Road Bike newbie question

[BearPear]

Not sure if this should be in the technical section, but as I consider myself a newbie (still!) I will try here first.

After riding my beloved Trek 7.2 fx wsd since last year, I got a road bike last week (2010 Specialized Dolce Sport) and I am beginning to like it very much! However, one of the reasons I chose a ladies bike, apart from being female, is for the small-size bars. I am still struggling with the brakes, it is a stretch to pull them on and riding downhill gives me sore hands.

My question is this, would the shims that came with the bike make a great deal of difference, or should I persevere and take it as part of adapting to a different type of riding?

 

[Globalti]

Can't comment on the shims but it sounds as if you might benefit from some hand-strengthening exercise. The old boring way was to go and buy one of those spring clamp things and squeeze it but the fun way is to get one of these:

http://www.powerballs.com/

 

[BearPear]

I have one of those, in a drawer somewhere! It was fun, for about 5 minutes, then it got boring! But, if the CCers say I should use it, I'll dig it out again and have a go *sigh*!!

 

[Globalti]

Maybe the brakes themselves aren't set up at their best and you are needing to squeeze hard to get them to work? I find I can control the bike on a steep downhill with only moderate pressure; the rubber brake blocks grab the rims pretty effectively.

Are the brake blocks contacting the rims squarely? They should almost make a "clack" if you squeeze the brake fast. Take the wheels out and look at the wear on the pads - is it even across the whole pad? If not, the brakes are not set up right, which would explain the effort needed. Check also that the rims are clean and wearing evenly and that the pads are clean and not clogged up with black crud or have shiny particles of stone embedded in them - unlikely if the bike is only a week old.

Added: it might be worth fitting a softer compound brake block. If you are light this won't necessarily wear out faster.