little change, now i love it.
 

had a old set of handlebars laying around and took a chance, i love the way it feels, not sure about how it looks, but the fit is nice.
http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/...0/DSC01126.jpghttp://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/...0/DSC01125.jpghttp://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/...0/DSC01124.jpg

Please use brake levers made for upright bars. Position them under your fingers when your fingers are in the most relaxed position.

just using what i had for now, wasnt sure if i would like it. i have the correct levers, just need new cables.

I think it looks great. The key is rideability. Bikes don't all have to look the same, anyway.

I had a paper route bike with bars like that, perfect fit for how my hands came to rest. Good work.

Cool! Glad you were able to make it fit better.

I was going to suggest a riser stem (like a Kalloy) to move your bars up and out, but the bike would take a big hit in the looks department. ;)

I'm gonna try different levers like Tom suggested and see how it looks, it does make a much better rider now.

I agree. Reserve levers might be prety nifty on that.

Nice work. Do you know if your bars are drilled for aero brake levers? I recently did a similar conversion to a Univega (currently for sale). The frame is much smaller than what I normally ride, but it fits me well in this configuration. I'm using Dia-Compe aero levers, FWIW.

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps835b71d8.jpg

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/a...psdb7ef608.jpg

Reserve levers? As in, spare levers?

sloar, I like the work you've done on the bike. The choice of derailleurs is weird, to say the least, but I guess we could call them exotic. ;)

I think the 's' and 'v' were reserved, I mean reversed, like the levers being suggested.

At work, I used to park in the area marked "Reserved parking." I made sure to back into my space, in case anyone gave me a hard time.

i think the derailleurs look great, ive always like the look of the valentino's, i got lucky and found an nos rear, and i took the front apart and cleaned it and put a little grease on the rod, they actually work pretty nice. i say a nice pair of reversed levers on ebay last week, i wanted to buy them but didnt have a bike to put them on, now i wished i had. for now i put a pair of regular levers that you'd find on a upright 3 speed bike. and left the chrome bars exposed. i think it looks classy, but what do i know.

Flip it


(by it I mean flip the bars, not to sell the bike)

I went through the same thing a couple of year ago with my Motobecane Grand Jubilee. The bike did not feel very comfortable with the drop bars, so I installed a set of mustache bars and, bingo, just right. The Motobe is now the vintage bike I ride the most and love every minute of it...

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...ull_Side_2.jpg

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...l_Side_L_2.jpg

Looks nice randy, that's actually the look I was going for, I guess I went with drop bars out of habit. Glad I switched before I got rid of it. I may try a few different set ups before I'm finished, but at least I'm heading in the right direction.

sloar, If we're lucky we all find the one bike that really works well for us and is worth tinkering with to perfect. Mine is my '89 Cannondale and a little over a year ago I tried an old set of North Star drop handlebars on it that I'd bought new and never used. Not much different from a set of Modolos that were on the bike, but enough to be noticed when there's 40 miles left on the ride. ;)

My touring bike rebuild also taught me that some of my take-offs from other builds can work really well on another bike, or perhaps a different style of bike from what they were sourced.

Tinker on!

Brad