Poor fitting front mudguard
 

I fitted my Trek 7100 with SKS mudguards not so long ago, and they’ve been fine ever since, if just a little ill fitting.

I noticed this morning that the back of the front mudguard was rubbing ever so slightly against the tyre. A little manipulation of the mudguard solved the problem. It was only when I got to work that a fellow cyclist mentioned to me that my front mudguard didn’t look exactly right. Looking at it closely I know what he means.

I have about 1.5” of clearance at the front of the mudguard and about 2mm of clearance at the back, where it was touching the tyre. The front mudguard doesn’t follow the circle of the wheel at all. There is a fixed bracket on the top of the mudguard that attaches to an eyelet on the frame, under the brakes, I’m guessing this is what dictates how the guard ‘sits’ around the wheel – so why is it so far out?

It looks a bit funny I must admit, and the clearance shouldn’t be so different back to front, should it?

I had to add a braket to lower the fender.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...Fenders004.jpg

It looks funny but it's not bad in terms of functionality. Most modern bikes are not designed for mudguards and an attractive fenderline for aftermarket fenders, despite them being marketed as commuters, city bikes, hybrids, etc. To improve the fenderline you'll need to be creative with fasteners.

Can you bend the bracket to allow the mudguard to sit lower in front and further away in back of the tire? The mounting brackets I've seen are all pretty thin sheet metal and can be "customized" quite easily.

I'd even go farther and suggest that it's normal to have to fuss about with fenders if you expect a good fit. It sounds like you need to play around with your mounting bracket and stay wires to set up the fender properly. I don't think I've installed a fender yet where it was a "simple bolt on" where nothing needed to be done to fit it to the wheel for a "just right" fit.

I did the same thing. If that is part of a plastic reflector bracket, I did exactly the same thing.

+100. I've also never installed a set that didn't require some fitting and adjusting to get them right.