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Date: 13 Jul 2007 06:11:26
From: Luigi de Guzman
Subject: Zip-tie fender mounts: a story.
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I was a bit sore after yesterday's ride, so I spent a day in idleness, er,
recovery. I set myself to work tweaking middlebro's bike:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouij/794933691/
Mounting the fenders proved to be more of a challenge than I had
originally thought. The front fender, as I said, was gratis down at the
shop, but I needed to find some way of attaching it. Luckily, I had a
spare bracket for a rear fender that fit nicely. But when I mounted it
behind the front fork crown, it kept rubbing the tire or rattling against
the downtube. What to do?
Inspiration struck. I've been reading the blog over at Velo Orange lately,
where I learned that in France during the good old days of constructeur
bikes, fenders would bolt to the underside of the fork crown. The light
bulb went off, and I poked a finger into the fork crown--reassuringly
hollow. Thus emboldened, I threaded the mounting bracket onto the brake
bolt underneath the fork crown--thus solving my mounting problem.
The front fender was still dragging a bit on the tire, though--there was
no way of keeping the bracket from sliding down. Zip ties to the rescue! I
dug up some zip ties I had lying around the house and daisy-chained them
to the right length. Threading them through the arch of the mounting
bracket, I cinched them tight, lifting bracket and fender clear of the
tire, leaving me with a suitably well-mounted front fender. Coverage isn't
fantastic, but it will prevent muck from being thrown in his eye as he
rides over rain puddles:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouij/794933981/
The rear fender was easier, but required a bit more work. How's that?
Well, remember, I'd just used up my last bit of specific fender-mounting
hardware mounting that front half-fender. The rear had stays--something
the front did not have--but it didn't have any way to suspend the fender
from the rear brake bridge.
Since this was a French bike, I decided to go with a French solution, and
mount the fenders in the traditional French manner, by drilling them at
the brake bridge. I marked the point where the curve of the fender
intersected the brake bridge and drilled a ~3mm hole with an electric
drill. I didn't want to drill anything bigger for fear of shattering the
polycarbonate fender. Again, I daisy-chained a few zip ties together and
threaded them through the new hole in the fender:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouij/794934167/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouij/794934201/
I had to do a bit of fiddling with the stays. The Follis has fender
mounting braze-ons, but they aren't threaded. No problem--I had nuts and
nylock bolts to fit. But on the right (drive-) side, there wasn't much
clearance between the rightmost cog and the fender mounting tab. I put the
narrow head of the bolt inboard, leaving the nylock nut outboard. It seems
to work well:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouij/795916466/
So now the Follis has working wheels, lights, a more comfy saddle, and
mudguards (mostly). It's pretty well set up as an "around town" bike for
basic transportation, which is what he uses it for, anyway. Not bad for a
junker ten-speed!
-Luigi
--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com
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Date: 13 Jul 2007 12:52:28
From:
Subject: Re: Zip-tie fender mounts: a story.
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On Jul 13, 11:11 am, Luigi de Guzman <luigi12...@cox.net > wrote:
>
>
> My brother was saying that I should have cobbled together some fender
> stays from coat hanger wire--but that would have been too much bother.
> I'll do all the froofy stuff when I can afford me a pair of Honjo or
> Berthoud metal fenders for my own ride.
Actually, instead of using coat hangers, go to a place that sells
welding supplies and buy a few 1/8" diameter stainless steel welding
rods. They make great fender stays.
- Frank Krygowski
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Date: 13 Jul 2007 12:48:01
From: Rich Clark
Subject: Re: Zip-tie fender mounts: a story.
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"Luigi de Guzman" <luigi12081@cox.net > wrote in message
news:iIEli.10121$nb2.5130@newsfe14.lga...
>I was a bit sore after yesterday's ride, so I spent a day in idleness, er,
> recovery. I set myself to work tweaking middlebro's bike:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/ouij/794933691/
You seem to have independently discovered and adapted the Rivendell method
of fender installation:
http://bessasandackerman.com/downloads/riv_fender_install.pdf
Nice work.
r
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Date: 13 Jul 2007 15:11:48
From: Luigi de Guzman
Subject: Re: Zip-tie fender mounts: a story.
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On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:10:48 +0000, frkrygow wrote:
>
> Yes, it's surprising how much ingenuity it can take to manage little
> fiddly attachment details.
The satisfaction of solving these little problems is worth it, though.
I'm finding wrenching to be almost as satisfying as riding. A bicycle is a
pretty simple machine, and while I'm not going to be giving up the law to
become a race mechanic any time soon, I enjoy fiddling with bikes.
> But I'm sorry to inform you, your technique needs improvement. You've
> gotta trim the excess length off those zip ties. And next time, use
> black ones. Aesthetics, man! (Not to mention the weight savings!)
Meh. Aesthetics are a secondary consideration with this bike. I kept the
zip tie excess to show my brother what I had done. The zip ties, as with
a lot of the other bits and bobs on the bike, were whatever I happened to
have lying around the house.
My brother was saying that I should have cobbled together some fender
stays from coat hanger wire--but that would have been too much bother.
I'll do all the froofy stuff when I can afford me a pair of Honjo or
Berthoud metal fenders for my own ride.
-Luigi
>
> - Frank Krygowski
--
Luigi de Guzman
http://ouij.livejournal.com
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Date: 13 Jul 2007 14:10:48
From:
Subject: Re: Zip-tie fender mounts: a story.
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On Jul 13, 2:11 am, Luigi de Guzman <luigi12...@cox.net > wrote:
>
>
> Mounting the fenders proved to be more of a challenge than I had
> originally thought....
>
> So now the Follis has working wheels, lights, a more comfy saddle, and
> mudguards (mostly). It's pretty well set up as an "around town" bike for
> basic transportation, which is what he uses it for, anyway. Not bad for a
> junker ten-speed!
Yes, it's surprising how much ingenuity it can take to manage little
fiddly attachment details.
But I'm sorry to inform you, your technique needs improvement. You've
gotta trim the excess length off those zip ties. And next time, use
black ones. Aesthetics, man! (Not to mention the weight savings!)
- Frank Krygowski
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