Smaller bars?

[Goldfish1238]

No the drinking type are not getting smaller with the budget so don't worry. My question is about a bike I bought off the internet for my wife, the bike fits fine but she has trouble reaching the brakes which as you can imagine can be a nightmare going down hills ( it's a road bike) should I get smaller bars for her and how would I measure the reach? Or is there something else I can do?

Cheers

 

[mjr]

Is she reaching too wide? If so, narrower bars may help. Or is she reaching too far forwards? If so, shorter stem or possibly flipping it or possibly bars with shorter reach may help. Does the stem have an angle and if so, is it currently slanting up or down? Pictures may really help.

If I remember correctly, reach of bars is measured as the distance the front of the drops is in front of the stem bar clamp.

Other things you could do are move the hoods up the curve a bit, or rotate the bars top-back to bring the hoods towards her, but both could result in the brakes being inaccessible from the drops which is where I think you're meant to hold while descending.

There are lots of ways to skin this cat. Unless you've been messing with bikes a while, it may be better to ask a good bike shop. I'd ask local bike user groups / cycling campaigns for recommendations... or they may have experienced members who can opine helpfully.

 

[derrick]

You can get wedges that bring the brake levers nearer the bars.

 

[coffeejo]

I had the same problem. A combination of what they said above worked for me and now my only problem with braking is the fear factor if I've left it too late into a corner.

 

[sittingbull]

An alternative might be to consider cross top brake levers:

 

[vickster]

I have the same issue, I now use SRAM levers, also with cross levers on a couple of bikes. They are well worth the addition although you do lose bar real estate especially on narrower bars appropriate for women

Are the stem and bars definitely the right size?

 

[Goldfish1238]

Thanks for the replies everybody, she doesn't seem to be too wide it is more reaching too far forward. I think I would just give it to my LBS but I thought I would see if there was any other solutions here first. As I say I just bought it straight from the Internet so didn't get a bike fitting like I did for my own. The wedges seem a good idea though

 

[si_c]

If you can move the saddle forward, that might help, if it does make a difference then consider a shorter stem.

 

[coffeejo]

If you can move the saddle forward, that might help, if it does make a difference then consider a shorter stem.

Keep/get the saddle in the correct place and play with the stem and bars.

 

[si_c]

Keep/get the saddle in the correct place and play with the stem and bars.

Yeah I was thinking that moving the saddle forward might help determine whether or not a cm or two of reach was the problem. If moving the saddle forward that amount made it feel better, getting a shorter stem and moving the saddle back to the correct position should work. I was a little unclear there I think.

 

[vickster]

The shimano hoods can be a very awkward shape for women's hands even with shims. A friend of mine has the same issue with sora and has cross levers. As does @jefmcg . I have just completely ditched shimano groupsets. Dura ace better in terms of hood slimness but nothing earlier in the range

 

[Goldfish1238]

Took it in to my LBS they just raised the bars and played about with it which did help I think, my wife is going to take it out tonight properly to try but if not will get a shorter stem I think

 

[vickster]

My problem with shimano hoods is the circumference of them, I just can't reach around with enough finger to spare to brake effectively. In several thousand miles on the Giant Avail with Tiagra I had I could count the number of times I braked from the hoods on one hand, I simply used the cross levers all the time. SRAM hoods aren't perfect, on long rides I get sore between thumb and forefinger (especially where there are long descents) but I can at least slow and stop the bike effectively

Hopefully her issue is one of reach resolved by the stem and tweaks

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

If you can move the saddle forward, that might help, if it does make a difference then consider a shorter stem.

Generally, the saddle is set in relation to knee position and shouldn't be moved in order to fix a handlebar width/reach/brake lever problem.

What are the levers? Shimano or SRAM? Shimano have wedges available to bring the lever closer to the bars and SRAM reach adjust with a screw

 

[derrick]

If you have small hands campagnolo is the answer, they pivot in a differant position to shimano, so much nicer when on the hoods, But as said earlier if you are stuck with shimano the answer is wedges. Do not move the saddle unless it is in the wrong position.