I have a 1970s Bob Jackson frame that's got clearance for fenders, but no eyelets. It needs repaint badly, and it had occurred to me to have eyelets brazed on when doing that -- however, something about this troubles me: I'd prefer to leave the frame in current state, which is pretty devoid of braze-ons.

Don't even bother mentioning P-clips, I'm ag'in' it! In thinking about this, it seems entirely possible to make a plate fixture with hole for mounting fender stays, and a larger hole for the axle. It's true that I'd have to remove the QR skewer to remove the wheel, unless I can think of a way to slot it, and key it to the dropout slot. A slightly different approach would be to braze a tab onto the part of the stay that wants the eyelet, with a slotted hole for fitting between dropout and skewer surfaces.

Anybody ever seen a commercial product like this (other than a P-clip!)?

Blackburn used to have a gizmo that went inside the little triangle of the rear dropouts. It was just a threaded thick washer. Could still be available. Front fender stays can go to axle and hold in place with QR..

I remember the Blackburn gizmo. It was stepped so that it wouldn't pull through the little triangle. It was for their racks, but it should work just as well for fenders.

Many vintage fenders bold directly to the axle. That's what I used on several bikes. Other than that I've used zip ties before. If you turn them just right and clip off the excess they don't look too bad.

what are you going to do about the mounting point at the chainstay bridge? is there a drilled hole for a mounting bolt? if not, a P-clip may be your only choice for that mounting point.

cheapo rear derailleurs that mount with an adaptor claw have a little threaded slug that fits into the dropout to prevent the claw from rotating. Maybe you can use a pair of them in place of the long gone blackburn gizmo.

Or make your own out of some 1/8" aluminum plate.

Never mind. I was going to say P-clips, but I see you're dead set against them.

I think you should leave at least one of your bikes fender-less, Charles!

Neal

You could try putting some old derailluer hangers on each side, angle them up, and bolt to those.

Just ride the bike in nice weather and forget about fenders.

Now, that's a clever idea!

But if someone has the Blackburn doodads, please post a photo. I bought a set of those once and never used them, and I'm sure most of the bits are kicking around in my toolbox; I will gladly pass them on, just don't remember what they look like. Seems to me it was a beveled aluminum disk, threaded for a standard bolt, and a rubber washer; am I right?

Charles, please feel free to hound me by PM if you want me to try to find 'em.

I actually have a pair of the things being described as Blackburn fixture. I bought them a long time ago to mount a Pletscher rack to the rear of my Raleigh (also no fender eyelets). I even used friction tape on the aluminum surfaces that contacted the painted finish, so as not to mar it. I didn't use the rack much, so I removed it after a short time. I still like the idea of something that fits between skewer ends and dropout; and I know someone who does a bit of machine work, so I think I'll try to design something simple, that could be fashioned from aluminum plate.

Point taken on the chainstay bridge; but the Raleigh International doesn't have a hole through the bridge either, and it has eyelets!

Thanks to all. Neal, I probably should listen to you, but I see the Jackson as a great “all-around” frame; neither so light as a Guerciotti or Motobecane, nor as utilitarian/rugged as the Falcon I'm commuting on. So I do want to be able to be-fender it, at least during the winter. I have a Raleigh International frame in perfect size now, but that's going to be a long-term project, I think (and take lots of money, since it needs to be rechromed and repainted).