I'm curioius what handlebars you ladies are using. I'm in the process of rebuilding my wife's Cannondale R500. I'm specifically interested in women who are using campy shifters. My wife is 5'4", short torso long legs, short reach. The bars that came on her R500 Fem don't have that short of a reach and I fear the switch to campy shifters will make it even worse. Any input is greatly appreciated (especially if it helps her enjoy the ride even more).


P.S. This is somewhat of a surprise for her and she'd be pissed if she knew what I was spending on it so getting her in the shop to try some is pretty much out of the question.

P.S. This is somewhat of a surprise for her and she'd be pissed if she knew what I was spending on it so getting her in the shop to try some is pretty much out of the question.

Way to go Sam!! I'm sure she'll like it once you've got it sorted out :)

I can't really help with an exact brand. I have 2 road bikes a Cannondale R400 and a Giant. The one major thing I notice between the two are the handlebars. The cannondale's seem huge compared to the Giant's. Even with short reach shifter's I have trouble fitting my hands around the lever's comfortably. Everything about the cannondale handlebars are too big. Both bike's aren't women specific, but at 5'2 the smaller handlebars (on Giant) are a huge comfort improvement.

I guess the point of this is that I like the Giant better for a number of different reason's but the smaller handlebars sure are comfortable. And it's nice having bars that fit. My vote would be get something that's narrower and has a shorter reach. I didn't even know that the other bars didn't fit until I rode a bike with smaller bars...

Sarah

Above post is really from username sarah! I forgot to log this guy out......

With the caveat that I have Shimano shifters, i have Salsa Poco handlebars, as do MANY of the women I ride with (kind of serious recreational roadie types). I think they are terrific. Just a little shallower, etc.

I'm a 6' tall guy, and the FSA Wing Pro Compact (http://www.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=41&pid=793) bars that came on my new race bike are far TOO compact for me.

jtolleson mentioned that they looked like they might work, and a couple of my female teammates agree the drop is comfy. Reviews are mixed on the "wing" section.

With the caveat that I have Shimano shifters, i have Salsa Poco handlebars, as do MANY of the women I ride with (kind of serious recreational roadie types). I think they are terrific. Just a little shallower, etc.

Thanks, I'll give them a shot and see what she thinks.

I had ITM Milleniums and then switched to Ritchey WCS bars. Both bars have too deep of a drop for me. I've been thinking of trying the Pocos.

My old steel framed bike from 1984 has Cinelli Giro d'Italia bars. Those have super shallow drops. They are my favorite in that respect.

You may want to take a look at the Salsa Short N Shallow bars and the Deda 4Girls. They serve quite well. Of course, her shoulder width will help determine her handlebar size; most likely 38, given that she's 5'4", or at the widest 40. Campy shifters are great for women of her stature, especially when riding on the hoods. Shimano shifters--the hoods--tend to be uncomfortable for women with small hands, but they do make short-reach shifters equipped with shims, which make them much more user-friendly for small hands--men or women--when braking from the hoods or the drops. Whatever you do, do not get a stem that's less than a 90. Hope that helps.

Deda 215 Shallow/Italian Classics are awesome. Here is a site with specs/etc:

http://www.cbike.com/Deda_Elementi.htm


The ritchey wcs classic shallow drop bars are the same spec as these just for options. Also look at the Specalized Womens bars they have a flatter front to their bend to bring the levers closer as do the 3T Evas which also have a slight flair to the drops. My wife is addicted to the Eva now if the only came in 31.8 she'd be set.

Specialized makes an insert, Slim Shims #2005-9001,$10 for the pair, that wedges in the brake/shifter lever. It pushes the lever closer to the handlebar. Of course you need to readjust the brakes after you put the insert in. It looks nice and works nice.

I'm curioius what handlebars you ladies are using. I'm in the process of rebuilding my wife's Cannondale R500. I'm specifically interested in women who are using campy shifters. My wife is 5'4", short torso long legs, short reach. The bars that came on her R500 Fem don't have that short of a reach and I fear the switch to campy shifters will make it even worse. Any input is greatly appreciated (especially if it helps her enjoy the ride even more).
.

A while back I hand picked parts to build a bike. I have Campy. The handlebars were a BIG study for me because I wanted comfort, durability, proper reach and drop, and did not wanted a reasonable cost. Having said that, I found Ritchey WCS OS to meet my needs. However, I am taller than your wife and my hands may be bigger (although I feel I have small hands). Personally, I would look for bars with short reach, say around 70, and a shallow drop, around 130, with a smaller diameter bar. SALSA makes a GREAT women's bar!!

Good luck!

Specialized makes an insert, $10 for the pair, that wedges in the brake/shifter lever. It pushes the lever closer to the handlebar. c

Lawrence, does this insert work for Campy, only for Shimano, or both? I have small hands and use Campy. I love the hoods but even with Salsa Poco and Deda 215 shallow drop bars, don't feel 100% comfortable braking when I'm in the drops. 'Course I have that problem on my Shimano bike, too. Thanks for whatever specifics you can provide.

No, Kaytee, the shim works for Shimano only and only some lines of that, such as 105 and Ultegra.

Thanks, exactly what I thought. But I figured if there was anything out there, I'd learn about it on one of these forums first!

I don't know if Specialized has it for Campy. The sticker on the package of inserts that I got from my LBS Specialized dealer had Shimano 105/Ultegra on it, Slim Shims #2005-9001. You'll need to call up a Specialized dealer. I was told that Specialized probably has the biggest parts catalog in the business. I've never seen it nor have I asked to see it.

Thanks, based on what my SO tells me (same as SadieKate), I guess I'll keep waiting for Tullio's folks to see the light! That's my only complaint, though - otherwise I do prefer Campy. Well, duh, given the avatar!

The kind that start sweeping forward much closer to the stem. I've tried to get her to consider new ones, but no success. She knows what she likes.

Salsa just came out with small carbon bars in the poco model. I'm going to switch them out with my aluminum pocos. I take 36cm bars and only Salsa makes them. It's so weird that they cornered that market considering they don't even make women's bikes.

Yeah, today I noticed that Speedgoat is carrying the Salsa Short N Shallow bars in carbon fiber and aluminum. I've thought the same thing about Salsa and their handlebar line...weird, but good.

Just ordered a pair for my wife. 70mm reach, 120 mm drop. Reasonably light, reasonably priced.
Any trek/lemond/fisher dealer should be able to get 'em. They're spec'd on a lot of this year's Trek WSD bikes if you want to check them out.

One reason that the kit doesn't work for Campy is that the reach isn't nearly as far on the Campy as it is on Shimano. I switched to Campy about 6 yrs ago and love it because of the shorter reach. I am currently looking at new bikes again and am reassured that the Campy has a shorter reach from my test rides with both. I have a pair of Winwoods and do like them as they have a shallower drop then something like the K-Sword or K-Wings (from FA and ITM).

Good luck.

I've used both of these in 38cm width. The are really tight nicely formed.

Does anyone have a source (USA) that has the 3T Eva in stock?

Seems to be rather scarce here.

Regards,
Jeff

Does anyone have a source (USA) that has the 3T Eva in stock?

Seems to be rather scarce here.

Regards,
Jeff
Luna Cycles (http://www.lunacycles.com/roadbuildkit.html) offers the 3T Eva as part of their bike kits...

Luna Cycles (http://www.lunacycles.com/roadbuildkit.html) offers the 3T Eva as part of their bike kits...

Thanks, I sent them an e-mail <*fingers crossed*>

Regards,
Jeff

Thanks, I sent them an e-mail <*fingers crossed*>

Regards,
Jeff

Got my reply (promptly, thank you):
----------------------------------
Hi Jeff,

I "offer" them but my supplier never has them, either. I don't know why. This is a bar I have heard good things about, but I haven't been able to spec them on my bikes.

I can't sell components, individually--I can only sell kits, and I can only do that with the order of a frame. It's an OEM thing.

Thanks for checking out Luna! Good luck finding the bars.

Margo
lunacycles.com
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Oh well, looks like the 3T Eva h-bar exists mostly in cyberspace, at least stateside.

Salsa Short-N-Shallow will get a look now.
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Update: 4/30/07 - after getting an e-mail from 3T asking me to contact BTI (here in the USA) regarding availability of the 3T Eva (and having already contacted BTI to find out they are still out of stock), we had to go with Plan B which turned out to be the Salsa 'Poco' in a size 40cm, which has one of the smallest 'reach' and 'drop' dimensions on the market along with an 'ergo' bend in the drops similar to that of the Ritchey WCS. We installed them Thursday night and she raced a TTT, a RR and a crit with them this past weekend and reported that she loves the new bars. Very light and priced right too.

Thanks to all that made contributions to this thread as it definitely helped us find the right bar.

I'll post a pic when I get one.

Regards,
Jeff

Update: 4/30/07 - after getting an e-mail from 3T asking me to contact BTI (here in the USA) regarding availability of the 3T Eva (and having already contacted BTI to find out they are still out of stock), we had to go with Plan B which turned out to be the Salsa 'Poco' in a size 40cm, which has one of the smallest 'reach' and 'drop' dimensions on the market along with an 'ergo' bend in the drops similar to that of the Ritchey WCS. We installed them Thursday night and she raced a TTT, a RR and a crit with them this past weekend and reported that she loves the new bars. Very light and priced right too.

Thanks to all that made contributions to this thread as it definitely helped us find the right bar.

I'll post a pic when I get one.

Regards,
Jeff
Glad she likes the bars. I'm seriously thinking of switching to the Pocos.