I have to agree with the drop bars on the road - best in every respect for rides longer than 30mins.
I am a mountain biker at heart but love my road bike. I started off with a flat bar road bike but decided to go for drop bars eventually after struggling to be comfortable over longer distances - I just needed more hand positions.
I now love drop bars but it wasn't an easy path to enjoyment. My first bike was a Specialized Secteur. The only way I was comfortable on the tops and hoods was positioning the drop position too far away. I changed my bike for a Spesh Tricross and this had better shaped bars but the drops position still seemed too far away.
After discussing it with a couple of shops I knew I needed something very compact, but with a long reach, plus some flat sections on the edge of the hoods position so my hands didn't roll off sideways. As I have broad I plumped for 44 rather than 42cm bars. I chose FSA k-wing compact carbon bars and I LOVE them!
Great profile on the tops, hoods position is perfection and I can reach the drops position well enough to be confident doing so.