Guys,

I'm interested in replacing my old steel rims with alloy ones. From what I understand, there a couple of places (Dutch Bike Bits is one) in the Netherlands that carry these. The Pashley Guvnor comes with the all-black ones with gold pinstripe, which look really great, esp. with cream tyres. But my concern is that I'll be using rod brakes. (Maybe Kool-Stop, I've heard that they are really good for this application). Do you think the rod brakes will wear down the painted surface and pinstriping with time, or should I be OK. Otherwise, I'll just go for the non-painted aluminum...they just don't look as nice.

Here is the Guvnor in case you haven't seen it:
Guv'nor | Gents Classic Path Racer Bicycle | Pashley Cycles