I built a motobecane cross bike up with drop bars, I have brake levers with a little button on the front of the lever that allows it to drop forward a little more, I suppose for more brake pad clearance when removing wheel, but on the front I have v-brake with the lever button in the full out position and it works really well. The tricky thing is that there is less feel as there is more leverage(v-brake levers have less leverage and more cable travel) but the front brakes stop really good with gentle application. I have cantilever brakes on rear.