Salsa Woodchippers? FSA Compacts? Help!
So I'm trying to figure out a handlebar setup that I won't hate on tour. Last summer I did a bunch of touring on Mustache bars, and while I love them around town, they're really not that great on tour--there just aren't very many hand positions.
I put on a pair of Salsa Poco bars only to discover what many other people have--"ergonomic" bars, aren't.
I'm looking at swapping them out for either the FSA Compacts or the Salsa Woodchippers.
Here are the factors that matter:
*I have shoulder issues. I know part of it is that I tend to lock my (weak) arms when riding, which is something I'm working on.
*I am, shall we say, a cautious descender. To be frank, I tend to ride my brakes, I'm a scaredy-cat going downhill. Not having a really secure/easy grasp on my brakes is terrifying, and then I ride them even more. The mustache bars are helpful in that I have them on the ends of the bars and they're easy to grab, I find myself descending faster on them than I ever did in drops just because I feel so stable at that wide angle. I have some totally upright bars on my 1961 Raleigh, and I descend quickly on that too, because again, I'm upright and have an easy grasp on my brakes.
*I do not reach very far. Part of that is my shoulder issues, part of it is wearing strong glasses, but I like sitting at a pretty straight angle. My handlebars are a few inches higher than my saddle and I like having a short reach.
*I have a quill stem.
I'm getting drop bars at all because I need lots of hand positions when touring.
The two strong contenders right now are the Salsa Woodchipper and the FSA Compact. Anyone toured on either of them? Like them? Hate them? Think they'll work/not work with my issues?