Matthew, et al,
I have been a happy user of the classic looking M-bars for a couple of years on my single speed, and will be installing the same bar on another restoration soon. I am a little confused as to what you are asking, whether you want to or don't want to use aero brake levers. Either way the M-bars work just fine without any modifications to the levers. The Shimano levers on my SS are aero, and the look is very clean. I also installed the bars on girlfriend's Schwinn LeTour restoration using beautiful older (non-aero) Shimano 600 levers with lovely gum hoods, and the cables route in nice arcs.
The bars were designed to evoke the look and feel of the very old originals and they do look and ride very well. One caution: Typically you will want to use a shorter stem extension than you normally would. I usually ride with a 70mm stem and went to a 50mm for these bars. If you want to see photos of the two bikes referenced above, shoot me an email.
Ron Gurth Dressing warm and riding tomorrow in 20 deg Carmel, IN
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