I was lucky enough to attend this year’s Fender Fest, hosted by Meerglass Cycles in the tiny town of Bad Wilsnack, Germany. Fender Fest carries on the tradition of Peter Weigle’s French Fender Day, a beloved celebration of all things Fender'd that used to take place at his workshop in Connecticut. I’ve covered Peter’s event before, so be sure to check out those previous posts for a bit of context.
While I don’t speak German, everyone there spoke English—incredibly well. It was truly special to finally meet folks I’ve only known through social media, reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in years, and make a whole bunch of new ones.
Before diving into the bike nerdery, I want to give a big thank you to Tom and his team for organizing such a fantastic event. Hosting something like this is no small feat, and from the outside, everything seemed to go off without a hitch. The food was amazing, the coffee hit the spot, and the overall vibe was perfect.
The day kicked off with coffee and breakfast—various pastries, fresh bread, jam, and Mett (seasoned raw pork, a traditional dish in Eastern Germany). After that, we started arranging our bikes around the property. Before they settled into their display spots for the day, I made sure to grab some photos of them in situ—naturally placed by their proud owners. Be sure to check out the gallery at the end of this post to see the ones that stood out to me.
Rob's Hugonnier-Routens
Ok, let's get into some proper bike nerding. I'm going to start out with Rob's
Hugonnier- Routens. Roger Hugonnier taught Jo Routens the craft in the late 1940s. Iconic of bikes from the golden age of French builders, it has hellenic seat stays, a glorious fork bend, and loads of details that you'll miss unless you brought your reading glasses. Below is a picture Rob found from its construction.
His bike featured the extremely rare and very sought after Mavic Inal fenders. I love the stamping and the embossed detailing on the leading edge of the fender. The profile is perfect for this bike, too.
The patina is out of this world.
Rob said he spent weeks meticulously cleaning every part of the bike to get it ready for the event, but it wasn't until a friend pointed it out that the down tube and top tube are curiously the same outer diameter. We found that they are both 28.6mm, and with the highly scientific finger plink test, the top tube is butted and the down tube is straight gauge or at least heavier duty. The seat tube is likely the same OD, too. Beggars can't be Tube-Choosers in post war France.
This one stole the show for a lot of people, and that's why it won People's Choice. I mean, look at that stem and paint job! What a show stopper.
The custom racks looked so beautiful and were mounted so cleanly.
Of course he's rocking the
Growtac Brakes! I saw a lot of Growtac Brakes and even one set of Shifters.
1950's Champredonde Porteur
I'll be honest, I didn't get a chance to talk to the owner of this bike and my Google-fu is coming up with nil. But it is just a beautiful sight - perfect frame proportions, box lining, front rack, and Porteur fenders really pull everything together. We actually got a sample of this fender style way back when. They are really cool with some serious coverage.
Vibes and CLB Levers.
Rene's Touring Bike
Built in the style of the Constructeurs, Rene did a masterful job of taking historic inspiration and applying it to his own touring bike. Fully fillet brazed, custom everything, and a perfect color selection.
Like Rob's bike, the rear brake pierces the seat tube right below the seat post. But Rene took it a step further and integrated a barrel adjustor! Look at those parallel lines //
Peter's Randonneur
Peter Weigle was the event's honorary guest. He even did a live podcast with Antritt called The Transatlantic Shift talking about how he got into framebuilding, the ups and downs, design, and where he wants to go from here. He's a storied, masterful builder and it shows in his bikes.
Peter uses our 650b Zeppelin Fenders a lot on his builds. I love seeing them color matched, too.
Tom is an amazing builder. He designs clever, fun, and beautiful bikes that really push the envelope of what a traditional and modern bike can do. I always enjoy seeing a builder's workspace and the projects they have in progress. It's an honor to be let into such a personal sanctuary.
After standing around Tom's property pointing at bikes, we actually got to ride each others! I've never been to a show or expo where I could actually ride these high end customs, legendary vintage, and interesting bikes. Usually they're just on display, but it was really nice to swing a leg over and go up and down the street.
When you've been doing this as long as we have, you can get a sense of what the bike is like within the first couple minutes. It gave me some really nice perspective on handling, tubing, flex, angles, and the overall feel and what the builder was going for. Additionally, this part of the meetup also gave a number of people an opportunity to ride my Neutrino - many of them the first minivelo they've ridden. Smiles all around.
All in all, this was such an awesome and fun experience. It was great seeing friends and meeting new ones. A thank you to Tom and everyone that was a part of the event to make it happen. A big thumbs up. Can't wait for next time!
I really appreciate that half-chaincase. It looks like it’d keep the worst of the muck off your chain while still allowing you to drop the wheel easily for a flat or hub maintenance. I have a Dutch bike with a full chaincase and the reduced maintenance is great but when it’s time to get the wheel off it’s a total pain. Chaincases are hard to come by in the states but they are so handy for commuting (if you have hub gears or a single speed).
Fenders are practical on rainy days and also are practical on sunny days, in both cases when including a flexible, low-hanging flap on the rear of the front fender. No matter the weather, dry or wet, that flap can make a real difference in the need for cleaning and oiling a bike’s gear train.
Thanks for sharing your photos, enthusiasm for and knowledge of old and new bike designs. The craftsmanship shown is superb.
This was fun! Thanks for posting. A couple of weeks ago I stopped by my local bike coop looking for something else and there was a nice intact set of vintage Blumel’s “Popular” mudguards in white. They will look fabulous on my orange Rambouillet with the white head tube.
All accounts of this event indicate it was a fabulous time. These pictures are fantastic, and I’m so glad you were able to go! The stem of the Avalanche is obviously eye-catching, but I also love how the front rack features two different diameters of tubing, which I’ve always thought would look good so it’s nice to see it look so striking.
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