Sirrus Rider

I'm thinking of upgrading (Downgrading?) my gearing from the Stock 52/42 front Rings to a more compact setup. I have a Shimano 105 5500 series racing triple and a triple front shifter on hand; however I'm wondering if it would be simpler to keep the stock cranks and just go to a smaller tooth count on my front rings, say 50/38? Or go with the triple?

Also this bike (a 47cm) came with 38cm wide bars and on my more modern '07 Sirrus DBC I was fit with 42cm wide bars (the width of my shoulders) and the drops just about start at the top of the front forks of the '88 which make the drops not very useful. I'm tempted to switch out to Origin 8 compact alloys like what I have on my more modern version and would mean converting the stem to a threadless suitable for use with a 31.8 modern bar. Would all this be to offensive to the C&V Gods and purists?