Thanks, everyone! Now I'm even more excited about my new bike!

Thanks for the brake lever suggestion. I have some short reach Cane Creek levers sitting in my closet, so I may need to go dig those out and have them installed. Then again, I just saw a picture of the ones with gum colored hoods on Amazon, and they're very tempting.

So far I've only ridden her enough to verify that the fit is going to be workable--so, a little around the seller's neighborhood and a little more around my own. The ride is chock full of smooth and wonderful goodness. And she seems in mechanically good shape, but I'll leave it to someone with actual knowledge of bicycle mechanics to decide for real. Heh.

Other than the brake levers, I want to stick with the components that are on there now, since everything seems to work beautifully. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that the combination of chainrings (48 and 34) and freewheel (13-30) means that the low gear is actually a tiny bit lower than on my road bike. That was my one initial concern, because it's uphill most of the way on the return trip home from work--that's the price I pay for living on a hill so I can have city and water views. (Yeah, it's a rough life. )

And, yes...Gold! A nice, deep, dark gold with dark red/maroon lettering. So pretty. Knott, I immediately thought of your bike when I first saw the pics on the ad. I remembered how I was completely mesmerized by the gold paint on your Waterford the first time I saw her in person. So gorgeous. This paint doesn't have quite the same lustre, but still pretty in a slightly more understated way.

I think I may need to treat myself to one of those big Baggins Country Bags. I've been wanting one of those for ages, but didn't have a bike that it wouldn't look silly on...now I do! And, you know, I just saved all that money! Hah!