ezoons

I've had my OCR for nearly 3 seasons now.
The bike came with Tiagra brifters and although I'm a small (5-6) guy with suitably small hands (small size gloves) I find these brifters anything but comfortable.
I don't know if it's the curvy shape or the length of the hoods, it's just that the bike fits me perfectly but on longer rides, I'd rather be in the drops or have my hands on the flat part of the handlebars. Gloves or no gloves, having my hands on the hoods would give me blisters.

I'm planning to upgrade my bike this fall (possibly), so I'm wondering what other road bike riders find comfortable.
I've been sort of looking at Campy brifters (never used them though): the flat shape of their brifters looks comfortable.

Thoughts?

dr_cantalope

I had a similar problem with mine, turns out that after adjusting my seat by a few millimeters the brifters felt fine. I'd say try tilting the bars (or the nose of your seat) up a few millimeters and see if that changes anything. You'd be putting less weight on the hoods. Just a thought.

Jakey

I've had 9 speed shimano...switched to campy..and have been very happy with them.

Patriot

We all live and learn. I have used both, when I was getting back into cycling 2yrs ago. I decided on the spot after trying every Shimano group onthe market, the moment my hands felt a Campy ergo-shifter, I knew all my roadies would have Campy from that day forward. You can make your Shimano group work with Campy brifters with a Shiftmate pulley. Unless of course, you want to sell off the whole group and just replace it with a full Campy group. The flat tops of Campy brifters really are more ergonomic.

furiousferret

Would you lose any performance or would thier be greater maintenance risks with a shiftmate Campy/Shimano mix?

AnthonyG

By all means get new gear if you want to however this may not answer your requirements. I would be adjusting things first right down to untaping the bars and experimenting with moving the brifters up and down on the bar as well as small angle adjustments of the bar. Doing this is a lot cheaper and even if you decide to change anyway it will be a useful exercise in learning what's comfortable for you.

I recently fitted new brifters (short reach STI) and new handlebars to my bike and before sending it to the LBS to do the job I set the bike up on my trainer, unbolted the old bars and temporarily fitted the new ones and adjusted where the brifters were on the bars and the angle of the bars until I was happy with them. It was a non-conventional setup and it looked slightly odd the shop staff but it works for me well.

Regards, Anthony

oilman_15106

You could look into the following: Shimano R600(9 speed) R700(10 speed) brifters. Ultegra level but not labeled as such. Both have a shim system which you can insert that moves the lever closer to the bar(5 degrees or 10 degrees) I have the 9 speed and use the 10degree insert. I am 5'7" on a good day. Also have very small hands and when I played football in College had to get a custom helmet small enough for my noggin.

You want to have your brakes adjusted properly with the brifters because the amount of lever travel is reduced by the shims. Works for me. Good luck.

ezoons

Thanks for all the advice!

I feel I have to add one thing though: the issue in my case isn't using brakes or shifting. I easily reach and use the levers both from the hoods and from the drops. It's all about finding a comfy spot on the hoods.

And I was trying to dig up some pictures to illustrate my point about short lever bodies of Tiagra brifters.
Here's a Tiagra pic:


And here's Shimano's Dura-Ace (couldn't find any pics of 105s and Ultegras taken at similar angle):


See how much longer the Dura-Ace brifters are? And how flat their profile is compared to the Tiagras?

curiouskid55

No matter what equipment you have hoy shouldn't be on the hoods hard enough to blister your hands. You cant steer if a significant amount of your weight is on the bars. Are your elbows locked when you ride on the hoods? If so very bad form and dangerous not to mention uncomfortable. Elbows bent ,wrists straight. Very light touch on the bars. May need to work on core strength a little.

dr_cantalope

As I mentioned before, try tilting the nose of your sit up a few millimeters, it made a world of difference for me. My elbows and in between my thumb and pointer finger used to get sore after riding because there was just too much weight resting on my hands.

AnthonyG

Is this a picture of your bike?

Those brifters are already up realy high on the bars and that stem is realy quite long. I would be tempted to move the brifters down on the bar so that there tops are more level while shortening the stem to compensate but maybe that's just me.

Yes the new Dura-Ace levers are quite long in the body and slim actualy if you see them in the flesh which I think has been done to improve out of saddle riding with hands on the hoods. They would be nice if you could afford them but I still don't feel that this would directly address your problem unless it was just by chance. I think you need to adjust what you have to start with.

Regards, Anthony

ezoons

No, this isn't my bike, it's some photo I found online.
I surely wouldn't mind having that Scott, though

curiouskid55:
I don't lock up my elbows. Like I said, the bike is a great fit, and I don't have to stretch/hunch over when I'm riding. The drop from the saddle to the top of the handlebars is less than 2 inches. Not particularly extreme.
I know I'm supposed to be able to support my weight without touching the handlebars (i.e. be able to release the grip while pedaling). I can only do this if I've had my hands on the flat part of the bars. I don't know really, doing this while riding in the drops seems scary so I've never actually managed to even give it a try.
Also, I reckon that my core strength is not an issue here: I've done quite a bit of weight lifting in my pre-cycling years, and never had problems with my lower back etc.

BlastRadius

This statement makes me think your saddle is too far forward. If your saddle is too far forward, you end up resting more weight on your hands. Try scooting your saddle back and lowering the seatpost by a fraction of an inch.