Mixte Fendered

I finally got around to ordering some needed parts for the mixte - fenders and pedals. The pedals are some Wellgo aluminum BMX style, not exactly classic looking but they work well, and were inexpensive. The fenders came from Velo Orange, who have been having a fender sale making aluminum fenders extremely affordable. I opted for their fluted 48mm fenders to cover the Raleigh Mixte's 27" wheels and tires.

They come undrilled, and so take quite a bit of work to fit. I had to fiddle with them, crimping them at the chainstay and fork crown since they were a tad too wide for this frame. The frame also lacks mounting holes at the stays, so I used P-clamps to mount the rear fender. Before mounting the fender I gave them a quick polish with Mother's aluminum polish. They aren't to the mirror finish that you see sometimes, but they're just right for this frame as is. I didn't do too bad with fenderline and mounting for a first timer, if I do say so myself.

The chrome is quite pitted at the fork ends, bars, stem, and crank, so that may be my next project here. Any suggestions? I'd also like to find a classic-style front and rear light sometime.

Hiatus done

I've been out of time a little bit lately, having finished up the semester and now having a few weeks of vacation to recollect myself. I've thinned the herd of bikes lately, eliminating the Bridgestone XO I had been using for commuter duty and Holly's old Gitane, which had been my winter commuter.

My personal stable is now down to 3 complete bikes. The Fuji roadie has become a singlespeed/fixed summer ride, and the Fuji mountain bike is my offroad choice and winter commuter. The Motobecane has sprouted a 14-speed drivetrain, fenders, and nice new sidepull brakes to become my commuter. I may add racks and such as I go, but I'm playing it by ear for now.

Holly's stable is 3 as well, including a Raleigh mixte that I've since put some beautiful aluminum Velo Orange fenders on, and it makes a great bike. Her commuter is still the 650B Trek 560, which has been a helluva ride so far, but it'll need some fenders coming up, which will probably end up being some cheapie plastic planet bike fenders for durability's sake. FInally she has her Raleigh mountain bike, which is again her offroad ride and her winter commuter.

As for photos, I've been using 35mm film again, but that probably won't last. Need to get the Mamiya medium format up and swinging again. I'm also waiting to see if prices will drop on the new Olympus EP-1 digital so I can replace my Canon DSLR. Oh, and I saw my first Rivendell in the flesh recently. Guy was nice enough to talk to me about it. It looked like a great bike, and his bag setup was very conducive to grocery shopping. I was almost ashamed to be packing up my Honda at the time.