Oddos Raleigh Ronniewagon, Brexit Crust Wanker Hybrid, Gravel Bieks and anodized aluminum

Love it!

Nice, can't wait to see the paintjob @Oddo!
BTW I finally shared my build on the forum!
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/369592/

Thanks, @jontea and @prefixit. I am really pleased with it. Such a functional cool and comfortable bike.

Next up: Experimenting with (swept back) flat bars. I got something real cheap of ebay. Bought some grips. Shifters are going to stay on the downtube so I only need to remove the dropbars and stem and detach the brake cables. Should be easy and quick enough.

I am in need of some brake levers though. And hell I am picky. I basically want some Tektro levers that were their top of the line product for a short time in the 90's? They look similar to Paul levers. They are usually not as expensive BUT since they were only a nice aftermarket upgrade and never a OEM product they are so fuckin' rare.
Does anybody have some Paul, VO, Ridea or similar levers for me?

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@Oddo wow never seen those tektro levers they are beautiful! Check the FL-540 they are also quite nice

The Shimano BL-R550 are not too far off if you change the barrel adjuster to a silver one

Yeah, the FL-540 are like a budget backup plan. They are cheap and easier to get. Maybe I don't need to go overboard yet before knowing whether I will like this bike with swept-back bars.

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I've got a pair of these and even with big hands find the bend has made gripping them a little bit of a stretch.

What about ultegra R780 levers? nicer than budget Shimano, have reach adjustment, can be had for about £30.

Hmm, then they might not be for me. I have rather delicate hands.

+jontea thanks for the offer but I don't really like the look of all the standard Shimano levers.

Then I'd just go for the velo orange ones, and if you don't like em sell them to me ;)

. I basically want some Tektro levers that were their top of the line product for a short time in the 90's?

I know exactly what you mean, i almost bought some off German eBay last year beacuase they looked great

They also look great partly anodized but that's not the right thing for this bike.

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Those Tektro are beautiful.. now I need to get some too haha

There are some nice CNC levers for folding bikes which may work, latter two are a bit skeleton though

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324196826061

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294517674373

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154654914763

The first pair is not too bad. Cheers.
The others are a bit too skeletal and they are advertised as v brake levers so I assume the pull ratio is wrong.

I am currently following a lead from a german MTB forum on the Tektro 372s. We'll see how that goes down.

I am currently following a lead from a german MTB forum on the Tektro 372s. We'll see how that goes down.

Unfortunately, that lead was a dead end.

Now I am getting impatient and thinking whether I should just buy the VO levers. They match the budget to "how much-I-like-them-visually" + availability the best.

Another new candidate to throw in the race are these Dia Compe MX122 levers. I always thought I don't like them and I had similar looking ones on a very old bike and they were just cheap and wobbly.
They look very sturdy in this video
though. Not loose at all.
They also look great on this stunner of a retro mtb:

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Oh, and they are less than 20 quid.

Nah, I don't like them, so you need to get the VO ones, then sell them to me!

I have some Dia comp ss-6 levers, black body / silver levers you can have for a £10er posted?

I recon once the body is polished silver they will look perfect for this? depends if you want to go through the effort of doing that though?

I ran these for years on a singlespeed commuter with road calipers. Also have a few sets on the old BMXs as they are my favorite style lever from that era. I really really like them as they are so small, simple and comfortable. They do feel flimsy though. They won't break but yes they do wobble about a bit under your finger.

They do feel flimsy though.

@Tom13 thanks then that's a no go.

@Josh that sounds like a reasonable idea. I've actually looked for the all silver ones but can't find any in the UK. I'll pm you.

Love the build, looking forward to flat bar conversion

It is done.

Today I switched the drops for some swept-back bars. It was reasonably easy and quick since I only had to disconnect the brake cables at the brake and then take the handlebars with cable and housing off the bike.
The new setup is a bit of a budget mix but to be fair doesn't look that much like it. I polished up an old and dirty SR quill stem from the parts bin, got some bars for £9 of eBay, some Dia Compe SS6 levers (£9 from eBay too) and some new Oury grips in a colour that was available.

I have to say visually I am quite pleased. It is kind of how I imagined it to turn out. The cables are a bit weird but it was the best way to make them work with the bar bag.

Here is the big BUT though. The reach was reduced by a lot. And this makes the bike very short and upright. It feels very unusual and inefficient to me. I am not quite sure whether I like it. Only rode it around the block for some shopping and accelerating feels slower.
I already moved the saddle back but I think to enjoy this I need a longer stem and or wider handlebars. These are "only" 57cm. The drops on there were 52cm so not much of a gain here.

The leverage on the brakes has improved though. I feel like it is less effort to brake which is something I can still feel in my left hand. What also helped massively here are some new Kool Stop Thinline Salmon brake pads which were already an improvement on the drops.

While I was fiddling with the front end I also wanted to finally install the BLB mini rack that has been sitting in a box since forever. I had to realise though that the strouts are too short...
So I ordered some longer ones...

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That is so so nice. Looks exactly like it always should have looked!!

Roll on paint job!

Fantastic bike!

Looking swishhh