Sorry but I find vintage road bars simply unbearable. Those tiny brake levers compared with the deep bends are just so unbelievably uncomfortable for me. I also really like a nice fat top. So if I had to build a comfortable drop bar bike using the 25.4-26mm standard I simply couldn't do it.

Other than liking the look of quill stems, I don't see a reason why anyone would go with the old standard. If you're building a modern bike it's a no brainer to go 31.8mm, the selection is so much bigger, because like it or not that has been the new standard for a few years now, and not just on carbon race bikes... Accept it or not, 25.4mm and 26mm is pretty much dead. Only the niche vintage and some low end stuff is what keeps it sort of alive. Even discussing the pros and cons is sort of pointless...

It's a national holiday here so that's a no.