"SKS" Fenders??

[popeyespal]

BTW....my fenders were installed at my LBS, (Harris Cyclery...home of the great Sheldon Brown), and they have about the same clearance as yours.

I agree that the only issue with fender placement would be "toe strike" during turns and if you are not having that problem then ride on my friend.

[Tourista829]

You made a good save. Closer is definately better but they will be easier to clean out the gunk that may accumulate after you ride through any mud. I am disappointed with Peter White, he should know better and refund your money.

[happyriding]

I agree that the only issue with fender placement would be "toe strike" during turns and if you are not having that problem then ride on my friend.

The closer a fender is to the tire, the less spray will be directed at the rider.  Unless the op is touring off road, the fenders would be more effective if they were closer to the tire.  Some people who switch between fat tires and skinny tires will mount their fenders to fit the fat tires, and therefore when they have the skinny tires on, there will be more clearance than ideal.  Here are pictures of a bunch of bikes with fenders, so you can see how other people are mounting fenders:

http://tinyurl.com/3z5ys6o

[SilasTarr]

Thanks for the additional feedback, everyone.  I'll definitely look into bringing in the fenders closer to my tires, as even I thought it seemed like a lot of clearance.  That's about the closest I could get them with how much (or how little) of the stays I cut off, though.

Luckily, I have no plans on boxing up my bike for shipping any time soon, as I'll be heading out from my home when I begin my multi-month tour near the end of this September.  I mostly plan to stay on roads, but I imagine I may encounter some dirt paths or gravel roads, so I surmise I'll want to keep a little extra fender clearance, though perhaps not as much as I have now.  I'll also look into the possibility of my toe hitting the fenders from different positions; thanks for the tip, tsteven4!

Also, just to note...

I am disappointed with Peter White, he should know better and refund your money.

While I used the information I found on Peter White's site to choose which SKS model to purchase, I ended up buying my fenders though Amazon.  So, I guess just use this experience as a heads-up to others that Peter White's information on SKS fenders isn't entirely accurate.


Lastly, thanks @happyriding for the link to the "bikes with fenders" picture collection.  I can see there's a lot of variation in clearance positioning, so I'll just have to do a little more tinkering to find out what works best for me!

[happyriding]

I mostly plan to stay on roads, but I imagine I may encounter some dirt paths or gravel roads, so I surmise I'll want to keep a little extra fender clearance.  

I imagine if you find muddy enough conditions to clog your fenders, you won't be able to stay upright anyway unless you are using wide, knobby tires.  Setting up a bike to handle both road conditions and muddy off road conditions is probably going to provide poor riding in all conditions.

The main problem with getting fenders set up properly is figuring out how to extend the fenders to the right height above the tires.

[Pat Lamb]

I agree the clearance looks excessive, but I'm not sure it matters.  The main thing is that the width of the fender catches the overwhelming majority of spray off the wheel.  If the fender is too far out, and not much wider than the tire, then you may have lots of spray coming out that the fender could, and should, catch.  We almost need a 3-D view to see what's going on, but you'll figure it out shortly after the first time you get caught in the rain.

[popeyespal]

Here is a pic of my LHT and SKS fenders exactly as they were installed by my LBS.

I have ridden in some pretty heavy rain this year with absolutely no issues whatsoever.  No toe overlap, (I am 6'2" and the bike is a 60cm). No excess spray.

I called Harris Cyclery to see if possibly my fenders had been installed incorrectly and I explained why I was asking by quoting some of the posts in this thread. They laughed and said they have seen FAR MORE problems with fenders mounted too close than too far. I ask why and was told that having the fenders too close can cause small objects that would otherwise be picked up by the tire and slung off to actually wedge/contact both the fender and tire causing cuts and possible flats.

Works for me and that is all that matters.




http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Rbsd0m0s8c/TaIDkxKYFRI/AAAAAAAAASA/r0foyJqEhCg/s1600/002.JPG

[bud16415]

For what it's worth when I went to use a set of fenders I had off a 26" wheel on my 700c bike I found the stays were too short. I made some "fender stay extenders" from aluminum for both the front and back. Lots of miles and no issues.

What I found was they worked nicely as a means to adjust the fender spacing and side to side spacing also. You can see the rear ones in this photo where the stay attaches to the bike. 

[happyriding]

Here is a pic of my LHT and SKS fenders exactly as they were installed by my LBS.

I have ridden in some pretty heavy rain this year with absolutely no issues whatsoever.  No toe overlap, (I am 6'2" and the bike is a 60cm). No excess spray.

I called Harris Cyclery to see if possibly my fenders had been installed incorrectly and I explained why I was asking by quoting some of the posts in this thread. They laughed and said they have seen FAR MORE problems with fenders mounted too close than too far.

I would note that it takes more work to install a fender properly.  For instance, on your bike it might have involved finding or making a bracket that extended the fender closer to the wheels.  Sometimes the supplied hardware that comes with a fender is a fixed length, so you don't have any choice where your fender is going to end up.  For most bikes, which have very little clearance between the top of the tire and the fork, you just install the fender as high as possible and hope you have 10mm of clearance for safety.  But if a bike has enough clearance, installing fenders can require a lot of creativity in order to get the fender 8-10mm above the tire.

There is also the issue of liability.  I imagine a bike shop would lean toward installing fenders with too much clearance.

But who knows, maybe a fender that's 10mm from the tire is a death trap.  I've never read any studies about fender safety, and I pretty much just accept what people who have been installing fenders for years say.  They could be wrong.  Jobst Brandt has demonstrated that a lot of things that are taken for granted in the bicycling world have no basis in fact.

bud16415,

Nice fender foo.

[lhendrick]

For what it's worth when I went to use a set of fenders I had off a 26" wheel on my 700c bike I found the stays were too short. I made some "fender stay extenders" from aluminum for both the front and back. Lots of miles and no issues.

What I found was they worked nicely as a means to adjust the fender spacing and side to side spacing also. You can see the rear ones in this photo where the stay attaches to the bike. 

For a road bike those fenders are too far from the tires. If you ride in Germany they will probably give you a ticket

[PeteJack]

(SKS= Scheffer-Klute Sundern) Scheffer-Klute is the company founder's name, Sundern is the home town of the business. (from the SKS website)

All this discussion has got me thinking I may get my LBS to mount them on my wife's new bike. I've done it myself before and it is a bit of a faff especially cutting the stays to length.

[Pat Lamb]

All this discussion has got me thinking I may get my LBS to mount them on my wife's new bike. I've done it myself before and it is a bit of a faff especially cutting the stays to length.

I don't know about your LBS, but I could do it as well and as quickly as REI did a few years back when we bought my daughter's bike and had them install fenders.  It's not like a light or speedometer that they install all the time, so either you or your mechanic will have to sit down and read the instructions, and then interpret the pictograms.

The single best bit of advice I've seen regarding SKS fender installation is to make sure you file the ends of the cut fender mounting rods round.  Greatly reduces the chance to stab yourself (or your wife).

[Doug64]

My rear wheel picked up some debris and folded the fender accordion fashion as depicted in the drawing.  SKS fenders are tough.  It just popped out with a slight crease.


My back wheel locked up and it did not do my tire much good either.  IMO- the safety release on the front fenders are really a selling point.  I'm just glad it was my back wheel!

[PeteJack]

No matter what kind of fenders you get (I have SKS from REI) if you care about your buddy behind you add a proper mud flap to the rear fender. Planet Bike fenders have a little flap dealy that looks like it will prevent you washing your pal behind you with a rooster tail. It is worthless.

[DoubleD]

SKS Longboards on my Surly 700C LHT.  I like em.  They were ok when I got them but great after riding in the rain.

Link with pics and installation video: http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/fe2.htm