Originally Posted by ElSetho
Alright, Im getting stuck on what shifters/brake levers to get to switch my bike from a flatbar to dropbar. I have an 8 speed with a double crank and V-brakes, which is making everything kinda tough for me. Im pretty new to cycling so any help anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Option 1: Bar end shfiters, DiaCompe 287V brake levers.
Option B: STI with Travel Agent pulleys to make the brake cable pull match.
Even if you could find them, I wouldn't recommend buying 8-speed shifters unless they are _very_ cheap. It makes more sense to upgrade to 9-speed, since the expensive part of this conversion is the shifter, and you already need a shifter!
The only additional parts you need for 9-speed are a new chain and cassette, and these are normally consumable parts anyway--odds are yours are already close to due for replacement.
Some folks will tell you that you need a lot of other stuff to convert an 8-speed bike to 9-speed, but they're wrong.
Also, you can generally use the 9-speed shifters with your old 8-speed cassette by using the "alternate cable routing" shown at
http://sheldonbrown.com/alternate
Sheldon "Nine, Ja!" Brown