Before I drop it, I will say this to SteelCommuter: great post!

If I came across the wrong way, I apologize. I did not mean to force the original poster into any particular choice. Your post makes perfect sense to me. Unfortunately none of us bothered to ask the original poster what type of riding will he/she be doing.

kandnhome had the same idea as you when he said: I still don't see why, although not the best in all applications, drop bars aren't the best (or at least a good) choice in many, many other applications. Especially for your average commuter/light trail/moderate singletrack rider.

Again, I certainly cannot disagree with that. Now I am going to have that pie!