Originally Posted by
Sprocket Monkey
Hey guys. Bought a Surly Cross Check. Love the bike however 60 year old ex football player needing to shed a few pounds. The handle bars are a little aggressive for my aging back. I've tried to adapt but decided to maybe convert to flat bar. Looking st Salsa. Any suggestions, thoughts. Pretty new rider. Mostly around neighborhood and short commutes. Thx.
As stated, you are going to need (along with the bar) new shifters and brake levers.
If you let us know specifically what brakes and drivetrain you currently have, we can make some good suggestions on what to get.
I did a flat bar conversion on my wife's road bike and she has been very happy with it. I've ridden it around a bit and I like it, too. I prefer drops for my road bike but I might go this route myself in the future for my next commuter/errand bike (I currently use a mountain bike frame dressed up as a commuter).
That said, I would at least
consider trying a stem with shorter reach and higher rise if it is just the leaning over that is the problem. Even just an inch shorter and higher can feel very different. One thing you can try is riding a little farther back on the ramps (the flat part of the bar behind the hoods) and see if that works out for comfort. If so, that should give you an indication of how much you need to shorten the stem by in order to be comfortable on the hoods, or if that is even a viable option. If it looks like you need shorter than a 60-70mm stem, the drop bar thing is probably just not meant to be, at least on that bike.