Making a shifter easier for my daughter to use?

[Reynard]

I totally get this issue as a petite female with equally petite hands.

I ride junior bikes, and as a whole, the shifters fitted are spot on - like the microshift brifters on my road bike. But I do sometimes struggle with the throw of the left trigger shifter on my Wiggins hybrid, needing a couple of goes to move up to a bigger chain ring as my thumb is just that fraction too short. Down isn't an issue.

On the flip side, I built a MTB up from a bare frame and got some pod shifters (combined brake and shifter) and those seem to work really well, as the shift levers have a shorter throw.

Both bikes run a triple at the front, btw - one a Shimano, one a Spa, but the tooth count on them is identical.

 

[Hebe]

Wow, thank you for all the replies. Very much appreciated. I didn’t get to it today in the end, got caught up completely failing to fit a new tyre to my bike…

Would a grip shifter help? Conventional wisdom states that trigger shifters are easier than twist-grips but maybe this time the opposite would be true? I have a boxful of grip shifters from where I have replaced them on all on my kids’ bikes but they’re all 3x on the left side, otherwise you’d be welcome to one to try.

It’s an interesting idea, thank you. Presumably we’d need to switch to grip shifters on both sides.

Funnily enough, I got a bass for Christmas. I have left it a bit late to learn (I am only weeks away from my state pension!), so I'd better get stuck in while I still can.

Is her bass a short scale one? I hadn't realised until recently that they were available. Mine is 7/8 of full size.

you’ll have so much more motivation to practise! Hers is a short scale Ibanez Talman in mint green, she adores it. She started on a 3/4 Size gear for music electric guitar years back and loves that too

This ^^^^ seems the issue to me, the shifter, and possibly the brake lever need rotating to the optimum position

I shall do this, thank you.

The other option is to use a really good quality shifter cable inner and outer to reduce friction.

Noted, thank you.

I totally get this issue as a petite female with equally petite hands.

I ride junior bikes, and as a whole, the shifters fitted are spot on - like the microshift brifters on my road bike. But I do sometimes struggle with the throw of the left trigger shifter on my Wiggins hybrid, needing a couple of goes to move up to a bigger chain ring as my thumb is just that fraction too short. Down isn't an issue.

On the flip side, I built a MTB up from a bare frame and got some pod shifters (combined brake and shifter) and those seem to work really well, as the shift levers have a shorter throw.

This is very helpful - thank you. You’ve described it perfectly, “needing a couple of goes”. I find it quite a long reach for me too, there’s always a moment of faith just hoping that the shift will actually happen before I run out of thumb. I love that you built your own bike with shifters that are just right.

 

[ColinJ]

This is very helpful - thank you. You’ve described it perfectly, “needing a couple of goes”. I find it quite a long reach for me too, there’s always a moment of faith just hoping that the shift will actually happen before I run out of thumb. I love that you built your own bike with shifters that are just right.

One thing she could try is to use the base of her hand to push the lever. I have done it myself when my thumb got sore on a 10 hour mountain bike ride. It is much easier to apply force further that way.

 

[figbat]

Another thought came to me - is the front derailleur adjusted properly? If there’s a bit of slack then the lever will need to go further before the chain engages the big ring.

 

[Hebe]

Just coming back to update everyone who kindly posted here. The bike ended up having to go to a mechanic because one of the new pedals seized up, and he has checked everything over and tightened things up. So we’ll try again at the weekend. If she’s only confident using the one ring at the front, then that’s fine. Her hands will grow. Thanks again.