jzr756

Sorry for my 101 bike questions. In my case, It's all relatively new exciting stuff. So just got the old Motobecane sport out on the road today. Getting used to drop bar brake levers not so easy. Been riding upright for close to a year. I've gotten used to brake levers close at hand.. I've adjusted the angle of the bars and positioning of brake levers close as possible.but it's still an uncomfortable stretch reaching with 2-3 fingers pulling on the left. let alone reaching right. Some one mentioned on another post the aero type Tektro RL340 advertised for small hands. Are there any non aero options out there? Aside from the work involved, Not crazy about Aero levers on a vintage bike. Bars will be covered in dark blue NOS denim tape.
Just as a side note I initially located the brake cables crisscrossed behind the bars but were cut too short. hence, both in front. (oops)

Iride01 

Many of the modern STI's have lever and/or stroke adjustment that can help. Shimano and others make some versions they claim are for small hands. However you are going to have to upgrade quite a bit to get them. And it won't be inexpensive.

For what you have, have you tried rotating the bars up some and moving the brake levers down? You might look at some of those ergonomic shaped drop bars and try to figure out if they'll give you some help with what you currently have.

I don't know if any of the old style levers had such adjustment. Mined didn't or I wasn't aware of it. But you might be able to put a spacer or block in there under the rubber hood to prevent the lever from fully returning when released if you are DIY and have some ingenuity. You'll probably need to widen out the brake pads some if you do that. Or without even trying to block the lever return, it might help to leave more gap between the pads and rim, if the levers don't bottom out on the bars.

After you've ridden for a time, you'll find that one or two fingers is all you need on the brake lever. I have large hands with short fingers and one or two fingers is enough for most any stop. If a panic stop those other fingers will magically somehow figure out what to do!

ThermionicScott 

I have small hands, but prefer vintage levers, so I'm in the same boat. In addition to the bar tape, you'll want to choose your gloves carefully so they aren't too thick.

You can tilt the brake levers forward by putting shims of some kind under the lever bodies at the top where they meet the handlebars, or by removing material from the lower part of the lever bodies. I've done the latter, but wouldn't recommend it without thinking it through...

Ergonomic bars would be a step in the wrong direction IMO, moving your hands backward and further away from the levers while in the drops. I believe they evolved alongside aero levers.

Shimming the levers themselves so they don't fully retract is a good idea. You can see that the Dia-Compe hoods have circular punch-outs for turkey levers, which would have done that if installed on your brake levers. Someone ought to 3D print little plastic pieces that could snap onto the lever to do that!

jzr756

Thank you Iride01 I did try rotating repositioning the bar and levers seems it's the closest I'll get. Not sure how the spacer works, where would it be palced?

jzr756

Hey thank you Thermionic Scott. think I'll test out shimming see how that works out. Really requires acclimating to a new riding position. Back hunched over, drop bars, friction shifters and all. Almost fell over the first minute. After a few miles I'm getting accustomed. Actually, not bad after a few miles.

Iride01 

The spacer I was talking about is something you'll have to improvise and fabricate yourself. Essentially the same as the shim that ThermionicScott mentioned. It'd go between the lever where the cable attatches and the body of the lever where the cable exits.

The "turkey levers" he mentioned will also do the same thing and allow you another hand position on those bars that has access to brakes. They typically call them "safety levers", but you'd be a turkey to believe they offer you anymore ability to stop quick. They usually only give you very limited stopping power when used. But they don't affect the stopping power when you use the actually brake lever. I had them on more than one of my old bikes. Thankfully I graduated to new bikes after over 41 years riding those beautiful old things. I don't regret getting rid of my old bikes for new.

smd4

Dia-Compe, Suntour Superbe Pro and Weinmann all made short-reach (junior) levers, with a reach about a centimeter closer to the bars. This also means 1cm less lever travel, so less braking power. I’m not sure how difficult it would be to find a set of these; I suspect they aren’t plentiful.