Not related to Mev's build but the discussion got me thinking about my own 1992 Marin
Pine Mountain hardtail which is now somewhat redundant for the road as I have a better touring rig and a nicer commuter/gravel bike. I also have an e bike someone gave me for parts and on it was a
SR Suntour suspension fork so I decided to swap it out and turn the hardtail into more of an off road tourer. I added some 2.15 knobbies and kept the front fenders by taping the stays to the forks and the bars have undergone some changes over the years (as has most of the bike parts actually

). I've ridden it a bit with the forks now and it takes some getting used to but does reduce the vibration on trails. If I like it I might upgrade to a lockout model and use some better clamps for the fender mounts. Kinda wanting to do an off road / gravel tour now to test it out.
Before:
After: