The other day in the shower I was thinking, "Gee, that hot New England weather's just about done. Soon it's going to be time to break out the Winter Bike." I was sad for a while, because I just in April bought a gorgeous Summer Bike that will be very hard to give up for six months.

The Winter Bike is a Specialized Hardrock, circa 1999, with almost all original parts. One big thing I'll miss about the Summer Bike is its sweet drop handlebars and shifting/braking mechanisms. My question is this: Do you have any experience with switching out mountain bike handlebars with drops? I'm going to keep the brakes & shifters as mountain bike ones, since new shifters alone cost like $200. Has anybody tried doing some Frankenstein's monster-type mod to their bike like this, and if so, how has it worked out?

I'd like to do this before any snowy weather hits!