Here are the photos of the whole process, before and after. As is said in an earlier post, I spent $15 for used bars, $25 for brakes levers that work with V brakes, and some money for new brake cables and bar tape. I did the labor myself, and had to create the shims, with some extra pipe I had laying around, although Lowe's or Home Depot probably has some good piping.
Before: The basic stock bike with flat bars.
During: The bars with brakes attached, and the on the stem, and finally with the homemade adapters in place. I had to shim them to make them fit, and drilled through the whole setup to prevent spinning.
After: Drops bars. The shifting is surprisingly easy. I taped over the metal with duck tape to make it appear more professional, and then sanded down bar-caps to fit.
BTW, i taped the bars myself, and had to replace my first attempt, but was fine on round 2. Overall, the labor took maybe three hours, but I had some time in between problem solving. If i did it again, it would take maybe 30mins, since I know what I am doing.
