Reaching the brake levers comfortably

kevinzeplin

Hello all, my first post so please be kind. Bought my first road bike (Trek 1.2) after 35 years of cycling to work and am enjoying the experience. It's been like learning to ride all over again as things are way different than the I have been used to, speed , responsiveness and position so am having to re calibrate my brain . The one thing I am not comfortable with is reaching the brake levers as whatever position I am in they seem a stretch to reach. I chose the correct frame size for my height (54cm / 5ft 7in)and have watched many bike fit videos and am happy with the set up. I have rotated the bars a bit to make them more accessible when on the hoods but it's only marginally better. Have I just got short fingers and will I get used to it and am I too used to them being a finger tip away on my old bikes?. Anyone else had the same problem

diamonddog

Welcome to the forum.
Just an idea, perhaps your stem is a bit long or some other part of your set up is slightly off, I can cover my brakes easily from the hoods and I have really small hands.

jotko

I have the hands of a small child and need to put the 10mm shims in my Shimano 105 and Tiagra STIs to bring them in so I can reach them comfortably.



Depends on the STI type, but you should be able to find them online, eg

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a44569 ... right.html

Failing that just go down your LBS and they probably have loads lying around as new levers come with a set of shims.

ForumNewbie

I thought when I first got drop bars that it was harder to reach the brake levers than on my hybrid with straight bars, as I can definitely wrap my small hands round straight bar brakes easier than drops. I don't notice it as much now as I usually ride on hoods and my brakes are quite responsive by just a light touch. However I still find it a bit scary descending as I feel I can't cover the brakes as easily on the drops.

kevinzeplin

Thanks guys for taking the time to respond, appreciate your views and info. I will at some time probably upgrade my brakes as they are only stock brakes and not as responsive as the Sora on the Allez Sport which was the other bike I test rode before choosing the Trek. I can identify totally with ForumNewbie about descending as I don't feel my brakes are responsive enough on the hoods and the Test Hill in Richmond park is a scary descend. Thanks all

KINGGARY

Before you replace your brakes, simply upgrade your pads to koolstops or something equivalent. This difference it made to my brakes performance was all I required.
Also if you struggle a little to pull the levers, it can be easier to decend on the drops ,working the levers from there will give you far better braking with less hand strain.

diamonddog

^^+1 for the brake pads.

ForumNewbie

kevinzeplin wrote:

Thanks guys for taking the time to respond, appreciate your views and info. I will at some time probably upgrade my brakes as they are only stock brakes and not as responsive as the Sora on the Allez Sport which was the other bike I test rode before choosing the Trek. I can identify totally with ForumNewbie about descending as I don't feel my brakes are responsive enough on the hoods and the Test Hill in Richmond park is a scary descend. Thanks all

I've never had Sora brakes. My Dawes Audax bike (my first with drop bars) came with Tektro brakes which weren't very good at all. I replaced them a few years ago with Shimano R650 brakes which are much more responsive. My Cube bike has Ultegra brakes which are also excellent.

meagain

Quality, pads etc being equal, drop bar brake levers are never going to be as ergonomically effective as flat. And calipers will always be less effecient than say Vs.