Meet Marlin—My ULTIMATE Commuter MTB Bike!

Hi! And I'd like to introduce you Marlin.

He's a 2022 Trek Marlin 7 (size M/M), designed for cross-country cycling, but who's since been heavily modified to be the ultimate city commuter bike—fit for the road, snow & mud.

Though most of his core parts remain unchanged from when I first got it in 2022 (besides a wide 29 x 2.4 inch tire fitted to the rear), most of his enhancements come from the following key parts:

1. Fenders

2. After discovering that there are no full-tire fenders MTB's with 29-inch tires (besides the ancient 26-inch MTB's), I've ultimately fitted 2 different fenders from the front (one each by MuckyNutz & West Biking), and 3 on the rear (one by Topeak; another by West Biking; and the very tiny fork fender I've got on AliExpress for $5 CAD a pair).

3. Mirrors

4. Much like motorbikes & cars, you want to look behind you while looking straight to your path, else you risk crashing without realizing. Not wanting to risk my chances, I locked on to these generic acrylic-based mirrors for $13 CAD a pair on AliExpress (& a couple of riser brackets to increase their viewing height) to fill this need, which has finally eased my anxiety over biking in the city on car roads

5. Vertical Bar Ends (the horns)

6. In computer ergonomics, it's taught that to prevent hand-and-arm injuries while on desk one should transition to peripherals that leave their hands & arms in a straight "handshake" position (vertical mouse, vertical-ish keyboards, etc.). The same is true for handlebars. Having to suffer discomfort from computers while having more strain on flat handlebars (with all the bumpy vibrations & numbing of hands that come from it) is quite unbearable for me. Hence I've installed these obsolete bar ends to address this issue and keep my hands & arms in a comfortable position.

7. Seatpost Rear Rack

8. Unlike mainstream bike racks, where they're secured on to the bike via bolts & screws, I've chosen a rear rack that clamps onto the seatpost, with 6 more legs clamping on to the sear stay for full security when attached to the bike. (After losing my bolt-on kickstand because the screw fastening to it snapped from wear-and-tear, it's hard for me to trust bolt-on racks when bolts will snap under any load or stress eventually.)

9. Raleigh Front Bag

10. the only special thing about this discontinued bag from Raleigh is its slot originally meant to put in a smartphone for navigation. However, not needing that feature for a front bag, I've decided to stuff that slot with aluminum foil to act as a reflector for beaming lights. And it's done its purpose!

11. Milk Crate

12. Frankly, most of my bike's carrying capacity hinges on this basket. It's plastic construction has allowed me to easily drill holes into it to fit in all my rear bike lights, fit in more bags via mount holes, and to easily toss my backpacks behind without breaking a sweat on my back. (I'm not buying a $200 backpack with rack hooks brand new when I can get a great $20 backpack at a nearby thrift store, so the basket with all my existing backpacks works best for my case.)

…

With that, this is Marlin.
What do you think of him?