Originally Posted by midnightsimon
The problem I'm running into, however, is that most of the MTB frames of any decent quality I'm running across have either no, or more commonly, one set of braze ons at the back end. If I'm going to be equipping the bike to take racks and fenders, it seems to me that I'll be needing two sets, one for the racks and one for the fenders, if I want them to hold up on a loaded tour. Can anyone reccomend a workaround here?
Some racks have fender mounts. For example, see Tubus Logo:
http://www.tubus.net/eng/produkte/hi...xpedition.php#
Another option that works well is to use cable ties. I have fenders on one of my commuter bikes attached to the rack using three cable ties per side pulled as tightly as I can make them. Those fenders are very rigid.
You could also use rubber-coated clamps around seat stays to hold fenders in place. That method, too, would be sturdy.
And then there is this adapter:
http://www.stanford.edu/~dru/pics/gearbig.JPG
In short, there are many creative ways to attach fenders.
Regarding the MTB frame, look carefully at the eyelets on fork and rear dropouts. Some eyelets are welded rather weakly onto frames and look as if they were designed solely for fender support. I recently viewed a thread here on the forums where one had an eyelet break several times on tour, and he provided pictures of the brazing/welding process to repair it, but I cannot find that thread now.