I for one don't care for the MoonDog bars either. You can remove all the stuff (brake levers, ect.) and then just loosen the allen bolt holding them on and change then out with any bicycle bars you wish.

Takes about 15 minutes total.

You won't have to do anything with the gears.

As to the seat post question....after you pull the quick release lever on the post, unscrew it a few turns and see if that helps. Otherwise, sandpapaer is your friend.

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