I have a 2004 Giant Cypress SX, which is marketed as a "flat bar road
bike". On long rides I feel I'd be more comfortable with drop bars
because of the variety of hand positions and the variety of positions
for weight distribution from rear to front (I'd also want them in a
headwind). By the way, long rides are any rides longer than 40 miles
for me--I'm not a racer, but I can usually train 200 to 240 road miles
in a typical week from March to November.
Is it worth installing drop bars, or should I save for a new road bike? If I converted, would I need a new stem, shifters,
and brake levers also, or is there a way to use the stock grip
shifters somehow on a drop bar (I don't really like the grip shifters
that much anyway)?
I like the bike, but I don't know anything about sizing or standard
bike geometry, so, for example, I don't know if the top tube would be too long me with a different configuration/different reach assumptions.