Lorelei goes back to her roots

My 1978 Puch Princess mixte has served me well the past 3 years. I bought her before I got into riding road bikes. But I was aware that she originally had been a road bike - like this:

Puch Princess owned by Kate aka 'darksquid'.
Interestingly, Kate made over her mixte in a similar fashion
as I did with Lorelei - see http://www.flickr.com/photos/darksquid/3963611482/in/faves-10938860@N03/.

When I bought Lorelei off ebay in May 2010, she'd lost her drop bars and looked like this:

With some TLC from Brixton Cycles, she was transformed into this, her current incarnation. We did our daily commute every day the summer of 2010 and then did the 120-mile Dunwich Dynamo with the same set-up... and then our first two Friday Night Rides to the Coast.

But she has been telling me since the day we met that she wants to fly like the wind, so I've been dreaming of returning her to her road touring roots.

Today we fitted retro-shaped drop bars and brake levers (including the top "suicide" levers) and a lovely black Brooks Swallow.

Makeover started - March 2013.

We're not quite road ready -- just need to get and fit the correct size barrel adjusters. At some point I will wrap the bars with black leather and fit the new-old-stock, entirely original, Bluemels Sprint Veloce mudguards -- but I am literally itching to get back on this lovely steed and hit the roads again.