The hubs actually look a lot better than the photograph and would look a lot less cheapo when fitted w/hollow axles and less clunky lock nuts (imo) and quick releases. But in any event, I agree, a little bit of gold goes a long way. The bikes with gold stems, cranks, etc, don't do anything for me. I just put the thought out there, but, yeah, it probably would be too much. I've been contemplating this whole gold angle - the seat post panel is a light metallic gold, while the "FUJI" lettering is a darker metallic gold, along with the lug lining and other decals. This bright stuff is sort of in contrast to the conservative green paint, silver components and traditional styling of the rest of the bike, and I'm finding it it is a pretty fine balance. I've been fitting up some brake cable housings, I've got some both in silver and gold metallic (original was black), jury is out on that as well, I'm sort of leaning towards the original black now. Overall, the idea is to keep it a fairly conservative bike that has a bit of unusual bling, like a dark Mercedes w/a bit of brightwork, rather than a very loud/bright machine like an out there Ferrari.

I am going to test out a brooks green saddle - I ordered one, I've been wanting one of those for years, if it doesn't work out on this bike, I've got another project it could show up on later.

So I'm going slow and cautiously, just getting the right combination of clear/amber shellac coats on the bar tape was an incredible pain, I ended having to wipe most of it off once and redo it w/the experience gained from the first attempt.