AU Tiger

Since that's in your mind, you ought to at least give it a try. You may find that it's not a matter of easy vs. difficult, but simply riding position and hand positions. I started off on a flat bar hybrid (Fuji Absolute) and got about four good years on it. But I never could completely eliminate the hand numbness, even using bar ends. Then one day I was at a local shop and noticed they had a gravel bike (Fuji Jari) deeply discounted. I took it out for a ride, and I was hooked. Haven't had numb hands since, riding position is more comfortable, and I enjoy riding even more than before. Not saying it's for everyone, but since you mentioned it you should at least try some out. As you've already learned, fit makes a world of difference. And for some folks, a drop-bar bike just fits better than a flat bar bike.

If you're not familiar with the terminology, road bikes have categories much like the hybrid categories hokiefyd described for you earlier. The two you'd probably be considering are cyclocross bikes and gravel bikes. A cyclocross bike is a road bike with wider tires than traditional road bikes (usually up to about 35mm) and racing geometry (more agressive). A gravel bike is a road bike with even wider tires (up to 42mm depending on the brand, and even wider than that with 650b tires) and endurance geometry (more relaxed than a traditional road bike... similar to a fitness hybrid). Since both of these use much wider tires than a traditional road bike, I still consider them to be hybrids - just not flat-bar hybrids. For example, I've settled in on 38mm tires, which is wider than what many folks run on their hybrids.