i have a naim atom (i used to work for them so i didn’t pay full price), and some oldis tannoy speakers (honky but nice imaging).
i am planning to get some kef r3s when i get my arse in gear.
all very wife friendly.
have to agree with the comments above about treating rooms. well worth it...
i bought a carlton (unknown model) which was in a mates shed fir £10 in about 1979. weinman 730s, brooks b5n lace up saddle, GB maes bars and stem, simplex 5 gears.
someone had drilled a rear dropout for the anti rotation screw on the steel derailleur hanger. one day a mechanical problem with...
i use stronglight 80s on two bikes, 28/46 works fine with a modern 11 speed derailleur.
i do have memory of problems with the escape though, left crank breakages - perhaps due to over-tightening?
i have some dia compe 251 aero brake levers with “compact” levers which are a bit better shaped for smaller hands.
however i would suggest you get some early dura ace (bl-7300) or 600ax (bl-6300) levers which both have an adjuster screw which allows you to change the reach to suit your hand...
on the topic of removing the adjuster:
some thoughts…
try freeze & release? the alloy should shrink more than the steel, heat will make them lock together even tighter.
also, if drilling iut try and borrow some left hand drills for drilling from the saddle end, use ordinary righthand drills...
probably doesn’t help but just in case…
there are two thread standards used on downtube shifters. m5 x 0.7 pitch and pre-DIN standard simplex (and maybe huret) m5 x 1.0 pitch (i think)
maybr the screw thread?
otherwise downtube shifters need a close clearance on the boss. cable stops don’t...
the slab sided brake bridge was used by cougar (though no cats on the fork crown) and mike kowal - i sure others used them but IMHO its a sign of quality.
the sloping fork crown is definitely a late 1990s thing.
are the rear dropouts horizontal orvertical? if vertical it is another late 90s...
i just put an m5 allen bolt through the nut,
clamped the head of the nut in a drill and used a file to thin the sleeved section.
it only needs to be reduced by about 1/2mm to fit. but check i think you might not need to do this on athena brakes.