And I like it! It's faster, more road bike feeling. Although not really there, it is very close. Speeds are also very close to the road bike, off by an mph or two. The position is a bit tiring for my hands, but I will adjust to it over coming weeks. One things does worry me a bit; I noticed when I'm in the drops and hammering away, the bars flex a little. Not much but maybe a few mm. The bars are aluminum. They are used but overall in a good shape with no cracks. Is this of any concern?

And the speed - 31 mph on flat road, and I could do more when I'm well rested. I just finished the whole day of working on it - removing flat bar and rapidfire shifters, now it has Sora STI's and drop bar up there. And yes, factory mechanical MX4 brakes are working just fine with STI levers. Much better modulation, and easier to pull then on the v-brake levers. Only drawback is that the levers are much softer now, so I need to remember not to pull them to strong if I need to brake hard, or it'll be fly time

Also, I'm coming from 28/38/48 triple down to a compact, that is I'm going to be buying a compact cranckset as I've put on STI's that are 2x8 - for the time being my front derailleur is set to shift 38/48 rings, but the low range is a bit too high, what do you suggest, something like 34/50 might suit me fine if I'm thinking right? Thanks all!