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My girlfriend is quite petite and struggles to shift gear easily as she has small hands. Are there any ways of reducing the throw of the shifter lever, or alternatively any shifters out there that have a very short throw? Shea got some fairly old school LX rapidfire pods on there at the moment.
Ta
Don't think you can adjust the throw of the shifter, might be best upgrading.
I run Sram and find they have a short shift compared to shimano, might be worth an upgrade, but it depends what rear mech you're running too.
I think X9 and X0 have quite a short throw, and you can adjust X0 a bit. Need a SRAM rear mech (but any front mech is OK) for them as well though.
There is a longer push to move from small cog on cassette to large cog on cassette but it can be done in single ring steps.
Might be worth seeing if you can find a bike to try before spending the cash though.
Switch to grip shift.
Yep, Grip Shift are very much worth a look for the small of hand.
SRAM grip shift (It's also a better way of shifting regardless of hand size)
Under no circumstances tell her about di2.
Thanks all. She's running a full shimano setup-including a rapid rise rear mech. Its mainly the front gears she's struggling with, rapid rise seems to be a good solution for her at the back. I might start trawling the bay for an x0 front shifter.
if it's the front grip shift makes that really easy. The old 3x x9 hat 7 clicks so you could trip the mech as you needed to for perfect running.
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"Under no circumstances tell her about di2." best comment I've read in years, so funny
would solve the problem though
My wife also has tiny hands and her bike is set-up with a grip shift for the front shifter for that exact reason. She loves it, previously, to get the front to shift up, she had to take her hand off the bars to push the lever far enough with the heel of her hand. The grip shift is easy.
Before you commit to spending money, you might want to try swapping the brakes to the inside of the shifters.
Not only does this make single finger braking easier, but it also brings the shifters nearer to the hands.
In your case, this might just make enough difference to your girlfriend.
If it doesn't work, you haven't lost anything.
robinlaidlaw - Member
My wife also has tiny hands and her bike is set-up with a grip shift for the front shifter for that exact reason. She loves it, previously, to get the front to shift up, she had to take her hand off the bars to push the lever far enough with the heel of her hand. The grip shift is easy.
That's exactly the issue she has. I'll have a mess around with lever positioning, but I think she's already got the brake levers set nearest the grips. Sounds like gripshift front might be the answer.
ta for the advice
My partner also struggled with the front mech and shifter..
just ended up ditching them and went 1X9
30T chainring and 11-34 cassette suits most of her riding perfectly..
left the granny ring on for extra long climbs.. but it rarely if ever gets used..