Originally Posted by
AngieD750
the info i got from the LBS is that the drop bars is the difference between road and hybrid bikes, and road bikes do not ride well on anything but paved roads...for anything else, get a hybrid.
This is plain wrong and might suggest that you are at the wrong LBS. There are lots of drop bar bikes that are good off paved roads, they are called, variously, gravel bikes, cyclocross (cx) bikes, or adventure bikes.