reeeeeeaaaaaach...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Madscot,
I am 5'5" tall.
My bike came with a 90mm reach stem. After riding it several months, I found it was too lone for me. I changed to a really short 50mm stem, which I rode for a couple of months. Though it helped my reach issue, I found that it affected my steering badly- my steering was wobbly and annoying.
Then I put on a 70 stem. That eliminated the wobbly steering, and didn't seem to be too long a reach by much. I'll stick with that stem now.
Now in order to attempt to shorten my reach just a bit more, I am about to put on some shorter reach Salsa handlebars, which should not effect my steering like a short stem would.
If you compare the specs on their website, you will see that the Salsa "Poco" bars will shorten your reach substantially more than the Salsa "Short and Shallow" bars. Also the drops are less low down on the Poco than the ShortNShallow's. Measure your shoulders for width. I got the 40cm width alloy Poco bars. We will be putting them on this weekend.

Another thing you might want to try-
I know this sounds counter-intuitive.....but try shoving your saddle as far back as it will go. When I did this (at DH's recommendation) I found my weight was suddenly balanced more over my legs instead of forward so much on my hands- it moved my center of gravity back a bit and I actually felt WAY more balanced. It made a big difference and I love it.
Sounds nuts but it worked wonderfully for me- can't hurt to try it!

Will report back about the Salsa Poco bars when I get them on and try them out this weekend.

[SouthernBelle]

Just throwing in that I love my Salsa Pocos.