More Tinkering

Not that anyone cares . . . This is like putting notes in a bottle
and throwing them into the sea.

Anyway. Not that anyone cares, but I decided I didn't like the bent
fork on the touring Trek. Even though I rode it 1700 miles last
summer with only minor (ok, fairly major) shimmying and instability,
and my feet hit the fender whenever I turned the wheel, and the lower
water bottle didn't fit in the holder any more, and the steering was
indexed (that is, it had a noticeable preference for straight ahead,
with a significant resistance to being turned off center). Hm. In
retrospect, those were pretty good reasons.
So I took the old fork off, which involved disassembling the front
end of the bike, taking off fenders, racks, lights, speedometers. I
had the old fork from the Gitane (which was itself a replacement, I
suspect for a curb-induced bending), so I put it on. Then all the
gear had to be put back on. Because the original Trek brakes were
cantis, I used the old Mafac Racers from the Gitane. They are
actually much better with fenders, and they do a dandy job of
stopping the bike, even with 35 year old pads. I should replace them.

I solved several niggling issues while I was at it. I fastened the
front rack lower, attached it directly to the front axle, and moved
the connection points closer to the front of the rack. I also moved
the front light down low, onto one of the rack stays. This gives a
better light pattern, and also prevents the front light from being
blocked when things are piled on the front rack (or in the front
basket, which isn't installed yet). (This problem has never occurred,
but it could have.) And the new-old fork has much more clearance for
fenders, so I was able to restore the front fender to one-piece and
mount it directly. A little metallic duct tape on the underside (and
brackets on the upper side) closed up the seam where I cut the fender
to fit over the fatter 35mm tires, with the old fork.

The big test came in how it rides. I'm happy to report that it's a
big improvement. The bike feels much more stable. Cornering is now
smooth, not jerky and scary.

Does anyone care? Will anyone read this?

No. And no.