lannguyen.me

fenderized

I feel it might be proper or appropriate to say that I’ve single handedly fenderized my linus mixte with Velo Orange aluminum fluted 700c’s.  It took me a lot longer (1 weekend night and 3 weekday evenings) than i thought it would, but that’s basically because I had no idea what I was doing and I didn’t have the right tools at the get go, so I had to wait before i could continue on.

For instance, I did not own a bolt cutter to trim the fender stays. Many thanks to John for letting me borrow his:

I felt this one was too mighty for the job, so I opted for the one that I was able grasp with only one hand:

I must have quadruple checked where I wanted to trim the fender stay because it’s the thing that’s helping the fender maintain a good fender line (even space between fender and tire are even) around the wheel.

I still need to do some sanding because it has some sharp edges from cutting the stay with bolt cutters.

Front fender was a snap, but the rear fender which involves the gear hub and chain, plus it had 3 points at which to secure the fender to the frame vs only 2 for the front. Mentally, I also didn’t like taking off/messing with the chain, I felt my bike was very vulnerable in this condition:

Three points of mounting the rear fender were:

To the frame, near the kickstand - Velo Orange includes leather washers with their kit, so anywhere you can fasten those between the frame and fender, that will greatly help to diminish any noise.

L-Bracket bent around fender attached to rear brake -I bent the L-bracket halfway around the fender (separate from the bike), then securely attached the bracket.  Next I put the fender in and placed/centered it where I wanted to.  This part was not complete without a run to Home Depot to pick up pliers (another tool I didn’t own) so that I could neatly crimp the bracket around the fender.

Fender stays - easy peasy at this point after having done the front fender.

ready to be fenderized?

Bulb fail and fenders

After dissecting all the light bulbs from the three headlights, I went to Home Depot to find replacements since all of them looked old or totally burnt out.

Each bulb had a specific voltage and unfortunately none of them matched what Home Depot offered.  Bulb fail!  I’ll have to look online, but wondering if I can’t easily find it in stores, should I do some type of LED mod like Boston Retro Wheelmen?  I’ve decided to see how much light these bulbs will emit and if it’s not bright enough I’ll still use the casings but convert them to LED.

My aluminum fluted Velo Orange fenders came, @ only $28 for the set (orig. $55), I couldn’t pass it up.  Immediately I noticed how light they were.  They will replace the stock cream painted steel fenders on my Linus mixte.

It came with a lot of parts and lets just say the VO directions were not… very specific or even in a numbered step by step format.  I took them out, saw all the pieces, got hesitant and put them all back. 

Then finally last night I decided to go for it (during a mini marathon of The Kennedys, great story btw).  What’s the worst that can happen, don’t put my bike back together properly? No biggie. Disclaimer: not particularly mechanical, but if i have pretty descriptive instructions and plenty of time, i can get it done.

What I realized in starting this project:

1. You definitely need the bike to be placed upside down.

2. The wheel definitely needs to come off in order to switch out the fenders.

3.  When the instructions calls for a specific tool like a hacksaw or bolt cutters, you definitely need to have them.

So although I pretty much have the new front fender on, I can’t complete it until I trim the fender stays with some cutters.

*definitely: Yes, i tried to work on the fenders with the bike upright, tried to manuever the fenders around with the wheels still on, and didn’t really heed the part about trimming the fender stays.

oh, and here are the parts (and a few tools) left after one fender up. hm, still looks like there’s quite a bit of pieces…

a suivre!

Vintage Headlights

Looking at vintage french 1940’s and 1950’s french randonneurs has made me want to turn my newish Linus Mixte more vintage like these aluminum bicycles:

Couple of things i’m drawn to are the silver fenders, bullet headlights, and front & rear racks.  Recently, I won an auction on ebay that had some nice headlights, rear light, and soubitez dynamos.  I don’t really have much experience with changing fenders or attaching a dynamo light system, but i guess i can slowly start to figure things out.

Vintage bicycle parts unboxing:

Of the 3 headlights: 2 were battery operated - no name brand but both say made in Japan. The third is a “Union” dynamo headlight, smallest of the three and hardest to open.  I believe all the bulbs are out so I’ll have to get some replacements before i can test them out.

I haven’t decided which one I’m going to put on my Linus, i suppose it depends on which ones are working :)

Overall, everything seems to be in good shape so I’m pleased with my ebay win.  One of the soubitez dynamos spins better than the other one, so I’ll have to see how operational they are.

sunday ride

Not being able to ride my linus mixte on the weekdays (no lights yet), I took advantage of the nice, almost too warm weather today.  Made a visit to UCLA which is only 2.5 miles away making it a quick 15 minute ride.

joy riding / photoshoot

The best rides are when you don’t have a destination.  Today I explored my neighborhood and found some as my mom says, “inspiration”, and gave my bike (yet to be named) a proper photo shoot.  

This was a wall on a preschool, the full line says “where learning soars”.  I just really liked the colors which reminds me of my high school in cupertino.

Taken in front of a vacant shop on Santa Monica Blvd.  The shadow is nice and the lines in the background are bold.

I found this graffiti wall in between an alley of a car repair shop.  If you notice, the rim and chain on the rear tire have a green glow.  Not a camera trick, the wall behind me was painted green and the sun hitting it reflected onto my bike.

And since I didn’t have time to take pictures at UCLA, I took some at University High School which is almost comparable in fame since they shoot a lot of movies and shows here.  Recently Valentine’s Day.

still admiring

now in polaroids

my new linus mixte!!

Today I finally had a chance to pick up my Linus Mixte bike.  I had to ride it home from the store since I didn’t have a bike rack.  First ride went great, although i was a little nervous because I haven’t ridden a bike on busy city street ever.  It ended up being so much fun and I just took my time.

The route was 5.7 miles and pretty flat.  I somehow already got gum stuck to the front tire, that’s what you get for riding city streets i guess!  Riding the mixte was quick and changing gears was really smooth.  Still have to get used to stopping on the bike without looking funny.  Really trying to not buy every accessory for my bike right now, but I still need lights, panniers, and a more comfortable saddle.  The saddle that comes with the bike starts to hurt after riding for a bit.

Time to get to know my mixte…

And, I got this cool Linus tote with tools and touch up paint.