Thank you fietsbob
"the new Italian made Brooks C17 may be OK where you, in the tropics, get caught in monsoons , & thus soaking leather saddles."
You make a really good point. I think discussion of choosing accessories and bike parts MUST take not only budget and use but also climate and season. I laugh at raingear for Tuscon, Arizona (hot and dry mostly?) Totally unsuitable for Saigon (hot and humid). Vancouver salesman at Mountain Equipment Co-Op I think very sensibly suggested that an airy poncho is much more sensible in tropics. But even his suggestion missed an important factor - in much of lower elevation southeast asia, outside the monsoon season (when it can rain from 3:30 pm to midnight DAILY) rain tends to come in 'mango showers', that is brief rain flowed by sun. So you dry off very quickly. Nobody except mad dogs and Englishmen do anything during downpours. You just seek cover. And in rainy season umbrellas are useless. Whatever you wear, especially your footwear, will get soaked. Maybe expensive raingear is different, but I am a city boy on a budget cruising around towns in between flights. I am not an adventurous racer doing the Karkoman Highway.
Also cultural and economic differences. Bike shorts are obscene in some places. Unsecured bags are a no-no in many too. One great thing about this Brompton clone/pirated design is I can take it most anywhere, except maybe the opera. So, I don't have to worry about risk of theft. Very tempting to professional criminals and crimes of opportunity to the marginalized and frustrated (more than me!) who couldn't who make in three months what the bag costs.
I would like to see more manufacturers specifying climate suitability.