Cafewanda's road bike try-outs

Final entry: Today I bought the Trek 43cm, 2010 model. Evans sale had it reduced to £574.99 down from £625 and I could only do so because Evans offer interest free credit and, I passed the credit check. Ace!

I'll collect it next Thursday and will probably make a few changes after I've run it by Corrine and Scherrit in October.

Old thread I know, but Scoot recently bought a road bike and has a little trouble with the levers being too big just as you described earlier. She's got Sora's with shims to reduce the distance to stick out at the moment. Did you find a solution to it or did you get used to it? What are you using at the moment?

Did putting shims help at all?
I'm going to double shims on my ultegra levers - glue them together.

sumo, the Shimano shim come in different thickness, take it down to her Evans* as they should have some shimano shims in the workshop that they can swapped it out for.

if she's using the thick one, perhaps shorten the reach might be a solution by changing the stem for a shorter one?

*mine does, as we kept a box full of shims in case customer might needed a shorter reach, so hopefully her Evans will have the same.

if she's using the thick one, perhaps shorten the reach might be a solution by changing the stem for a shorter one?

and how is that suppose to help? it won't bring levers closer to the bars.

i'd try with extra shim, even additional 5mm will make signifcant difference.

i think that shimano was making some short reach levers, r700 or something like that

sumo, the Shimano shim come in different thickness, take it down to her Evans* as they should have some shimano shims in the workshop that they can swapped it out for.

if she's using the thick one, perhaps shorten the reach might be a solution by changing the stem for a shorter one?

*mine does, as we kept a box full of shims in case customer might needed a shorter reach, so hopefully her Evans will have the same.

There is a shim in each and the bars are rotated up slightly so the reach and length of pull is no longer a problem. It's more to do with the toughness of the pull. I'm going to try greasing the spring in the calliper or something, but they feel noticeably harder to pull then my Sram ones. I have a feeling they will loosen up with use but want to make sure. That combined with her tiny hands not being able to reach that far down the lever where there's more leverage.

and how is that suppose to help? it won't bring levers closer to the bars.

mainly because it's a little hard to tell exactly what was the problem (until sumo's latest respond that brought more information), a longer reach make it a tad harder to grab the brake.

Sumo, perhaps try and reset-up the brakes again and see what happen? your SRAM one is obviously going to be a lots better than the budget offering of the Tektro's brakes, but set-up properly it shouldn't be hard to operate.

the line-up of similar shifter/brakes combo in the shop is largely due to the mechanic's set-up, some feel powerful, some feel spongy, or in Scoot's case, harder to pull.

@ Sumo my bike fit with Scherrit/Corrine meant I didn't need to change the brake levers as a matter of urgency, but it is something I will consider this year. I did change the handlebar for a compact one (FSA Vero, I think) which helped. The brake levers have shims but changing the bars had a better effect for me.

Interestingly on my SS I changed the levers for Tektro short-reach ones but I can't remember the model number, sorry.

do you remember how much were the Tektro brakes thought?

Unfortunately not. I can't find the invoice even though I haven't thrown it away. A quickish search jogged my memory that I bought them from VeloSolo as they were the only ones who had them at the time -Tektro Aero R100A. **Twenny quid plus shipping!
**

brake levers! sorry I misunderstood your post and thought you meant the brake itself.

Oh! I re-read the recent posts and the penny sank. Sorry for the confusion. I really must learn to read more carefully!

An update to this thread.

On Wednesday 27 March I headed out to Islabikes to test ride their Luaths. Even though I figured the Luath small was the right fit I rode the large first. I want a 700c bike I can use on long rides and put larger tyres on for the winter commute.

I'm so used to riding with 650c wheels that the Luaths looked huge but felt great once ridden. The top tube on the large was too high for me re standover height, but the reach was ok. I wasn't too stretched out. Arms/shoulders and back felt fine.

When I got on the small, it confirmed what I'd guessed before the visit. That size is right for me, especially the length of the top tube and standover height. When I eventually purchase the small, I may change the stem and will definitely change the saddle.

It's a compact 16 speed and my current roadbike is a compact 18 speed, but I'll ride it for a while and canvass opinions before making any changes. I was so excited with the feel of the Luath small that I completely forgot about riding the Benin 29 smal, just because.

My aim is to get the Luath small before the end of the summer. Fingers crossed.

The 9 speed will have the same range as an 8 speed cassette of identical range, the only difference is that the ratio is slightly closer than the 8 speed (less of a jump between each gear)

Ps. I am typsy.

The 9 speed will have the same range as an 8 speed cassette of identical range, the only difference is that the ratio is slightly closer than the 8 speed (less of a jump between each gear)

Ps. I am typsy.

and yet you make more sense than usual! (assuming you meant tipsy, not that you have some disease affecting your typing skills though this would explain a lot)

Thanks guys.