Alt bars and stem questions

[confusedcyclist]

I'm retrofitting alt bars to my CX/commuter Surly Straggler. lately I havnt been getting on with drop bars due to issues with my neck (desk job/postural), which means going for a more comfortable setup in the mean time.

I have picked up a set of Surly Open Bars, I love the retro look, but they are supposed to be comfortable for cruising. So quick question about stem lengths, I think currently I have a 120mm stem IIRC. These new bars are swept back. Should I experiment with a shorter stem? Is there any rule of thumb I should follow for guesstimating the best stem length for my particular style of handle bars? Frustratingly both spare stems in my garage are for 31.8mm bars, not 25.4mm. Which leads me to my second question, are there spacers/adapters available which will let me use the bars, or is that a big safety issue?

 

[Sharky]

Google 25.4 31.8 shims.
There seems to be loads

 

[cyberknight]

although what was it about drop bars that maybe a shorter / angled stem might have been able to fix ?

 

[mickle]

My philosophy is, if you don't get on with drop bars then you've got the wrong shape or they're in the wrong place for you. On one of my bikes just having the brakes in the wrong position was the difference between a good setup and virtually unrideable. A matter of about 15mm

 

[fossyant]

My philosophy is, if you don't get on with drop bars then you've got the wrong shape or they're in the wrong place for you. On one of my bikes just having the brakes in the wrong position was the difference between a good setup and virtually unrideable. A matter of about 15mm

This - or you need to work on some core exercises. Rising the bars and shortening the stem will help. 120mm is at the longer end of the scale to be honest. I ride 130mm on my 'vintage' road bikes. For commuting, I had 120mm on a much newer road bike.

The advantage of more hand positions out weigh the limited hand positions of straight bars. PS I generally ride on 'the hoods'.