After installing the Surly 1x1 fork, all of the tough jobs were over. I bought a Ritchey high rise road stem that is 70mm long and has a 30 degree angle rise. In addition to the steep stem angle, I put a fat spacer below the stem. The stem was a bit of a pitfall because, out of ignorance, I ordered one with a 31.8mm handlebar diameter. My bars, Which I was planning on keeping, were the standard MTB 25.4mm. So, I ordered some spacers, slapped them in, and used them for a few weeks.

After a few weeks, I realized that even after the high rise stem and spacer, I still wanted a more upright riding position. I also felt like my bars, which I had cut down to 23" in about 1998, were probably a little too narrow. Back then narrow bars were all the rage. After doing some reading online, I see that now wide bars are the ticket. I'm not going to be shooting the gap between trees on super narrow trails in the forest with this bike - so i decided to give the wider bars a try. This gave me a chance to do two things. First, I could get bars that fit my 31.8mm stem without the shims. Secondly, I could add a little more rise. I went with the Azonic World Force bars with a 3" rise. They seemed obnoxiously wide out of the box and I cut them down to 27". They still look crazy wide to me, but man are they more comfortable. I honestly feel like I can breathe easier with my arms spread further apart. Great upgrade!

I'm fairly sure that these bars are actually made for aggressive downhill riding. Whatever, there aren't many options for 31.8mm in a rise higher than 2". At least I don't have to worry about breaking them.