Trek Multi Track 700 / Winter Commuter Part 2

Greetings and Welcome, I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday. At the end of part one I was talking about cleaning up the 700 c wheel set. So I think I`ll move onto the tires. When I was looking at new tires I told the salesman that I wanted something that would be good in slippery conditions. I was not convinced right away these tires would meet that need. Once he told me that these could be returned "for any reason" within 90 days of purchase, I thought well why not give these a try.

Above: The Specialized Trigger Sport tire has an aggressive tread along the outer edges, similar to the tires I installed on the last GT triple triangle frame bike. But the main tread (above) is this tiny diamond shape pattern. This tread pattern combined with a PSI range of 50 to 100 psi gave me the impression these might actually work well in slippery conditions. I will have plenty of opportunity to test them, as winter has finally returned to South East Michigan after taking last year off.

Above: While I was picking up cables at my "not so local bike shop" (about a 1/2 hour drive from here)I decided to purchase tires and tubes and saddle and handlebar cork tape while I was there. With my discount, and not having to pay shipping. And the fact that the saddle is a new "take off" The price was about the same. Not too shabby considering these are all Specialized brand bits. With the exception of the cables, which are bulk Jag Wire.

Above: Not that it is important (because it really is not) these tires do have attractive graphics on the side wall. These are 700 x 33 C tires, about the max width that the Ze'Fal mud guards can handle. So "all in all" I would say these tires appear to be a good match for this bike. Ok, now lets look at the derailleurs.

Above: Laura did a really good job cleaning the Shimano Altus rear derailleur. Unfortunately it will not function properly and will be replaced. But at this point I did not know this so we will get to that latter on.

Above: The Shimano Altus front derailleur cleaned up beautifully and appears to be functioning perfectly. I think I mentioned it on the face book page, but the chain I was going to use was stretched so I did replace it with a new 3/32 Schwinn Multi speed chain. Next the (first) handlebar change with safety levers. (commonly referred to these days as suicide levers)

Above: Here I have decided to clean-up and install the lighter drop handlebars off Laura's Dads bike. A huge improvement over the Wald or Schwinn? chrome drop bars. I am also using the "suicide levers" from Laura's Dads bike (World Voyageur). The main levers are take offs from one of the many Schwinn Continentals that have come and gone these past 3 years. The mirror is a take off I have been saving for ages. The (friction) stem shifters I salvaged from a bike long since forgotten.

Above: Here I have mounted or installed the Specialized Woman's road saddle. When looking at used (or take offs) Specialized saddles you can identify a woman's saddle by the diamond around the S logo. A Specialized Men's saddle will have the S logo without the surrounding diamond.

Above: I found this Axiom Transit rear rack at Treefort Bikes (online). With the automatic price match at checkout I got it for 19.77 (about 45% off). Not too shabby! I really like this rack, it is light weight. And it has a pretty good max load limit of 130 lbs. not bad for a twenty dollar rack.

Above: I added this salvaged water bottle cage which I think came off the Trek 330.

Above: Here I have taped the handlebars using Cenelli Gel cork tape and added a "BELL" brand bell compass. It took a little time to position the main levers so that the suicide levers were located close enough for a person with smaller hands to easily reach.

Above: Here the bike is assembled and ready for a road test. It has the drop bars Laura requested along with the suicide levers. Also the fenders, rack and bell along with tires that will "hopefully" perform well in slippery conditions. Also the stem mounted shifters. The idea was to build a winter ride that would duplicate the riding position of her summer road bike. As far as that part goes the build appears(ed) to be a success.

Above: I made up some white piping to cover up some bad scratches and scrapes. I used 3M white vinyl trim tape for this. Test rides are very important, especially when using reconditioned components. Running the through the gears on the work stand and checking the brakes is great. But a road test is much better as there is resistance and weight. Not to mention only a road test will show you how the bike handles and feels over all. This road test showed me I have some more "serious" work to do before I can turn it over to Laura. That is where I will pick up on the next post.

Above: Walking the bike path early this afternoon. I forgot how fast walking through snow can wear me out! LTMS

I must have been good this year because "Santa-wife" (and son) brought me an Ultrasonic parts cleaner and a complete set of cone wrenches. And as if that wasn't enough they also brought me a really cool Topeak "Alien II" multi-tool and a set of Parks brushes. And if that wasn't enough (and it really was) I also received The Book "Hollywood Rides a Bike". Which is really "Super Cool" because I LOVE old movies and old bikes :) I have been truly blessed in my life and I try real hard to remember that.

Summertime and Mackinac island are now a distant memory. So now I will do what northerners do, make the best of it (winter) and dream of springtime. I wonder if the outdoor ice rink in Milford is open? It was so mild last winter we never got to skate at all. Until next time RIDE SAFE and remember to Always....RESCUE, RESTORE & RECYCLE Cheers Hugh

ATTENTION! Amazon Shoppers! You can HELP support this blog by simply SHOPPING on Amazon dot com using the amazon search box located at the Top Right Corner of this page. It will not effect your cost and I will receive a very small (tiny even) commission. Thanks for your support, Hugh

Trek Multi Track 700 / Winter Commuter Part 1

Hello and Welcome, This will probably be my last post for 2012. Before I start, I would like to wish you all a Safe and Happy Holiday Season. And a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year as well.

Above: Laura's vintage Trek Multi-Track. Laura called recently and asked me if I would be interested in possibly finishing her Trek winter bike project? I said I would be happy to take a look at it. And if possible build her a winter bike to ride. When I first saw the bike my first thought was "Just Shoot Me Now". Just kidding, I told her I would be happy to finish the project.

Along with several original parts this project came along with a newer partial parts bike. At a glance, I was not sure if I would be able to use much off this "more modern" bike to build up this Older Trek. As it turned out The (Novara) parts bike would play a huge part in finally finishing this project.

Above: Among the many parts was this old and heavy Schwinn rear rack with collapsible side baskets. It weighs a ton, but I fell in love with it right away. I was like a kid with a new Transformer action figure. There is no way I would use a rack this heavy for this project. However, there is also no way this rack will leave the shop/garage! It will be mine!

Above: The first problem, the infamous "SLR BR CT90 M" brakes. You might remember these from the Nishiki Mountain bike repair. All the spring covers or shrouds for each brake arm were broken. On that Nishiki I was lucky. I had some bushings on hand, that with a little cutting fit nicely. I was not that fortunate this time.

Above: Here is the culprit. These covers would break right at the anchor point for the brake arm spring. So when you would brake "even a little hard" the spring would pop right out of the anchor hole. This would make the brakes feel like mush. So I searched the web for some new brakes.

Above: I found these Shimano BR CT91 M brakes on the internet. Now it seems logical that the CT 91 would be the replacement for the defective CT 90. But I decided to call Shimano first just to confirm. The lady on the phone at Shimano "bike division" assured me these are the proper replacement. So back to the E Bay to order the new brakes. So while I am waiting for the new brakes to arrive, lets see what other trouble I can get myself into.

Above: Amazingly the headset was no problem. Both the cups and bearings were in fine shape. After de greasing and cleaning both the upper and lower cups and bearing cartridges, a little grease (who am I kidding, I grease everything pretty heavy) and back together she goes.

Above: Here the threaded Headset is all reassembled with the threaded race screwed down into place, not too tight or loose. Above that goes the cable hanger/bracket then a spacer/washer then the cap nut. As always you want to make a note of the proper order in which to install the various washers and brackets etc. etc. BEFORE you take yours apart. For a more detailed threaded headset rebuild, Just search "rebuild threaded headset" using the "Search This Blog" feature located in the right column near the top, just below the followers.

Above: Here I am reinstalling the sealed bottom bracket using the sealed bottom bracket removal tool. All I did was remove the unit and clean up the outer surfaces. Then I cleaned out the bracket shell itself. Since the bracket spindle turns smoothly inside the unit with no grind or play, there is no point in replacing it now. So here I have wrapped the threads once with Teflon Tape (optional) Then after applying the smallest amount of grease to the bracket shell's (female) threads. I can now thread the unit back into the shell.

Above: The Shimano triple crankset. You might have to blow this pic up to see the details. Laura pointed out what appeared to be broken teeth on the large chain-ring. On closer inspection I noticed at 180 degrees the same pattern of shorter sprocket teeth. So I did an image search for Hyper Drive crank and found another crank with the same pattern of shorter teeth. I suspect this somehow results in smoother or quicker chain-ring changes or shifts. What got my attention first was the teeth did not feel like they had been broken. And the crank spins pretty straight. I would think an impact hard enough to break off sprocket teeth would have had enough force the bend the chain ring. So if you are familiar with this crank type please feel free to leave a comment.

Above: The first parts salvaged from the parts bike were these pedals. I have my doubts that these will perform well in wet and or cold conditions.

Above: The Ze'Fal mud guards cleaned up nicely using Armor All (plain) cleaning wipes. The Armor All cleaning wipes do a really good job. And working inside it is much more convenient than having a bucket of soapy water or spraying bio de greaser in the house. Here I am also removing the brakes and cleaning up the posts. This will save a little time when I am ready to to install the new brakes.

Above: Laura wants a riding position much the same as on her road bike. For this reason I am installing drop handlebars. The alloy road stem pictured was salvaged from her Dads old Schwinn World Voyageur. You might remember the World Voyageur, I stopped restoring it after discovering the frame had been compromised. I wasn't too deep into the restoration when I spotted the problem. So it really wasn't that big of a deal. Hey, You can't save them all.

Above: The rear replacement brake arrived first. Here I am removing the cantilever brake arms using the little Park Tool three way tool. If you do not already have one of these, and you work on bikes you really should get one. And while you at it, you might want to also get the little three way socket. Both wrenches have the most common sizes for brakes and derailleurs. When removing the arms and springs I take notice of which hole the spring is inserted in on the frame. On this bike they were all inserted into the center hole.

Above: A really bad picture showing where the little flange with the three spring anchor holes is located.

Above: Here I have installed the new rear brake arms. I will need to do some more frame cleaning before the rest of the brake assembly gets in the way. Wait till you see the ridiculously over complicated cable hook-up. It is also (kind of) impressive I guess.

Above: As is typical on a step through frame, the rear brake cable is routed so that it comes up from below. Usually I would expect to see a small pulley wheel that the cable could go up and around, so that the cable can now pull upward on the straddle cable. Not this time. Here someone has designed a teeter-totter style lever. The rear brake cable comes up from below and connects on the right side (front) of the lever using a barrel shaped Knarp that is cradled. Now a second short brake cable connects the opposite end of the teeter tooter to the straddle cable. So when the brake lever is pulled the right side of the teeter totter lever is pulled downward. This raises the left end (rear) of the teeter tooter lever. Which is connected to the straddle cable by the second shorter cable, closing the cantilever brake arms. If you were to ask me what think of this set up? I would say "That is taking the long way around the block" It IS "kind of cool" in its own way though.

Above: This pic shows how the short brake cable connects to the rear (left) side of the teeter-tooter type lever. To get the long cable taut I clamped the brake closed, then loosened the knarp and pulled the slack out of the cable. Then I just re-tightened the knarp and released the clamp. I think this system is "over engineered" and was designed to impress rather than to improve performance.

Above: Before I install the new front brake cantilever arms I very lightly grease the post. This picture also clearly shows the flange with three holes. The center hole is the one I use for the return spring anchor point. The other end of the return spring also has a prong that inserts into the hole inside the spring cover or shroud.

Above: Here I am installing the new front brake cantilever arms. You can "not so clearly see" the return spring prong as I am inserting it into the center hole on the flange.

Above: Here both of the new front cantilever brake arms are installed. There is a lot to do before I can even think about hooking this brake up. So for now I'll move onto something else.

Above: The rear wheel and 7 speed cassette unit. Laura did a fine job cleaning up the rear rim. Which after cleaning up the front wheel I can tell you was no easy task. But I needed to clean and free-up this cassette. The amount of crud in between the gears was about as bad as I have ever seen. I will also remove the axle and cones and bearings and clean everything up and replace the bearings. After giving the cassette unit a good spray with "White Lightning Clean Streak" I go between all the gears using the scraper (above) in a saw like motion. I had to repeat this a few times. I also sprayed heavily between the pie plate and the cassette. Then used a rag on edge (also in a saw like motion) and worked my way around. This also had to be repeated a few times. Once everything looked clean I went between the gears with a rag edge working my way around, again in a saw like motion.

Above: When I was scraping The crud between the gears it was coming out in chunks. You can see the teeth on the White Lightning scraper are still loaded up with crud. I will need to soak these in bio de greaser over night. Once the cassette was all cleaned up it spun much better but still needed lubrication. For this I spin the free wheel by hand with it facing upwards. After applying a few drops of lite machine oil in the grove between the axis and the freewheel. It takes a little while but eventually the oil will find its way inside the unit and lubricate the small needle bearings. Now it is spinning smoothly and free. I was not able to remove the cassette. So ALL this was done with the cassette still mounted. This makes cleaning out the hub and replacing the bearings difficult but not impossible. I was too greasy to take pictures of all this. But as you may have noticed, on this project I will be focusing on the brakes. And latter on the handlebars, shifters, brake levers and much more.

CAUTION: Do not run a wheel brush or grinder or any rotating power tool without wearing safety glasses! I have pulled a tiny brass bristle out of my face on more than one occasion. But never out of my eye! Above: Cleaning up the front wheel was really something. The Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish had very little (if any) effect. This was an absolute first for me. So I found my fine brass wheel brush and mounted it on the DeWalt high speed drill and went to work. Afterwards I touched up around the spoke nipples using FINE automotive grade wet sandpaper. After which I gave the rim a quick polish with Mothers. Cleaning out the front hub and replacing the bearings was 100% easier than the rear hub. And as you can see the wheel now looks pretty good. When purchasing replacement bearings you want to look for Grade 25 Ball Bearings . This is the highest rating for steel ball bearings.

Hey, That about covers it for Part One of the Trek Multi Track 700 project. This project gets pretty involved and there were a few major problems that had to be dealt with. You can expect at least one or two more posts about this project coming to a blog near you real soon. In the mean time, Remember to Always..... RESCUE, RESTORE & RECYCLE....... Cheers, Hugh From my family to yours, Have a Safe and Happy Holiday Season!

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L.L.Bean Bike / All Terrain to Road Conversion

Hello and Welcome,
Before I get started I would like to congratulate Brian and Laura who recently announced their engagement. Why would I mention that here you may ask? Well Laura and Brian are my two best and favorite supporters. Between the two of them they own five (maybe six) of my bicycles. And they always bring me coffee when they come to visit. And I might add, It is Very Good coffee. And it just so happens that I took the L.L. Bean bike in on trade from Brian when He took home the Giant Attraction. Brian is also the owner and financier of the Rusty Raleigh bike. BELOW

And Laura is now the owner of the "Custom Built, Made in England Parliament".(below) One of my all time favorite bikes. It was important to me that this bike went to someone who would really appreciate it and treasure it. I do not think I could have made a better choice.

I still remember when I met Laura. She came here from AnnArbor to test ride and hopefully purchase a bike. Unfortunately the bike she came to see had a defective tire that had bulged badly during the night after being brought up to pressure. And I had not spotted it yet.(Laura spotted it right away) So she took out a different bike which upon return she described as a perfect fit. She purchased that bike instead. I guess the Bicycle Gods intervened on that one.

Above: Laura on the far left with that very bike. Brian is on the far right straddling the Giant Attraction. I wish them both a long and happy life together.

Above: In the background you can see the L.L. Bean bike looking pretty much as it did when it arrived. (less tires)

Above: Here I have stripped the bike down to the frame. Looking at the British Racing Green paint I am remembering a green Shelby Cobra I saw recently with white racing stripes. I am thinking white tires might look really cool on this British Racing Green frame. While I am ordering the tires I`ll order some white Cinelli Gel Cork tape. And then see if I can locate some affordable white track pedals too. But before any of that can happen I`ll need to rebuild the headset and bottom bracket.

Above: The "Crown Race" (A) and the "Lower Headset Bearing Seal" (B)are both in fine shape as are the upper and lower bearing cups on the head-tube. And the Headset Bearings look real good too. The cups just wipe clean with a clean rag. I will however need to degrease the bearings before I can regrease and install them in the upper and lower cups.

Above: The Headset bearings cleaned and ready for grease. Also pictured a spray can of White Lightning Clean Streak. I use a cheap strainer and pot purchased at K Mart for de greasing small parts. I just stuff a few dirty paper towels in the pot then place the strainer in the pot. Then I place the parts in the strainer and spray with Clean Streak. I also wear surgical gloves and have a parts brush for the really dirty parts. Using the parts brush allows me to use much less Clean Streak.

Above: Here I have greased the upper Headset cartridge bearing (B) And set it in place in the upper bearing cup (A). There is an Upper and Lower bearing cup on the Head Tube (C)

Above: I placed the greased lower cartridge headset bearing (E) into the lower bearing cup (D). With a little extra grease the lower cartridge bearing will defy gravity and stay in place. Now it is ready for the Steerer tube to be inserted from the bottom.

Above: Now with the crown race (H) lightly greased and the crown race bearing seal (G) in place I insert the Steerer tube (F) in from the bottom of the head tube. As the Steerer tube comes up to the top headset bearings I am careful not to knock the top "head set cartridge bearing" out of place. And I have the lightly greased threaded race for the upper bearings in hand or close by. Note: Not all crown races have a separate seal for the bottom headset bearings.

Above: The threaded top (i) of the Steerer tube is now ready for the threaded top race to be screwed down into position. It is just like a nut threaded on to a bolt, only not as tight.

Above: The threaded race (J) is threaded down properly. Just like hubs and bottom brackets what I am trying for is "No Grind & No Play" In other words it should feel smooth but not loose when I turn. If it grinds or feels sloppy I will need to re adjust. We are talking about very small adjustments here. As my friend Mike taught me many years ago "tighten the race until you feel it grind then back it off a hair".

Above: On most threaded headsets you will find a nub on the spacers and brackets that fits into a groove or channel (K) in the back of the Steerer tube. I think this is done for two reasons. First if the spacers above the threaded race can not turn because they are locked into position they will not turn when you tighten down the cap nut. Which means the spacers will not turn the threaded race (while tightening the cap nut) throwing the threaded race out of proper adjustment or torque. Also the nub and groove keeps the cable guide bracket or reflector bracket on center front when tightening. NOTE: This system does NOT always work very well. I like to hold the threaded race in position with a wrench while tightening the cap nut.

Above: It is important to keep track of the proper order that the spacers/washers and brackets go on the Steerer tube. Take a pic or make a sketch before you take the headset apart. On this one I kept the parts in order by putting a "zip tie" through the washers and brackets and top nut. Then as above I lay the parts out in the order I will be putting them back together. (left to right) I have marked the nubs on the washer/spacers. You may notice the nub on the cable guide bracket is barely visible. Also I have labeled the "Cap nut" (L).

Above: The stem. I have not mentioned the Stem because the headset assembly really has nothing to do with holding the stem in place. It slides into the top of the Steerer tube to the minimum insertion mark on the shaft. Then tightening the "Stem Bolt" (M) from the top it draws the Wedge-Nut (N) upwards. This basically wedges the stem shaft inside the Steerer tube. Hence the name "wedge nut". Pretty old technology but done properly it works really well.

Shortly after I installed the crank I decided to go with a road bike set up and changed both the stem and crank set.

Above: I was not happy with my first attempt at routing the front brake cable. I wanted to eliminate the need to loop the cable (red arrow) over the stem. To do this I will remove the cable housing stopper (black arrow) from the cable hanger. Now I have converted the cable hanger into a cable guide. To make all this workout right I will need to install a fork-crown mounted cable hanger.

Above: This Tektro Front Cable Hanger attaches to the front and center fork crown using the (caliper brake mounting or mudguard mount) hole that is already there. Of course the hole on the rear side of the fork crown is too small for the inset nut. So I will need to drill it out.

Above: After selecting a bit the same size as the inset nut I drill out the rear hole using the high speed DeWalt keyless chuck 3/8 drill. Before drilling a put a drop of motor oil on the drill tip. I will repeat this a couple times while drilling the hole. The oil will stop the drill tip from overheating and dulling. Also this is not one continuous hole through the crown as the crown is hollow. So it wont take long to drill the hole. You will however need a quality drill bit that is rated for drilling metal. I will not need to drill out the front hole on the fork crown.

Above: Now that the inset nut is in place I can go ahead and mount the cable hanger on the fork crown.

Above: Here I am attaching the cable hanger. I did (afterwards) have to add one thin star washer to the spacers so the cable hanger would not rub the lower bearing cup when turning.

Above: To get the same cable position on the rear brake cable I made a cable harness from a zip tie. I would have preferred using a figure eight harness just for a cleaner look. But I was unable to locate the one I know I have somewhere in the shop.

I chose this stem for it's short reach. This is a larger frame so I want to keep the handle bars in a little closer. Also the stem is fairly tall. This is good for me as I will be riding in a semi upright position. And the "flop and chop bars" are also all about hand position and my more relaxed riding position on the bike. I used normal road brake levers for two reasons. One they are salvaged (almost free) and while not visually as nice as some other choices, I found this set up very comfortable on my single speed / fixed gear "flat land commuter" bike. On this bike I put a lot of thought into the brake cable routing which was not "all that good" on the single speed flat lander.

Above: Again "trying to keep things symmetrical" I made up these two matching upper derailleur cable housings. Also I would like to mention, This is the very first time I have ever mounted the front brake lever on the right. Someone asked me about that recently, So I figured "what the #@!!" give it a shot. Maybe I`ll like it. I might not know until spring as it is really cold here now. (our first snow of the season on the ground this morning)

Above: It took a little while to get it right, but in the end I am very pleased with All the cable routing up front.

Above: After giving it some thought I decided not to go with the white saddle and cork infused handlebar tape. Since I have decided to try and sell my single speed/fixed gear flat lander, I will be keeping this one for a while. And the WTB Speed V Comp is "and has been for a while" my affordable comfort sport saddle of choice. And I thought if I go with the black and whatever color saddle I would go with the darker handlebar wrap as well.

Above: I swapped out the original Shimano Altus rear Derailleur for another I had salvaged that looks a little nicer. I spent more than a little while cleaning up the free wheel. It was pretty rusty. (surface rust) I was surprised how nicely it did clean up. I did not see the leaf up in there until after I took this picture. I picked up that leaf on one of my test rides. It has since been removed. Also I did polish the rims and hubs with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish. The spokes I wiped clean with Armor All cleaning wipes. The multi speed Schwinn chain is new. I have noticed lately that the lube that comes on the entry level chains feels like greasy crud someone scraped off the factory floor. I am not at all pleased about this.

Above: This is the original Shimano Altus front derailleur, or at least the one that was on the bike when I took it in on trade. So I have Shimano Altus front and rear derailleurs.

Above: The all terrain version of this bike had the twist grip shifters. I replaced those with this Falcon stem mount dual shifter. I took it apart (one side at a time) and removed the rust using the fine brass wheel brush. These should work well with my semi upright riding position. I used my (low speed) Black & Decker 18 volt cordless drill driver for the wheel brushing. Brass brushing with a high speed drill tends to toss small parts across the room. Some never to be seen again. ltms

Above: I rebuilt the bottom bracket and had to replace the cartridge bearings. The original cartridges were too loose and would not hold the bearings properly. Also one of the ball bearings was deformed. I was lucky that the cups were not damaged. I had set of bottom bracket cartridge bearings on hand that were a perfect match. Every build I try to focus on one thing in detail for the blog. On this build it is the headset rebuild. If you would like to see a "bottom bracket rebuild" in detail Go to the "Search This Blog" feature in the right side column (just below the Members) and enter "re assemble three piece crank"

Above: After I decided to go with the "road bike set" up I removed the black three chain ring Mountain Bike crank set. I replaced it with this SR Custom road crankset square taper which must have come off a Schwinn Sprint or something similar. I polished it up with Mother's. It appears to be a very low mileage crank. I am hoping to upgrade the crank in the not too distant future.

Above: These white Origin 8 Pro Track Lights can be had for 23.99 (at the time of this build) on Amazon.com. I did see them cheaper (about 22.00) But with the free shipping on my combined order Amazon was the best deal overall.

Above: They took a little while to get here but eventually I did install the new Jag Wire Mountain Bike brake shoes. I did polish up the cantilever arms but unfortunately a few of the mounting bolts were badly corroded. I think I might be able to replace these if the ones I have in mind are the correct size and length.

Above: I changed the color of the handlebar tape (red arrow) to match the black/grey saddle better. In fact I made several changes "on the fly" while building this bike. But that is part of the fun of building an "urban commuter". I also made use of the rack (white arrow) I traded Laura for my old air pump.

Above: Here is the L.L. Bean Bike finished. well almost finished, since this pic was taken I have changed how I have the rack attached. I was checking out some pics of this rack on other bikes and saw one or two mounted in a way that I think looks a little neater. Notice how the bracket/arms are attached from the upper rack legs to the seat stays on the frame.

Above: Here I have moved the support bracket arms to the front cross-member on the rack. Then I cut-off the excess support bracket arm (s) length and replaced the end caps. In retrospect, maybe I should have left a little more length on those support bracket/arms. Just in case I might want to move this tubular rear rack to another bike. You might want to check out the Axiom Journey rack as well. A very nice rack for the price.

I had to replace one of the (missing) inset screws that secure the support-bracket/arm. It was not available in chrome. You would think I would have just purchased two that match. Sometimes I wonder what the #@!! am I thinking about. LTMS... Oh well nothing that a black "magic marker" can not fix.

Above: The L.L. Bean Bike is finished (for now) I am considering adding hammered fenders and a little white vinyl detail (piping perhaps). Also like all my bikes (that I ride) it will eventually get a set of lights and perhaps a bell. I am truly sorry it took so long to get this post finished. Things have been very hectic around here this past month. But now that the new well is in. And the mess that went along with it is pretty much cleaned up. Things are getting back to normal. Well as normal as things ever get during the Holiday Season :) UPDATE: As you can see below, eventually this build went in a whole different direction.
Above: The L.L. Bean bike pretty much as it looks today. I did add one more accessory that I will talk about on a future post.