I'll just add that I'm coming from the position of being a woman who has developed long term injuries from riding a bike that had bars that were too wide (flat and dropped).
Bike manufacturers fit parts to a bike marketed at men (as opposed to a WSD model) that they think will fit the average man of a given height with wider shoulders, bigger hands, longer torso, narrower sit bones. Thus, as a woman who is actually the same height as the average man (if not a little taller) but has narrower shoulders, a shorter torso relative to legs, smaller hands and wider sit bones, whenever I have bought a built bike I've quickly needed to change some parts.
A good bike fit from a physio will usually cost £100+ Plus the cost of the parts they suggest changing to make the bike fit the OPs anatomy. I've had three and every one has confirmed my choice of stem and handlebar size fitted to 'mens' framesets.
I like cross levers, I can brake from the drops but like most riders I'm mostly on the hoods, I can brake from these too but if I have to brake a lot (as I do, much of my riding in in built up areas), my hands can start to ache (I have joint issues too which don't help). The brake levers on the tops also give me a more upright position when in traffic, when filtering and the they stop the bikes as well as the brifters
My other female riding friends like to have these too for the same reasons.
I choose SRAM shifters as the shape suits my smaller hands better than the more chunky bulbous Shimano equivalents. I've done around 12000 miles if not more on the various bikes I have, they all have parts in the size I know that suit me
The parts and fitting might cost a few quid but less than long courses of physio to correct injuries from having a bike that fits poorly
And they're brakes!!
Even the Americans know how to spell it correctly!
