Art Design Studio Fine Art Tips / Creating Art in Small Studios. Yes it is a design studio located down town of our small mountain town

My Public D8 with the Brooks B67 Saddle, Santana Row, San Jose, CA

I purchased my Public D8 bike new in San Francisco about 2 years ago. I received a 20 percent discount on this bike because I happened to participate in a police investigation which lead to locating and returning a stolen bike which a customer purchased from the same store; a long story in it of itself.
Public Bikes is a company founded by Rob Forbes, who is also the founder of Design Within Reach, known for their high-end modern furniture.  After I purchased the bike, I've been wanting to upgrade the stock saddle and the grips with Brooks England products, a maker of beautifully hand-crafted bicycle accessories, to give it a nice finishing touch. I've always been a fan of Brooks England for their classic understated designs. Today I was pretty excited to receive the package containing a pair of brand new Brooks Slender leather grips which I ordered online a few days ago. Brooks Slender leather grips feature vegetable tanned leather and natural cork tape wrapped around an aluminum shell with one side being 130mm long and other 100mm; designed specifically for handlebars with twister shifter on one side.
These grips typically retails for about $90 dollars but I was able to pick them up for a great sales price of $68.94 including shipping at modernbikes.com. I know what you are thinking, "still quite expensive for just a pair of bicycle grips". But, what can I say? Just let me indulge a little. Well, in order to justify, if I may; just about 6 months ago, I was able to find two used but like-new condition Brooks saddles for $100 and I put one on my D8 and was able to sell the other one recently for nearly the same price I paid for the two saddles and it was more than enough to help pay for these new grips. Anyway, after I put them on, I took a little test ride around the block. Aside from being extra stylish, the smooth leather felt really nice; a huge difference from the stock rubber grips that came with the bike which had the bumpy texture and would dig into my palms. These grips are definitely a real nice finishing touch on a classic city bike. You can also purchase my "Brooks Saddle" print at my Etsy shop.