My wife has a specialized allez with 11 speed 105. She is really struggling with the front shifter and her small hands, during a bike fit they couldn’t help her much. Could I switch her to 1 x 11 or is there a better or cheaper way? Current thoughts are:
Keep the 105 shifters
RX600 crankset 40T
RX812 derailleur
M7000 11-40T Cassette
The GRX web site says the chain line is moved out 2.5mm for wider tyres, would this be a problem for a road bike running 5 mm tyres?
Thanks
The obvious but expensive answer is Di2
which levers?
standard st-r7000 or the 105 ST-R7025 for small hands?
would that help (less reach)?
Does it have to look nice?
You could just fit an MTB front changer if there is room on the bars.
Mrs FH didn't get on with drops so I swapped them for flat bars
What is it that she's actually struggling with? Shifting whilst on the hoods? Current 105 kit should have a very light action (if it's the force involved that's causing the issue) but can stiffen right up if the cable isn't perfect (mine flits between easy and 'heave'). If it's reach then I assume the adjust is pulled right in?
She is struggling with shifting when on the hoods, when I try it, the lever seems smooth and well adjusted. The levers are adjusted in close to the bars. If I went the di2 route, could I just get the left lever and front derailleur, and is it a button or do you still have to push the lever. Some of the problem is her elbows are very flexible and actually bend in. I haven’t seen the 7025 levers and will check them out. The GRX route seems an expensive solution ...
The small hands lever is the best solution. Why only the front though? Longer throw per gear I assume?
You don't use the front mech much, if that helps. But the small hand lever would be better for braking, and get a set so it's not funky between L and R.
Sounds to me like a technique issue. Is she trying to push the gear change without moving her hand/wrist around the hood to follow the lever?
Longer throw per gear I assume?
You don’t use the front mech much, if that helps. But the small hand lever would be better for braking, and get a set so it’s not funky between L and R
Errrr, if you’re on anything vaguely hilly I’d say you use it quite a lot - if not quite so much as the rear one.
I guess there are 3 options:
Try and go 1x - I’m not au fait with the shimano options for this - but at the minimum you’ll need a new rear mech to get the range, and new cranks I’d imagine.
Change to Sram Doubletap where you don’t have to heave the whole brake lever in to change the gears one way.
Di2 setup
Having looked at something similar because I don’t like the shimano 105, I’ve concluded di2 on the cheap probably won’t cost anymore than swapping the shimano stuff for Sram Force or Rival 22.
So your cheapest option is likely 1x if you can get the range you need - if not I’d consider di2. I’m hoping to get all the gear for under £500 - and selling some of my existing stuff should offset this cost a bit.
She does rotate her hand around the lever body but since her hands are small, she has to rotate her hand along way which then becomes a body movement! And it is only the left hand side because it has the longest travel
Joebristol, can I just get the left lever and front derailleur for the system to work and what is the throw of the lever like? Thanks
perhaps a side thought but what width handlebars does she have? If she is particularly small in stature (which it sounds like she is) it could be the handlebars are too wide so she is struggling to 'get round' the shifter in order to push the lever far enough?
Webbierwrex, that’s a good point and the bike fitter suggested riding the bike with the current changes for a while and then perhaps going to a 38cm bar - thanks, I forgot that detail!
perhaps a side thought but what width handlebars does she have?
Another option is to get a handlebar like the Ritchey Venturemax or other similarly flared bar.
I've got these on my gravel bike and the levers are at quite an angle - which might give your wife more leverage.
Images of what I mean here...
https://road.cc/content/review/214314-ritchey-wcs-venturemax-road-bar
For Di2, you need cables, junctions boxes, battery and charger, not cheap.
As above, with a bit of patience and luck, 500 is about right for everything.
If I went the di2 route, could I just get the left lever and front derailleur, and is it a button or do you still have to push the lever.
With DI2 you do have to push the lever but there's hardly any throw, it's much more like pressing a button than the long swing to change gears on a normal front shifter. Perhaps you could find someone local to try it out?
Thanks for all the suggestions, lots to go on. Unfortunately the 7025 levers are hydraulic only which is a shame
My wife doesn't like Shimano road shifters but she gets on fine with campag and sram force etap. 11 speed campag might work for her but maybe see if she could try it first
Di2 is my first thought, it would fix the problem. The issue is it’s not cheap, and it’s certainly not cheap when you try it and realise you want it on your bike too. It is lovely though!
Joebristol, can I just get the left lever and front derailleur for the system to work and what is the throw of the lever like? Thanks
@claudie - I’m not sure if you could run just the left on it’s own a bit if you could it would feel weird. I’ve just had the r785 di2 levers arrive (bargain from CRC and I’m planning to buy all the bits where I can get them super cheap) and you basically have 2 paddles that sit inside the brake lever (where you normally have just 1). They are buttons though - you don’t have to physically swing them in - it’s just a quick press.
So I’d imagine your wife would find that perfect.
But even shopping around I think it’s about £500. I got the levers (with euro length hoses and br-785 hydraulic brake callipers for £130 from CRC. But I don’t need the brakes so I’m going to sell those as I should just be able to join my existing hoses to the new shifters.
You’d then need 2 mechs / 2 junction boxes / a battery / a charger / 6 cables.
Edit - just noticed you mentioned hydraulic only was no good so I assume you have cable rim brakes? If so ignore the reference to r785 levers as these are hydraulic disc di2 levers. I’m not sure what the cable brakes di2 levers are called / cost.
thinking old school out the box cheap, fit a bar-end shifter?
edit - Dia-Compe do the lovely ENE Wing Shift Levers that sit inside the STI lever body but they're £150 a pair :-/
Deda do some good, narrow handlebars for not much money at all at around £15. Remember they measure outside to outside so a 38 is pretty narrow. It would be a cheap thing to try before upgrade to DI2 which would be considerably more expensive, though it is absolutely lovely! There is no cable throw on it, just buttons on where the levers are on regular Shimano shifters.
If the narrower handlebars don’t work, and I went with the 1x11 set up I initially suggested , I think it would cost about £220 which is a fair bit cheaper than Di2 - would it work and do I need to worry about the 2.5mm chain line shift?
Why not just fit a 31.6mm stumrey archer shifter mount to the bars up against the stem and use a friction shifter? Should work just fine.
Flared bars sounds like a good bet.
You lot.... The obvious answer is a bar end shifter. Shim Dura Ace, obv friction but problem solved. I've got spares if you want one.
I don't think you'd need the new crankset as the 2.5mm chainline stuff is mentioned due to compatibility with the front mech...you'll remove the front mech so no issue there.
You'd need a new chain, rear mech and cassette as you mentioned though.
Herself had huge problems with front shifting with STI levers then changed to Campag and all the problems went away. She's currently riding with both eTap and EPS and find both very easy to use.
A couple of bar manufacturers used to produce women's drop bars with a revised loop to the dogs which helped. I'm not sure what is available now though.
If Campag is the answer, I have some 11 speed near new Chorus levers spare if they suit? Campag 11 and Shim 11 spacing is almost identical hence Shimergo...
I'd look at a cheaper "try before you buy" 1x solution, you don't have to buy into GRX immediately, You could just remove the stock rings from the existing chainset, find and fit a 40 or 42t N/W in the inner position. Simply remove the front mech (and accept the floppy LH shifter) in the short term, 11-40 cassette and either Roadlink or if you do want to stretch to it the GRX 11 speed mech it is apparently compatible with current Road 11 speed shifters I believe.
The point being that it's all reversible if she's not happy with the solution.
Di2 with the climbers bar mounted remote?
Mrs_oab has small hands.
We have tried Claris, 105 and some SRAM something's.
Nothing is very good, for braking and certainly not shifting. There reach is long and the angle it takes to activate the shift means even if moved closer to the bars, it's too far for small hands.
Poor ergonomics imo.
Reach can be adjusted if its the model in this video:
I think my 105 is old type with plastic shims above the levers.