Originally Posted by CdCf
I need the brake cables to leave the top of the brake lever housing.
I won't be able to have them run along the surface of the bar itself.
Besides, I really wanted the nice features that the SD7 offer.
I've looked at the site I ordered from again, and all the brake levers they have are seriously inferior in one way or another.
I guess I'll just have to grind out 1.5 mm from the inner section to make it fit.
Why do you want the brake cables to come out of the brake lever housing rather than run along the handlebar under the tape. The latter style is known as aero bars and has completely taken over among road bike users because it's simply less cluttered and easy to deal with. You could probably buy some used old-style road levers if you want... but I doubt there's a road bike rider out there who prefers them.
When you ride with drop bars, you position your hands quite differently than the way you do with mountain bike handlebars. One advantage of aero brake levers is that the hood provides a comfortable position to hook your thumb into.
It sounds like you may not have ever ridden with drop bars before. I would suggest trying them out before converting your bike to them. Everything is a little bit different: the way you support your weight, the way you steer, the way you brake, the way you shift. Maybe you'll like them better, but maybe not. Find out now, so that you don't waste time modifying your bike in a way you won't like.
What specific feature do your current levers have that you want to keep? There are road brake levers designed to work with all types of brakes these days, so that you can use V-brakes or disc brakes on a bike with a drop bar.