Cathy B. has let slip her secret for making Brooks copper rivets shiny:
(dirty rivet on right, sparkly rivet on left)

Cathy tells us that she uses . . . . ketchup! And a Q-tip.

Originally uploaded by guuwatanabe

GUU-Watanabe shows this frontbag mount on their Flickr photostream. The bag sits on a small rack so this system of wood and straps is an alternative to the decaleur.

There are more pictures of the bag and bike in the photostream.