Right. I do a lot of upper body exercises, but I'd still have neck pain if my handlebars were lower.
The trick is to buy an adjustable stem. Then you can play around and find a position that will work. I can make my drop bars just as high as the flat bars. They are slightly lower now, but I could change that if I want. When you install the brakes, try to add a little more cable housing than you otherwise would, so that you can raise the handlebars if you want.
With the adjustable stem, you can adjust the fore/aft position of the bars as well as height (by adjusting depth in headset and angle in tandem).
The disadvantage of the adjustable stem is that it is a little heavier, and it can come loose. Mine has gotten loose twice, but not catastrophically. Not a problem really. I've put loctite on to prevent this.
I now think of drop bars as a flat bar, but with optional drops.
How do you guys do those mountain bike brakes? I've seen that several times now, but can't figure out if it's a jerry-rig, or special cables or brake handles. I'm already looking at drops for my trekking bike, and this would be a handy addition. TIA
I'm not sure what you are asking, but the brake levers are different. They take a barrel shaped end rather than a funnel-shaped end. You buy a cable with the different types at each end, and cut off the one you don't want.