Trouble reaching the brakes on a road bike
Discussion
SWMBO and I both bought Decathlon specials last weekend. She has the Triban 300 (the red one) and I went for the Triban 3 (the white one). She got herself the 48, which I'm happy is the right size for her, but her tiny hands (woohoo!) struggle to reach the brakes. The guy in the shop mentioned some kind of stopper/shim or something to basically keep the brake levers wedged open enough for her to reach. Sounds like a bit of a bodge to me. Is that normal? Are there other solutions or should I be looking for a new handlebar & brake assembly that fits her non-pianist paws?
Gruffy said:
SWMBO and I both bought Decathlon specials last weekend. She has the Triban 300 (the red one) and I went for the Triban 3 (the white one). She got herself the 48, which I'm happy is the right size for her, but her tiny hands (woohoo!) struggle to reach the brakes. The guy in the shop mentioned some kind of stopper/shim or something to basically keep the brake levers wedged open enough for her to reach. Sounds like a bit of a bodge to me. Is that normal? Are there other solutions or should I be looking for a new handlebar & brake assembly that fits her non-pianist paws?
Certainly for 105 brakes and I'd imagine for other Shimano brakes. Not a bodge - made by Shimano.No experience with Decathlon, but every set of Ultegra shifters that Shimano ship come with a set of two pairs of shims to adjust brake lever reach. If you buy a new bike you should be supplied any shims they shipped with, certainly if you buy it from a store. All the shims do is fill a bit of space between the lever itself and the body of the shifter, they just clip right in, although you might have to adjust the brake cable a little. I have small hands, and use the larger of the two shims to make things safer and more comfortable.
Gruffy said:
Is it 105s on the older (red) Triban 3? Decathlon don't go into details about what brake levers they use and I understand now that these shims/spacers aren't universal.
It's certainly not 105; probably Sora or below (Tourney?)Go to a bike shop and explain what you're after, they should be able to help. The shims should come with the bike and I'm surprised Decathlon didn't give them to you when you bought it.
They did rummage around for them but didn't have any, and didn't seem overly helpful when I asked where/how/what to buy elsewhere.
For others stumbling upon this with the same problem, I've learned that the Triban 3 (red) has the Shimano 2300 shifter/brake lever. Evans sell a Specialized shim that they say fits this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sl...
For £4 I'll give those a try and if that doesn't work we'll pedal over to Decathlon one weekend and grumble and tut until they find some shims.
For others stumbling upon this with the same problem, I've learned that the Triban 3 (red) has the Shimano 2300 shifter/brake lever. Evans sell a Specialized shim that they say fits this http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/sl...
For £4 I'll give those a try and if that doesn't work we'll pedal over to Decathlon one weekend and grumble and tut until they find some shims.
Rolls said:
Did you sort this? Got a pair of the little rubbery shim things in my hand.. If you wNt them, pm me your address and I'll pop them in the post for you!
That's very kind of you to offer. I ordered some shims from Evans and hopefully this will sort it.Barchettaman said:
If she's still struggling maybe inserting a pair of in-line Cyclocross brakes on the tops would help.
This was an option I was thinking of but hopefully the shims will fix it for her.No prob! The shims will only bring them in a fraction ime- I still have the top brakes on my cross bike as it's used for the commute in Central London; brakes on the top mean your able to keep more of an eye on what's going on around you, and still gave half decent stopping power at your fingertips, so may be a good route to go down
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