So I excavated one of the pinholes in the powdercoat, probed it a bit with a pin and found that it doesn't go through the tubing, at least as far as I can tell.

Here's where I am now: I've got both fenders and racks tentatively mounted. I'm not really satisfied with the rigidity of any of the mounting points on the fenders so I'm working on that. I'm open to suggestions.

If I can get a hold of a couple extra fender bolts, I think I'll switch to a two-bolt-style mounting arrangement at the point where the stays meet the fender. That may also inadvertently help with the toe-clearance issue I'm having (see photo below). In addition, I have yet to drill the front fender at the point where it contacts the front rack. The rack has a threaded eyelet there, so once I drill the fender I'll have an additional mounting point which should help with overall rigidity. As it stands, every time my toe clips the fender bolt on the front fender it throws the whole thing out of alignment and I start getting major tire rub.

I'm also considering drilling out and tapping the seatstay bridge as ColonelJLloyd did on his father's Trek:

I think it's a great idea and I think it'll raise the fender a mm or two to give a little extra tire clearance. As it is, there's barely any, and I'm concerned about debris getting stuck in there.

Lastly, since there's no mounting hole in the chainstay bridge, I'm using a "p-clamp" and a self-fashioned "spring thing" to secure the fender at its forward-most point. It's not super stable. I could add a leather washer to reduce vibration, but any thoughts on how to achieve greater rigidity? (No Viagra jokes, please...)









Oh yeah, and my other issue at moment is front brake squeal. I have some Kool-Stop salmons mounted with plenty of toe-in. The black ones in the rear don't seem to be a problem, but when I squeeze more than little on the front brake lever, it begins to howl like a banshee. I could switch to black, but I find that salmons provide a little extra braking power and I'd like to keep that.