Originally Posted by
mdilthey
4) I'm actually going to go on the dissent here and say you DON'T need to upgrade your handlebars, add grips, or bar-ends. Since your bike's geometry is fairly upright, you won't have much weight on your wrists and the current handlebars will be fine. I think there's a knee-jerk "hand positions!" reaction on this forum to flat bars, but that's very low priority in my mind. WAY less important than the wheels and tires.
The reaction is probably caused by most people having experienced or heard others talk about numbness in the fingers after riding for extended periods on flat bars with no bar ends. I've been there and done that, and don't wish to experience it again. Definitely find a way to have multiple hand positions.
I'm not a fan of Cannondale's proprietary / non-standard forks and stems (or any of Cannondale's "System Integration" rubbish). Hopefully you won't have any problems while on tour, but if the bike is not new then I would have the fork looked at by a Cannondale dealer before leaving.