thank you for your kind words.
The mudguards are indeed chromoplastics, and were one of the few parts that could be re-used from the old bike. They seem pretty good to me, although the mudflaps are short, and aluminium piece in the centre will corrode in time.
The saddle is an OEM one as fitted to several 'Giant' models. It is nothing special, but was selected because has a good shape (if you are used to a racing saddle) and, perhaps most importantly for a utility bike, it has an outer cover which is waterproof.
The rims were selected because they are a middleweight stainless single eyelet, double-wall rim. Remember that the old rims had double eyelets, and the inner eyelet actually corroded right through, giving no support in the end. The single eyelet rim is about twice the wall thickness at the eyelet, thus making it (I hope) less likely to crack than a thinner walled rim. They built up very nicely, very true, with even spoke tension. I treated the rim internally with a corrosion proofing compound, and sealed the hollow section where the valve passes through the rim, to prevent water ingress. In the event of a prang, a new rim is about £22, i.e. about half the price of an open pro, and only 40 or 50 g heavier. In the absence of a prang, they should last for ever, corrosion aside. By contrast, on (say) a training bike with rim brakes, they might last two or three winters before the rim wears out. [also, if either wheel is scrapped for any reason, the rims can easily find a new home because they have a braking surface...]
My view is that unless you are carrying a load, a rim weighing 450-500g should be adequate for many purposes. The issues being rim wear, rim cost, rim interchangeability (ERD value), rim width, rim weight, rim strength (including resistance to corrosion). In older mavics , E2, MA2 through to Module 3 CD might do, the flaws being wear and corrosion resistance. Having said that the Module 3 CD rim had 2mm braking surfaces and weighed 500g. You can't buy a rim like that any more.... so much for progress....
I reckon that a similar spec bike (with a few tweaks here and there) might make a nice audax/light touring machine, too. I'm not sure that every nook and cranny of this particular bike would bear very close scrutiny in fact; part of the mission was to make something that didn't look (at first glance) too much worth stealing.
cheers