I have small hands, and most of the time this doesn’t cause me any trouble. But when it comes to bicycle brake levers, having short fingers can be a real handicap. It can even be dangerous. If you can’t easily grab the brake lever, you can’t come to a quick slow down or stop. What’s the solution? Easy: Short-reach brake levers.

 
Lucky for me, my 42cm stock-built Surly Long Haul Trucker was outfitted with Tektro R100A short-reach levers. That’s them in the photo to the right. The hoods are comfortable, which is a good thing, because I ride with my hands on the hoods more than anywhere else on my handlebars. The levers have a quick-release button for those times when I have to remove a wheel, such as when changing a tube. And best of all, I have no trouble reaching the lever from either the hoods or the drops. I shot these photos of my own hands, which often required that I lean far from the bike so the camera could capture the full picture. The result is that, in fact, my reach is even better when I’m riding than is depicted in the shots.

 

 
If your brake levers don’t fit your hands, perhaps swapping them for a short-reach set will do the trick. Just be sure to get levers which work with the kind of brakes your bike has. If I ever build up a road bike, I’ll probably go with these same levers. They’re inexpensive, but are effective and comfortable. With levers that fit, you’ll be much more confident that you can get a grip when the need arises.

 
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