Road bike brake lever position

[Frankenorange]

That thigh muscle!

 

[mattsccm]

Traditionally we had the lower part of the bar horizontal or maybe just a tiny drop at the rear. Brake levers sat so that the tip was level with the bar or maybe a touch higher. If both bar and lever were level a straight edge sorted you out. Like many things , nowadays people compromise with what was done in the past and what suits them today.

 

[Nob]

 

[Glug]

I'm going to say the drop on those bars could well be the issue.
I use GB Tourmalet which have exactly the same dimensions as the stock bars on a 1982 Holdsworth Avanti.

The other consideration is brake levers.
I recently tried some 60s Mafac levers and had to ditch them and go back to Weinmann AG drilled QR levers which sit closer to the bars and don't rattle.

GB 60s catalogue



Installed (I mostly ride on the hoods):

 

[kermisking]

Those bars you have on the Rory O'Brien look to be deep like a Cinelli 66 . A Cinelli 64 is shallower so when on the drops you will not be as far away from the brake levers . For a classic look a slight slope to the rear about five degrees from horizontal when setting the position of the handlebars in the stem . Cinelli and 3ttt do stems/bars in 26 .00mm and 26.4mm diameters . The esteemed Japanese maker Nitto I think do 25.4mm and 26.00mm diameter . You need to make sure the sizes of your bar and stem are compatible ie 26.00mm bars with 26.00mm stem . These are classic retro sizes , modern bikes have oversized bars and stem . A one or two foot straight edge/ spirit level placed underneath the drops will allow you measure from the straight edge to the bottom tip of the lever to make them level . It is trial and error but you will find a happy middle ground.