I got this bike weeks ago, and posted it briefly in Catch of the Day. I rode it once, a 16 mile training ride, and bent a pedal, and since then, I've been so busy working and getting married that I hadn't touched it til today. So, today I replaced the pedals, and took it out on a ride that was more within it's design brief - a run into town for shopping. It was GREAT. It's the most comfortable bike I own, with the slack angles, sprung seat and soft tyres, it's like riding on air, and it actually makes me ride in a relaxed way. It's the only bike on which I'm able to escape my tendency to make a ride a time trial every time. There are, however, a couple of things I don't like. One is the brakes -they're really nasty pressed steel sidepulls, little stopping power and very squeely. On both sides, one arm has bent under brake force. I'm thinking about the sacrelage of putting long reach double pivot calipers and kool stop salmon pads on it for that. The other thing is the paint. It's tired, and in places there's rust (not on the main frame - on the fender arms), but it's also not that nice. British Racing Green is just not on for bikes, in my view. Now the obvious thing would be to respray it in black, which looks really classy, but then again, it's never going to outclassy the Gentlemens Express lightweight 3 speed I'm building on a Dawes Galaxy 531 frame. So I got to thinking, this thing would look great in purple. Or Yellow. Or Fire Engine Red. Or red with yellow fenders..... The possibilities are endless. Of course, it'd be more of a theft magnet, but it'd be SOOO cool. What do you think?