drops/brakes

[VeloVT]

I am going to try to illustrate with pictures what everyone has been saying about handlebars. The issue you are having with handlebar reach is associated with the bend shape of the handlebar, not the reach (imagine a vertical line drawn perpendicular to the ground, from the bar top to somewhere at the end of the drop. Now bisect that line with a horizontal, perpendicular to the ground line that extends to the farthest point at the drop bend. The distance of this second line is the "reach" of your bar), or the drop (that's the length of the first line, actually). So "short reach" or "compact drop" bars are not necessarily going to help. To illustrate:

Here is a picture of my old bike, with Ritchey Biomax bars (anatomic bend) and NO SHIMS. The distance between the drop "ramps" and the levers is fairly large.



Here is a picture of my new bike, with the same Biomax bars, with shimmed R700 levers. Notice the distance between the levers and the ramps is a little smaller with the shimmed levers.



Finally, here is a picture of the new bike, but with FSA Wing Pro bars. Notice that with the more traditional bend, the ramp "falls away" from the levers much more gradually, and the levers are much closer.



So, to summarize, shims will make a difference, but it's a smallish difference (though a smallish difference may be all you need). As to your question regarding whether switching bars will help, I think it depends on what you look for in a new set of bars. I think that new bars CAN make a difference for you, but I'm not sure an anatomic bend like the Salso Pocos have is going to do what you want, even if it is "short reach" and/or "compact".