well, i did not mean it in a negative way. its only that you have changed so many items on the bike over the period of the topic, that its obvious that the looks are very important to you and your wife. but since you also look for other ppl's comments on the project, i think, i put in my 2 cents worth.
i still think the bike looks better with some black on it. Black gives it a muscular look it deserves (you have other black parts on it), and underlines its great paint of the frame.
anyway, on the other note, i do have a Klein Rascal, that i bought in 1992 (i think), originally in San Francisco. Then it was to be the bike for the girlfriend, since i got the Merlin for myself. Now i brought both bikes to Russia, and would like to do some work on them. Since i just join this forum, and have not being in touch with the biking theme, i would like some input from you. The Klein is all original, but i would like to make some modification. Moscow is close to Finland.