I like seeing 'before and after' photos and thought others here might, too. Here's an old shot of my bike that I recently came across that I had taken when I first got it. I made some changes...
Counting the ways:
- Black tires replaced with gumwalls
- Velocity Deep Vs laced to ... ? (don't remember) replaced with H+ Son TB14s laced to Miche Primato track hubs. Silver hubs and spokes.
- Brake added (necessary evil for this commuter)
- Sugino 75 replaced with IRD Defiant. It just looks 'right' in all the ways that the Sugino doesn't.
- Power Grips replaced with MKS clips and Zefal Christophe straps
- Ugly, crappy, no-name seatpost replaced with not-ugly, slightly-less-crappy Velo Orange seatpost
- Ugly, crappy Specialized saddle replaced with tasty Selle San Marco Concor Supercorsa
- Bianchi ITM stem with detachable face plate replaced with Cinelli 1R stem (also tasty)
- Chopped and flipped Bontrager drops replaced with Nitto RB-002
- Cinelli cork tape held together with electrical tape replaced with Cinelli Caleido tape
As she sits today:
Very happy with how she looks now. Not perfect, and some compromises have been made in the name of functionality (aforementioned brake, would love to run Veloflexes or Vittorias but don't want to suffer a puncture on the way to work (always a hazard on our perennially sh*tty NYC streets), etc.) but overall pretty pleased.