennis ball - 10 squeezes per hour with each hand during working hours will have her gripping like a trapeze artist in no time.

roger_merriman

other option is to, add cycle cross levers? fairly stubby wee things so shouldn't have a problem with reach,

crankycrank

Agree with all the suggestions above but if all else fails, get her a bike with disc brakes. Disc's stop better than anything else.

LittleB0b

RichA wrote:

Is she descending on the drops? This can feel contrary to what you are trying to achieve (i.e. drops for speed), but allows a much much better grip of the levers than from the hoods.

Agree - you get much more grip, and braking power on the drops - but it can feel insecure to switch grip once you have started down, becuase you have to stop breaking so pick up speed. Now if i know it's going to be a steep hill i try to make sure i'm ready at the top. But them i'm a wuss, and frequntly go up hills faster than i come down them (maybe).

les_dennis

Sorry - it was a bit rude for me to ask a question and then disappear away from the computer for a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the replies. We're gonna look into all of them but keep the disc brakes as a back up in case anything else doesn't work. I think it is a strength thing - I've ridden her bike and I feel like her brakes are better than mine. The other thing is that it seems to effect her most on long descents which need a combination of strength and endurance.

Cheers!

Les