I'm in the 'tweener camp, clean but with lustrous patina. Vintage parts have earned the slight dulling around that shiny spot where your thumb hits on the shifter or your fingers grip the levers. There's no need to shine the crap out of everything.

Think about it, which looks like it belongs on a bike that is loved and ridden... a new out of the box Honey Brooks or one that seen a couple 10,000 miles complete with divots and sweat stains?

To me nothing says I'm loved like the latter.