Surly Pacer, or Trek Lexa SLX?

So, for one, ignore pedals. You can put on whatever pedals/cleat system you want. So that's a non-issue.

Now, as for the rest... the surly is a steel bike--so it will be heavy, and dampen the road feel. The trek is an aluminum bike with a carbon fork. It will be lighter, stiffer, and ride a bit snappier. It's about what you want...but you would be fine to commute on the Lexa, and you'd definitely want to race on the lexa over the surly--unless you really don't care about anything other than comfort.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by brake controls being hard to reach/use, unless it was just there was a longer stem or wider bars or whatever. (Are they both not using the same brake/shift mechanism type? I thought one was Tiagra 10 spd and the other 105? But he may have it built with something else. Or it could be you just need narrower bars, or a different stem length, or the bars tilted up or down or whatever to fit your reach better. BUt again, those are adjustable.

I guess, my best advice would be to tell you that they are two really different types of bikes, and you have to decide what you want it for. If you want the one that's the good commuter and the better race bike, go trek. If you want a soft buttered ride, but not a race bike...go Surly. You can always soften the Trek up a bit later, if you want (swap the bars/stem for carbon, etc.)