My Bike is Weird or The Story of the Fender and the Wheel.

So I've been riding the ECR quite a bit as of late and with the warmer temperatures my face was getting a toxic salt shower. I had decided it was time to get a front fender on this beast.

At first there was a problem with the clip on fender for the front I had purchased, namely the mounting bolt for the dynamo light interfered with the fork crown plug. Not to mention the step up in the fender would interfere with the actual light itself.

It don't fit Pa!

I had also purchased some Cascade 29er full fenders from Planet Bike for when I started touring more with the ECR, so I decided I would try to put them on. The Knards are just too damn wide. The fender wouldn't fit. I got pissed, then I got creative.

I started thinking about all these elaborate plans to modify the fender with a heat gun or make my own set out of a sheet of polypropylene. Then the simplest idea hit me, the one that made the most sense. So the next morning I went to the hardware store and picked up a few supplies.

Mounting bolts and washers and a strip of steel. Let's do this.

 First thing I did was use the big washer and put it near one of the ends and traced the outside of it for rounding the corners of the steel and then marked the middle as well so I knew were to drill the hole. This thing didn't have to be perfect, it just had to work.

The grinder and I getting to work.

After I ground the edges down and filed off the burs, I put the bolt through it and marked where I would need to make the bend in the steel. Once I had my mark I put the steel in the vice and bent it. Then I bent the other side and cut the excess off. Marked another hole and drilled it and did some more corner rounding.

Ready to drill the next hole.

Once that was all done, I found the center on the long side and drilled another hole. I mounted the plastic clip for the fender, put the mounting bolt for the light through and figured out where I needed to cut the bolt off.

Finished mounting bracket.

I mounted it up and it fits snugly, then I had to modify the fender itself a little bit. When I say modify the fender, I of course mean cut it up. So I cut a little slot for the dynamo light bracket to stick out. I did it just right and it fits nice and clean.

Snug as a bug.

No more salt in my face/eyes/mouth.

I rode to class last night and it worked like a charm.Other than one dry knuckle from the grinder throwing hot pieces of metal at it, I had no injuries. I don't take on these projects too often but when I do it is always rewarding to accomplish the mission and have something that works.