More Accessories for the Super Mirage

Earlier this month, I added an antique prune crate to Ginger's new Motobecane Super Mirage. I bolted it on to the rear rack, giving the bike a bit more capacity to carry her gear. The look was really great, and we were both happy with the way it turned out. A couple of weeks after installing the crate, the vibrations and jostling from everyday riding had begun to work loose the nails that held the walls of the crate to the floor. The addition of 4 small wood screws fixed the problem quickly and easily.

Another issue was that there was nothing to hold down the load that was being carried in the crate, so we decided to install some straps to keep Ginger's belongings from flying out. Ginger and I both have to cross a set of railroad tracks on our daily commute, and I could easily envision her purse unknowingly being tossed out of the crate when bouncing over the crossing. We thought it would be cool if the straps had the same vintage style of the old prune crate. And what better way to do that than with leather? I picked up a couple of 36" lengths of 1/2" suede ribbon and some small rivets from the local craft store, and also ordered a few 1/2" stainless steel spring buckles from StrapWorks.

I anchored the straps to the floor of the crate with the bolts that fixed the crate to the rear rack, using a drill to make the appropriate size holes in the ends of the leather. I used a large nail as a punch to make the holes for the rivets, looped the ends of the suede straps over the loops of the spring buckles, and riveted them into place with a hammer. Once everything was in place, it looked awesome. And the spring buckles make cinching and uncinching the load really quick and easy.