Bicycle Mechanics - MTB & Drop Bar Shifter Question

I would like to add a drop bar with road style "brifters" to an 8-speed MTB with Shimano components. Is it possible to do this by only adding the bar and brifters or would other components like derailleurs, chainrings and cassettes need to be changed? I would be doing this to an older full rigid MTB like a Trek 930 or something similar.

That's perfectly doable. Some people modify their old Mtb's to tour bikes in that manner. 8 speed brifters will index with what you already have. Make sure you have a few in-line adjusters on hand as mtb's do not have similar derailleur cable stops road frames do. Road bars also require a road stem.

The rear will shift just fine. The majority opinion is that the front won't shift well although I've read a post by one guy who said it worked fine for him.

You might have to swap out your stem in order to accomodate a road bar.

The rear will shift just fine. The majority opinion is that the front won't shift well although I've read a post by one guy who said it worked fine for him.

I converted a Trek MTB to drop bars and brifters just as you propose. The rear (105 8-speed brifters, Deore DX derailleur) shifted fine but the front wouldn't index at all. I wound up using a barcon for the front.

Thanks for all the answers. How about MTB brakes with the road brifters. Will they work with cantilever or v-brakes? Both? Neither?

Thanks for all the answers. How about MTB brakes with the road brifters. Will they work with cantilever or v-brakes? Both? Neither?

Road levers will work OK with cantys but they don't have enough cable pull for linear pull brakes. The easy solution is to use a cable pull device such as Travel Agents.