Originally Posted by sweeks

Thanks for the helpful feedback, guys!

That seat position evolved over many of the early years I had the bike. I had adjusted the nose down to avoid the numbnutz phenomenon. But looking at it now, I see you are right. I took a level and set the saddle up with a very slight downward tilt. I'll see how it goes. I haven't found myself putting too much pressure on the bars. I've always felt that the reach from saddle to bars was a bit short, and that's the main reason I reversed the trekking bars... to get the controls a bit farther out. This was my first mountain bike, and the dealer "fitted" me... who knows how accurately?

I see your point. However, I've had these bars on this bike for several years and have never had a feeling of inadequate control even under "stoppie" braking. I suppose if I had the tendency to ride one-handed I might have an issue, but I keep both hands on the bars. I like those grips for the comfort they give my wrists. It will be interesting to see how the "normal" arrangement works on my road bike.
EDIT: It would be interesting to put brake levers on the more forward part of the bars.
EDIT 2: Actually, the places where the centers of my hands rest on the grips are 16" apart... only about 3" less than on another bike with a straight bar. This may be why I haven't noticed a lack of steering control.