I've done dummy brake lever, flipped and chopped bullhorns, and now a nitto bullhorn (the longer one, model 019 i think) with a time-trial brake lever. Definitely my favorite are the nitto bullhorns, which give me a position very much like riding on the hoods on a road bike, but since they are longer and have a little upward bit at the end allow even more hand positions. But also because they are longer a shorter stem was necessary, otherwise I was feeling a little like superman all the time. I also got a stem with more drop so my position ended up, height-wise, between where I'd be in the drops and on the hoods with road bars. Works for me, my hands and arms never get sore, even after 4 hours or more in the saddle, and I can get aero if I need to by stretching out and lowering my back. Plus I have a threadless stem so changing out drop bars if I want to ride brakeless on the track is a 2 minute job.
The only time you should be riding uncomfortably is if you're racing and you're good enough that a few seconds matter, or if looking cool matters more than riding - but then you're probably not riding too much or too fast anyway.