Pompiere

I don't worry about keeping everything original, but I try to stay with the spirit of the era. It's not unusual for parts to be changed even before the bike leaves the shop for the first time, sometimes to fit the bike to the rider, sometimes to upgrade to a better performing part. Several people have shared their old receipts from their bike purchases BITD that had such changes listed. When rebuilding a bike, I look at it as if the owner had a mishap and needed a replacement part or was unhappy with the original part and installed a better version. I see that as part of the bikes history, just as much as the patina of the finish.

Accessories are part of the history, too. Sure, a racing bike looks good stripped to just the bare essentials, but most bikes a ridden by normal people who want to stay dry and be seen and who need to carry stuff.