La Brea Bike

We're trying to help find a braking solution for a small Asian Girl who loves her Motobecane Super Miarage, but feels most confident operating her brake levers from on-top of the hoods, which is somewhat ineffective for her. The issue is she has very small hands, and can't produce much braking force from that position. It seems that the female specific levers swoop back towards the handle bars for help reaching the levers when in the drops, but I have seen nothing to help apply force from on-top. Anyone (or anyone's wife) have this issue and have a good recommendation? I would really hate to discourage a 24 Year Old that seems to have a real interest in C&V... This would be a perfect application for hydros if this was the right type of bike... It's not... Thanks.

ascherer 

Check out Tektro RL341 levers.

CliffordK

What brands/models have you looked at?

Have you tried Dia Compe Blaze levers, or something similar?

An issue may also be matching lever pull with brake calipers, so that you use most of the brake lever sweep without bottoming out. That may take some experimenting with calipers to get the perfect caliper/lever match, as well as getting wheel truing good and being diligent with pad adjustment.

Piff 

What about installing interruptor brakes?

Salamandrine 

The Tektros suggested should help, or if you want to get fancy, TRP RRL lever. They look big but they are shorties. Modern levers MUST be used if braking from the hoods, as most modern riders are accustomed to doing. C&V levers were not used this way except for minor speed adjustment/feathering. That's why there were turkey levers for the casual cyclist. They came stock on Super Mirages.

I strongly suggest getting rid of the Weinmann sidepulls, and replacing them with Weinmann centerpulls. Those were the OEM brakes most years. Looks like someone took them off this bike. Centerpulls have braking power similar to modern dual pivots if used with good pads. Weinmann sidepulls are kind of wimpy stoppers no matter what you do.

La Brea Bike

I saw those, but was under the impression the lever was just special because it bent in closer to the bar. It is actually easier for them to from the tops?

CliffordK

Those Tektros are large.

The Dia Compe Blaze levers are small. The Fuji Ace (24/650) bikes use a similar lever on their kid's bikes.

La Brea Bike

That was my recommendation, but she felt she would still have to come off of the hoods to get to them.

Salamandrine 

The Tektros only look large. The pivots are located down a third of the way down the lever rather than at the top as in traditional levers. The actual lever length from the pivot is short. They also curve back under the hood, allowing you to squeeze from hood position. This feature is typical of modern levers and is required for braking from the hoods. The female specific RL341 levers curve back even more.

Those Dia Compe levers are the traditional type and are not optimized for hood braking. The also lack the bulbous end shape of modern levers that helps keep your hands from flying off the hoods when the road gets bumpy.

La Brea Bike

Interesting! In addition, price isn't bad!

Piff 

Well, yes, that's true. Sounds like she might just need more time riding a bike with road bars to feel comfortable changing hand positions.

La Brea Bike

The Plot thickens...

Chombi1 

CLB made "youth" sized levers. Not sure if the did them in aero style though.
You can find them for auction at eBay..

mgopack42 

I have a pair of Diacomp "compact aero levers at home. not sure if these would help or not. let me know if you would like measurements or anything. Second pic is just of the word "compact" hard to focus in low light on shiny surfaces!

The Golden Boy 

As a half-Asian guy with not so big hands- I will say the Tektro RRL levers are the cat's pyjamas. The way the levers splay out put them right where your fingers are to grab them.

ascherer 

canklecat

Besides the good advice above, some older aero brakes have adjustable reach. There's a grub screw hidden under the rubber hoods. Adjust it to shorten or lengthen the reach between the brake lever and bar. It's mostly useful for adjusting reach while riding in the drops, but helps a bit from the hoods too.

Some aero brakes have pretty deep hooks that hold the hand securely even for riding fast on rough roads. But it's not quite as nice as the newer ergo brakes/hoods. Hard to beat the ergonomics of stuff designed during the past decade or so. Gives you the impression the old school guys weren't serious about stopping their bikes.

John E

This is an issue for me, as well, and the reason I have Shimano (aero) brake levers on my otherwise almost all-Italian Bianchi. I also like any of the 1960s non-aero Weinmann 999 levers or their DiaCompe clones. All of these allow me to grab the brake levers securely and rapidly in an emergency, something I cannot do with confidence with Mafac, Modolo, or Campagnolo levers.

Salamandrine 

No, it's not that at all. They didn't stop them from the hoods. You went to the drops to brake any time serious stopping was required.

Hood braking was kind of a cheat position, only used for feathering speed in a paceline, and while cruising through town telling jokes during warmup and warmdown.

thumpism 

I collected several pairs in anticipation of doing builds for my wife, who now rides a recumbent. I have the CLB juniors (non-aero) and Ultegra short reach. Here's a pic of one.

Salamandrine 

They really are very good. I've got big gorilla paws and yet they're comfortable for me too. Clearly they did their homework.

dddd

Shimano Sante aero levers came in a small version, found on smallest-size Schwinn Circuits.

Relaxing a caliper's return springs is one way to make for easier braking. This would be tricky to do on a Weinmann Centerpull.

RiddleOfSteel

The aforementioned Dia Compe compact aero levers (with the white engraved flourishes) are a definite option. There was a later "BRS400" version that didn't have the flourishes but had the brake lever blade curve back to the bar substantially.

Tektro R200s look/are essentially Campagnolo 9- and 10-speed Ergo hood shapes copied (heck, even the blades are very similar). There was an R200a which was a compact/short reach/small hands version. The actual name seems to be disputed (aka R200 = standard lever and R100 = compact lever), so you'd have to be a sleuth about it. The benefit of the R200 body (Cane Creek had/has a similar version, as does/did Origin8--same shape and parts, just different labels!) is that it is very comfortable and allows for good weight distribution over the palm while not being too big. The brake lever blade, in comparison to a number of aero Shimano levers (which are quite nice), tucks/curves back to the bar much more so, which is nice for finger reach in the drops. Another benefit of the R200 type design is that it works well mounted in the traditional position on traditional drop bars while still having enough body length to rest the entirety (or for bigger hands, the majority) of one's hand on it. [R200 levers obviously work very well with modern "compact" drop bars] Short length lever bodies like the Dia Compes and all classic levers splay or kick the base of the palm outward, which can fatigue the wrists more in addition to effectively lengthening the reach.

What also must be said in this case: a small rider with small hands that needs short reach brakes likely doesn't have Hulk grip strength or the leverage to get close, so the braking system as a whole must be considered. What I mean by that is compact levers are fantastic and are the minimum that must be done for her and her bike. The second thing--as it is the cheapest of the "next items"--is smooth, low friction brake cable movement. High cable/housing resistance (it is an old dusty bike) is a killer. The third item, for safety and for lever effort, is getting new (or used) dual pivot brakes. So many old single pivot calipers are complete garbage at stopping, offer very poor "adjustability" (pad angle-wise), and so very often have absurdly strong springs which greatly increases hand effort at the lever. I cannot stress this enough that a complete system consideration is absolutely critical for smaller-handed (often smaller in stature, with proportionally less strong grip due to plain physics) riders to be able to not only be and feel safe while riding, but to be able to be actually enjoy riding without any "I guess this is how it is" thinking going through their minds. This is one of those C&V things that I do not care about holding onto for smaller/weaker-handed riders, many of whom are not as hard core or as willing to put up with "the old way" as many of us here. I want people to enjoy bikes, and to be safe on them, period.

Tektro R341's are currently sold and are the compact/short hand reach version of the R340 levers. I think they don't look good and that some ergonomic (hood body shape) elements are inferior to the R200 levers, but they are close enough and are actually available, and for a decent price. Lever/return spring effort is nice and light and the lever blade shape feels good. They have plenty of merit. And all levers have silver on them and will look nice on a vintage bike.

Dia-Compe levers (another view) - notice how much the blades curve back!


R100 (200a?) levers in silver (above) and in all black (lower right). Standard and short reach are not color-specific as I have both black and silver/black R200 standard levers in my possession. These things feel so good in the hand, and work well to boot--caliper or canti brake.

SurferRosa

Use whatever dual-pivots will reach the rims, add kool-stops, true/dish the wheels perfectly, and add some shimano 6400/6401/6402/6403 aero levers. Then she can ride the hoods and have super, duper easy braking. This is Billy Barty recommended.

CycleryNorth81

Use Tektro RL341 levers with dual pivot brakes and Kool Stop brake pads. This will increase the brakes efficacy in riding on-top the hoods.