Bicycling: How to attach fenders to a bicycle without brazed-on eyelets

P clamps as an alternative to brazed-on eyelets
If you don’t have brazed-on eyelets to attach fenders to your bike, P clamps will save the day.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I recently slapped some fenders on my 1992 Trek 970 Singletrack. I don’t think a bike looks finished without fenders. But my bike started its life as a mountain bike, a style of bicycle on which fenders can be a hindrance. So I shouldn’t have been surprised that my front fork lacked eyelets for attaching a front rack or fenders.

Googling around, though, I found the answer to my problem in this post on Bike Commuters: “‘P-Clamps’ Are Your Friends.” Continue reading “Bicycling: How to attach fenders to a bicycle without brazed-on eyelets”

New ride: 1992 Trek 970 Singletrack

Trek 970 mountain bike
I recently installed a pair of Planet Bike Cascadia hybrid fenders on my 1992 Trek 970.

After almost 20 years I’m back in the saddle of a 1992 Trek 970 Singletrack. I’d been looking for this make and model—in this color (officially “Sour Grape,” per the 1992 Trek catalog [pdf])—off and on for a few years. For some reason, early ’90s Trek 970s are hard to find—or at least they don’t come up that often on eBay or Craigslist. Continue reading “New ride: 1992 Trek 970 Singletrack”

Goodbye, Breezer Villager. Hello, Manchester Imperial De Luxe

Breezer Villager
My Breezer Village on the Hudson.

It was totally my fault. All my dumbass fault. For years I’d been locking my bike right, with a series of heavy-duty primary and secondary locks. But then my big-ass honkin’ padlock rusted. Once I finally got it opened, I couldn’t get it closed again. I put a rinky-dink lock on it, “just until I get a new big-ass padlock,” I thought.

I waited too long. I should have gone lock-shopping the next day. Instead I waited a week, in which time some assholes came through our apartment complex and stole a number of bikes, my beloved Breezer Villager among them. Continue reading “Goodbye, Breezer Villager. Hello, Manchester Imperial De Luxe”