Just for fun, here are a couple of pix of the 1991 DB Venture I have been riding in the Clunker Challenge 100 this year. I wound up using mostly stock parts and setting it up to be a multi-surface road bike suitable for accompanying my son when he runs. The funny thing is - it actually rides very, very nicely.

[IMG]7/6/2017 2nd version by Russ Fitzgerald, on Flickr[/IMG]

My 1991 DBV came with 47-57mm reach brake calipers rather than the typical 39-49mm on most road bikes. Double check yours, which I think is a 1990 and see if it is the same. In my case, with a little creative grinding to remove excess steerer tube length I was able to run 35mm Continental Cyclocross tires on mine -

[IMG]7/6/2017 front clearance by Russ Fitzgerald, on Flickr[/IMG]

- which means there's easily room for 28mm tires and fenders, maybe even 32s. But 28s for sure.

Now, you could update everything I suppose - but honestly, why? It's a commuter. What I found was that the bottom bracket in mine, which looked like it had been deliberately filled with rusty red mud, came back nicely when properly cleaned and repacked with fresh grease. The same for the hubs, which emerged from my workshop running smoothly and well. The 3x7 drivetrain has so far worked nicely for me. I will note that I do need to tweak the derailleur hanger, which shows signs of having been bent, which could be the result of an accident that took out the original rear derailleur. Not a biggie.

This bike is actually made with pretty decent tubing - the Tange Infinity is .09-.06-.09 walled, double-butted chromo with .08-walled stays and 1.0mm walled fork blades. Sure, it's seamed, but by the time Tange was done working it into shape the seam is pretty much irrelevant. It's not a hi-zoot, big name brand kinda tubing, but who cares? You could build up a very nice, speedy, not-so-attractive-to-thieves but still very nice bike with this. It's not that much different from Reynolds 531 dimensions - though it does take a 27.0 mm seatpost rather than a 27.2.

Should you choose to simply clean and re-use as many of the stock parts as possible, you'll find the Exage stuff is all good, workable stuff that is durable and dependable. It works pretty much like everything else Shimano has made and is the equivalent of Sora or Tiagra. I will note that I picked up a set of replacement brake lever hoods from Niagara Cycle that are close enough for around $8 shipped - every example of those white Shimano lever hoods I have encountered in the Southeast has been a runny sticky mess.

Were it mine, and if I was absolutely set on running brifters, and with the understanding that this is a commuter - I would look at Microshift brifters. They sell a 3x7 set which turns up on the big auction site for around $50.

If you must run 10 or 11 speed on the rear, it's already set to 130 mm in the rear, so it should all fit in nicely. But again, it's a commuter, 7-speed cassettes are readily available and reasonably cheap.

Here's my account of setting one of these up cheap!