Hybridising trek 1000SL - opinions please!
I have a Trek 1000SL which has been hanging upside down in my garage continuously for 7 years which I'd like to start riding again. I originally stopped riding it and went to the gym instead because I live in a city where you need to ride through heavy traffic to get anywhere and found the head-down position and poor brakes a big issue (couple of very close calls with a baby on the way - not good). Now I'd like to get back into cycling so I'd like to hybridise the bike to give me an upright position and brakes as good as my old V-brake mtb (or as close as is possible with that tiny contact patch).
So, firstly to change the bars to flat MTB bar and shifters and add a taller stem. Shifters and brake levers seem easy to come by, but would a current shimano/SRAM 8-speed flat bar shifter set be compatible with my existing 2005 8-speed Sora groupset?
Secondly, I want to upgrade the front brake. I weigh 99kg and I ride in a hilly area so my brakes need to be good. I'm not going to bother upgrading the back as options are limited and I only use it to scrub speed now and then to save the front pads so it can stay calliper (yes I'm quite happy to have two different brake levers). My options appear to be to upgrade my trek own-brand front caliper brake for a better calliper brake, or change it for an mtb-style V/disc brake. I've got a feeling the latter will give better results than just upgrading to a better calliper (anyone disagree?).
This will of course require a cyclocross fork with disc/canti mounts for about £70 but a front disc will obviously require a change of hub and a slightly more expensive brake itself, so I estimate about £50 more in total. Any opinions on the amount of difference I'm likely to notice? I'm tempted to go for the V but the two things making me sway toward the disc is that I tend to ride whatever the weather (my gut says the disc will be better in the wet) and I'm guessing hydraulic (there seems to be no cost advantage in going cable-disc) is a lot less faff once set up.
All thoughts and opinions are very welcome!