Touring - Fenders Question

Hi everyone, my first post
Just did a search on fenders, pretty confusing what comes up. I know I've seen posts about fenders but can't remember where. So, after some searching and thought I decided to order a new LHT from the LBS yesterday :) I'm going to be changing the tires to 700x32 schwalbe marathons. What would be the best fenders to put on? Would it be ok to put bigger than needed fenders on with the 32 tires just in case I want to go back to a bigger tire in the future? What fenders work the best for everyone? And since I am color blind, I purchace the LHT in blue, what color fenders would look the best?
Thanks for your help

I would go with the widest fender that will fit. Should give you more tire choices than going with a narrow fender.

I just got an LHT for Christmas and I am using the SKS P55s with DIY mudflaps. The 55s are about the largest you can install on the LHT, although you can put on the 60s with a little bit of modification. I used larger fenders so I can put on studded tires, or street tires. You can't have too much fender, the only barriers are your personal aesthetic preferences.

I am assuming that you are planning on using full fenders. Do you want included mudflaps, DIY mudflaps, or no mudflaps?
There are stainless steel versions (Gilles Berthoud) and aluminum fenders from Velo-orange. Are these an option?

The SKS guards are available in silver or black only. Planet bike models are available in black, pink, yellow, brown, and silver finishes that I know of, but not all colors are available in all styles. The stainless and aluminum models available are only in natural finishes, although there are hammered, brushed, and polished finishes.

If you really want to go classy, there are also wood fenders available. Let us know your preferences, and we can help you further.

i feel that bigger is better. I had the smallest fenders that i could get, i thought they looked a little smoother. But this winter when i wanted to put cyclo-cross tires on my bike they did not fit. save yourself the trouble and leave room for choices.

Yes I am planning on putting on full fenders, mudflaps would be nice but not necessary, I can always put them on later. Are the platic fenders durable? Or would stainless/ aluminum be the way to go?

When it comes to fender size, larger ones give you the option for bigger tyres but smaller ones are more aerodynamic.
SKS have a compatability (http://www.sks-germany.com/sks.php?l=en&a=product&i=6409800121) guide.
SKS chromoplastic are by common agreement the best all-round fender. The material is very tough and durable, the fittings (inc a safety quick-release) are rattle-free and highly adjustable.
Various boutique fender in al, carbon, wood etc may work OK but for practical purposes there is nothing better than SKS.
The silver ones go with most colours and give a bit more visibility.

Honjo makes some gorgeous ss fenders. Pricey though.

For a LHT, I'd put on SKS fenders or Planet Bike Cascadias.

Reasonably priced; tough; easy to install. If you ride much in the rain, you should put a mudflap on the front (though the Planet Bike already has a small one; the SKS don't, at least when I last purchased some).

Honjos are very nice (I have some now) but they are much, much harder to install, and harder to keep straight if you travel with your bike.

If you are looking for durability, the SKS or planet bike is the way to go. They are aluminum sandwiched in plastic.

If you bend aluminum or steel, you will spend some time getting everything straight again.

SKS or PB. If you have a 700C LHT consider PB Cascadia so the front fender hardware doesn't clip up your shoe when overlapped. I have a 56cm LHT and the 45mm SKS fender struts interfered right where my foot hit. Changed them for 45mm PB Cascadia fenders wanting a smidge more coverage, and it is only a smidge but what I found out was the lower strut on the front fender mounts a couple inches higher so my foot no longer gets hung up on the hdware. Now my foot just slides off when starting at a stop, turning sharply or doing a track stand.

If you have a 26" LHT maybe go for SKS. I've been using 45mm on the LHT and have fit a 40mm tire under the front with adequate clearance. On my 26" bike that can't fit bigger than 1.75 tires I've got 45mm fenders but I'd pick wider if you're going for wider tires.

I don't see any reason for putting on noisy metal fenders that will be more prone to fatique and bending.

I use the Planet Bike Hardcore Road and found them wide enough with 700x32. In general I am pretty happy with them.

Would it be ok to put bigger than needed fenders on with the 32 tires just in case I want to go back to a bigger tire in the future?

A general rule that I've come across is to choose fenders that are about 10mm wider than the widest tire you will use, frame permitting. In other words, you want about 5mm clearance between the fender and each side of the tire. This is to prevent rocks or sticks from jamming between the fender and tire and stopping your wheel suddenly.

i'll just pop in here for a quick taught,consider buying schwalble supreams excellent tyre honest. imho much much better than marathon's. i use sks fenders no problem's what so ever with them.

I have Axiom Rainrunner fenders and find them cool since they're adjustable and have large reflective stripes on them. They're all black but look OK. They're plastic and probably more durable than metal.

I saw a couple touring and they had Planet Bike yellow fenders. This might make you look visible during the day time but when I saw them up close, they looked like cheap toys with the black mudguards.

Anyway, the Rainrunner Trek model takes 45mm tires so that's wide enough.

I know Soma and Civia make some colored ones if that's what you want.

I put Woody's Bicycle fenders on our LHT's they work great and look really cool too. If his stock fenders aren't wide enough he can build you a set to your liking.

I am a fan of the cascadias, but my lht is a 26". I wasn't a fan of the logo but some sanding and a can of rustoleum hammered fixed that.

Can anyone tell me the difference between the Chromoplastics and Bluemels? I have yet to see a pair of the latter. Looks like a different attachment at the eyelet on the fork and different size ranges. The Bluemels have a 700c model that accommodates up to a 47mm tire which is appealing.

I wouldn't go with the largest ones, they make some for very wide tires. Just get standard ones for 35 mm (unless, obviously you are going to mount 50mm tires regularly) for offroad. When I made my Bamboo fenders. They were only slightly transverse curved, and the dirt pattern was mostly right down the center half inch. Really made me wonder why they need to be wide or contoured. Even if you get wide ones I found on my touring bike that it was difficult to get they high enough to deal with mud on 35s, wider wouldn't have helped with that.

I use planet bike fenders they are 60mm on my 09 LHT they came in olive green to match my bike.About 35.00