• A wonky brooks always bugs me to

    I don't know. My very early 1970s Gitane came, in its day, with a plastic Ideale saddle which I quickly replaced with a Brooks Professional--- that saddle still lives (on my wife's tourer pending a future rebuild of the Gitane). Absolutely nothing "wonky" about them. On our Merckx MXL, resp. MAX, bikes we have Swift Ti saddles--- these all purchased late mid-1990s (my wife's Swift replacing a Turbomatic she wore out). Have also a number of modern saddles on other bikes, but they'd look out-of-place on, for example, my old Gitane.

    Mainly because they're trying very hard to have a period looking bicycle but failed miserably with the bar tape that show how much you rode with your hand near the stem,

    Are they really trying hard. People who try hard don't built "period looking pieces" but built period-pieces. I personally find the retro-hip look less aesthetically offensive than of the other design trends in bicycles, especially as it leaves room to artisan production--- contrast with the carbon trend.

    The leather bar wrap? Back in the late 1960s and well through the 1970s it was quite popular to have them on "bling racing bike boom bikes" in the US. Sure these bicycles tended not to be ridden much--- more a status thing not unlike other fashions that followed--- but these were often very nice bikes, loads of chrome and arabesque lugs, typically kitted out with full Campa NR (later models were nearly all SR once that grouppo was released), Cinelli bars and stems,

    Miche seatpost (always an anti), and that stupid Knog light.

    Miche is not that bad. Their bits are cheap and available. There are worse bits to be had.

    Knog light? Cheap, fashionable and widely available. Better than no light. Any of the better lights demands handlebar real-estate. In countries such as Germany its a legal requirement to carry lights even if one never rides in the dark. Sub 10kg bicycles can have approved battery lamps. The biggest problem with the Knogs are that they lack required StVO-approval. Most police, however, will turn "a blind eye" to them and the German government is looking to modernize their rules to include newer technology...

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