Have any of you decided to give up drop bars because of riding comfort - or lack there of? I've been through 3 bikes and dozen of saddles (and spent thousands of $$$$), but I can't seem to get comfortable in a leaning forward position. The problem always comes back to the saddle area.

If I raise the seat up high enough to get full leg extension and no knee pain, the saddle (ANY saddle!) is doing one of these 3 things depending on how it's adjusted:

A)chafing away at the front of me
B)jammed up into the tops of my thighs
C) nose down in front, but pushing into sit-bones causing my piriformis muscle to cramp and sciatic pain.

If I lower the saddle enough so it doesn't offend anything "up there", my right knee hurts - and I ride flat pedals, so it can't be foot position related.

I have tried stem lengths of 70mm-90mm - my bars are FSA compact wing pro 38cm, my bike is a LHT size 50cm. I am 5'5" 135lb long legs and shorter but not super short arms. Raising the drops so they are higher than the saddle just feels plain weird, and doesn't seem like a long term solution.

DH and I are getting sick of the never ending swapping of saddles, seatposts stems, etc. and the associated $$$! His last comment was "just get rid of the drop bars and ride upright!" My concern is that upright is not an efficient way to travel for 40+ miles and at speeds of 14-15mph.

Have any of you made the switch from drops to say... trekking or butterfly bars? Or from drops to upright? How did it affect your riding style? Distance? Speed?