MUDGUARDS

[SPINNERS]

I'm going to put SKS mudguards on my Trek 1200 this week. Any tips on where to position the 'hook' type clip, i.e. in front of the fork, behind or up in the fork underside?

Also, this frame has mudguard eyes but doesn't have a chainstay bridge. Any tips?

[Istanbul_Tea]

Up in the fork underside should work just fine.

As for the CS bridge... my brother uses a plastic tie(with notches or teeth)and attaches it to the seattube.

[Dave Whittle Thorn Workshop]

For the chainstay bridge it is quite easy to fashion a sort of custom figure of 8 bracket from an old wire coathanger, going round the profile of the guard and round the seat tube.

[Peter Gathergood]

Excuae my ignorance - but where exactly is 'up in the fork underside'?

[SPINNERS]

You know, that round hole on the underside of your forks! I've seen some mudguard brackets stuck up there suspended on the brake bolt but I've not tried that myself yet.

[Fixedwheelfiend]

Originally posted by SPINNERS

I'm going to put SKS mudguards on my Trek 1200 this week. Any tips on where to position the 'hook' type clip, i.e. in front of the fork, behind or up in the fork underside?

Also, this frame has mudguard eyes but doesn't have a chainstay bridge. Any tips?

You can buy an adaptor for frames without bridges.  Salmom mudguard spares do one.  Parker Int sell them

[Fixedwheelfiend]

quote:Originally posted by Peter Gathergood

Excuae my ignorance - but where exactly is 'up in the fork underside'?

Turn bike upside down, remove front wheel and look at hole between fork blades, assuming you have no mudguards

[Fixedwheelfiend]

quote:Originally posted by SPINNERS

I'm going to put SKS mudguards on my Trek 1200 this week. Any tips on where to position the 'hook' type clip, i.e. in front of the fork, behind or up in the fork underside?

Put infront but you might have to file the top of the guard mount to allow good tyre clearance and/or stop guardmount fouling underside of headset.  In fork underside is good but a spring inserted too helps to avoid rattles & movement, but awkward to fit.

[tynevalleycommuter]

Even filing the top of the front mount as much as I dare and pushing right up to bottom of headset I find clearance insufficient on my winter frame, mud tends to ball up around the part of the clip on the inside of the guard, i have had to stop to clear this even on days when the guards were clean at starting out. Previous guards had a shorter clip and was not a problem. The SKS ones seem to have a 'taller' clip. The clip is very strong and not feasible to bend it to shorten it.

I am going to check the 'up in fork underside' method, how does this work will Allen key brakes? - is it a case of fit around the exposed part of the brake bolt in front of the AK nut? Also how do I fix the guard as high up in the hole as possible and keep it from dropping down and sitting as low as it wants on the slotted hole/bolt?

[SPINNERS]

On one set of mudguards I had the same problem with the clip being too strong to bend so I half sawed through it and then bent it forward. Best frame for clearances I've ever had is the ubiquitos Tange white frameset sold by SJSC and Byercycles. This takes 28c's with mudguards no problems.

Worst bike for clearances was the dedicated 'winter' bike that I bought from a custom framebuilder in South Wales. The rear was ok but the front was a disaster. I sold it on to a clubmate who still rides with a 21c on the front to make it work with mudguards. The framebuilder was actually quite good and subsequently built me a couple of very nice road bikes but winter/audax type bikes weren't his thing at all.

[Fixedwheelfiend]

Front mudguards can be a pain.  You can carefully hacksaw off the top of the guard mount leaving it open, then push the guard up high before tightening the brake nut.  Shimano brakes are better for this as the arm profile is wider and higher than on the Campagnolo brakes which tend to foul the guard when the brake is applied.  Salmon guards are better for Campag but still awkward to fit.

The top mounting clip supplied with salmon was S*** so I discarded it.  I have drilled 2 small holes 2.5mm perpendicular to the guard and the ran a small zip tie through the holes & around the top of the brake bolt assembly.  It works great. If you try this with SKS style guards to help clearance you may have to drill out and remove the origional mount.  I Zip tied the rear one too with a bit of rubber between the brake bridge & brake to stop rattles.

The best fit I have done with SKS types (only try this if you are clever and patient) is to fit two 6mm springs with the guard mount between them up the fork crown.  Then fit the brake bolt (a small screwdriver first). The allen key nut will compress the springs holding the guard in place.  This looks very neat but make sure the nut is tight against the fork crown, if not the springs are too long and 'coilbound' Good Luck !

[Billy]

For a good way of fixing front guards look at this:-
http://www.gillesberthoud.fr/anglais/fiche_detaillee/fiche.php?refArticle=219SIL100

[SPINNERS]

Talk us through it Billy!

[Fixedwheelfiend]

Billy are you french? I agree with spinners - what does it mean and what is the picture of??

[Billy]

Sorry! I've been away. What happens is the hole in the top of the bolt fits over the brake bolt with the thread pointing down, you need to make a hole in the  guard, then fit the washers(rubber against the fork crown) guard and finally the nut.
P.S. I've changed the link above so it comes up in english.