Brifter Modifications
02-24-20, 09:57 AM
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Brifter Modifications
Hello all. Quick question then some detail if that is ok. Has anyone ever ground off the backside of a brifter before to shorten the reach?
Here is my background. If you look at the major component companies It think Shimano has the farthest reach from the bar to the outside/front of the brifter. I think sram has the shortest. Anyway I am working on a fit issue for my son and for that matter juniors. I notice they tend to have a bit of a goofy posture on the hoods sometimes and after drilling down with some questions I think it is really a fit issue between the bar and the brifter. I was looking at the backside of an old DA brifter body the other day and I think you could feasibly take a dremel to it and take some material off the back side. I know this will void warranties, and I know this is probably not necessarily recommended in the mainstream world, but I figured I would see if anyone has tried with or without issue. Thanks.
Here is my background. If you look at the major component companies It think Shimano has the farthest reach from the bar to the outside/front of the brifter. I think sram has the shortest. Anyway I am working on a fit issue for my son and for that matter juniors. I notice they tend to have a bit of a goofy posture on the hoods sometimes and after drilling down with some questions I think it is really a fit issue between the bar and the brifter. I was looking at the backside of an old DA brifter body the other day and I think you could feasibly take a dremel to it and take some material off the back side. I know this will void warranties, and I know this is probably not necessarily recommended in the mainstream world, but I figured I would see if anyone has tried with or without issue. Thanks.
02-24-20, 11:19 AM
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Hello all. Quick question then some detail if that is ok. Has anyone ever ground off the backside of a brifter before to shorten the reach?
Here is my background. If you look at the major component companies It think Shimano has the farthest reach from the bar to the outside/front of the brifter. I think sram has the shortest. Anyway I am working on a fit issue for my son and for that matter juniors. I notice they tend to have a bit of a goofy posture on the hoods sometimes and after drilling down with some questions I think it is really a fit issue between the bar and the brifter. I was looking at the backside of an old DA brifter body the other day and I think you could feasibly take a dremel to it and take some material off the back side. I know this will void warranties, and I know this is probably not necessarily recommended in the mainstream world, but I figured I would see if anyone has tried with or without issue. Thanks.
Here is my background. If you look at the major component companies It think Shimano has the farthest reach from the bar to the outside/front of the brifter. I think sram has the shortest. Anyway I am working on a fit issue for my son and for that matter juniors. I notice they tend to have a bit of a goofy posture on the hoods sometimes and after drilling down with some questions I think it is really a fit issue between the bar and the brifter. I was looking at the backside of an old DA brifter body the other day and I think you could feasibly take a dremel to it and take some material off the back side. I know this will void warranties, and I know this is probably not necessarily recommended in the mainstream world, but I figured I would see if anyone has tried with or without issue. Thanks.
Actually not sure why this had not hit me. Might try to put some Sugru behind the "Knub" of the brifter(under the hood). in order to back up the reach some. This may be a much better way to solve for this without impacting the integrity of the body of the brifter.
02-24-20, 01:00 PM
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I've seen people use an adhesive backed rubber cut to fit behind the head of a shifter. Guess that's what you are saying?
02-24-20, 01:30 PM
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I don't get the above. Why would someone want to increase reach to the lever for people with small hands? If it's just a reach issue, put on a set of compact bars. What's more common is reach to the lever from the drops. There's usually a way to adjust that.
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02-24-20, 04:28 PM
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He's talking about a juvenile, so it would be about grip reach.
02-25-20, 05:13 PM
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I have very small hands as an adult so I understand the problems.
There are two approaches which should be worked together. Shimano make shims to fit brifters (well they used to anyway) to reduce the reach to the lever. Some Shimano brifters I believe have an adjustment screw to adjust reach.
The shape/curves in the handlebars are important too. The modern trend of "ergo" (sic, ergonomic my foot) increase the reach to the levers compared to a traditional curved bar. Ditch the "ergo" handlebars and find some with a more traditional curve.
Another thing is to not adjust the brake cables too tight. Leave some slack in the brake cables so that the initial travel of the brake levers is slack and only when the levers are closer to the handlebars do you need any force on them. There is plenty of room for slackening off the brake cables before you even get close to bottoming out the lever.
There are two approaches which should be worked together. Shimano make shims to fit brifters (well they used to anyway) to reduce the reach to the lever. Some Shimano brifters I believe have an adjustment screw to adjust reach.
The shape/curves in the handlebars are important too. The modern trend of "ergo" (sic, ergonomic my foot) increase the reach to the levers compared to a traditional curved bar. Ditch the "ergo" handlebars and find some with a more traditional curve.
Another thing is to not adjust the brake cables too tight. Leave some slack in the brake cables so that the initial travel of the brake levers is slack and only when the levers are closer to the handlebars do you need any force on them. There is plenty of room for slackening off the brake cables before you even get close to bottoming out the lever.
