Not sure what happens in the US anymore (thankfully!) but there appears to be a huge amount of hatred for coloured FGSS bikes. Perhaps, it's the same hatred for "hipsters" that seems to be prevalent in US. Perhaps the "hipsters" deserve it, perhaps they don't, but these issues are irrelevant for me. I don't really want to discuss these issues as they're not related to my descriptive experiment.
Anyway, I would really like to do a long-term test of a lower-end of FGSS colour customisable bicycle as it seems to be fun to ride something different. In addition, I must say that riding in SS mode is kicking my butt which is great.
I would just like to produce empirical data about the durability of such a bike, which you can feel free to comment upon, but I won't respond to other comments not directly related to the bike.
Back from Germany on Monday and will commute on Tues-Fri and see how the bike holds up as the rainy season starts.