Front fenders on a cyclocross bike w/ canti brakes?
 

Anyone have experience with the best way to put a fender on the front of a cyclocross bike with cantilever brakes?

Are my only options to install a small one on the down tube going towards the back of the wheel, and/or try and squeeze one under the brake cables?

I didn't see any previous threads on this topic, and don't see any obvious solutions out there other than the Planet Bike cyclocross fenders, which look like they include the short, rear-facing front fender.

How do others deal with this question?

You can get one under the straddle wire with no problem.

Touring bikes often have cantilever brakes and fenders.

There is typically more clearance with the cantilever wire than other kinds of brakes.

SKS P35 Fenders.

I have them on my Surly Cross-Check.

I have fenders on my Surly Cross Check, easy as can be, racks too or I take them off as it suits me.

Unless there is some special racing no-clearance cantilevers I'm not aware of, you should be able to fit the fenders over the brakes and under the wire.

Sometimes the problem is that the fork crown is much higher than the wheel, so using the normal top mount for a front fender can makes it interfere with the brake cable or straddle wire. If this is the case, you should figure out a way to mount the top of the fender lower down, closer to the top of the tire. Exactly how you achieve this will depend on the fender and fork, but could involve a flat metal extension to the upper fender mount, some plumbers strapping making an extra bridge between the fork legs, or just some cable ties.

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll see what I can do with getting a fender under the wires. The fork crown is well above where the wires come together on my set up, so it may require some creativity.

I have a 2 part solution for it on my brevet bike; a Surly Cross-Check.

1) Wide Profile Cantis. You need a big-ass straddle wire with brakes like the CR720, so the hanger is well above the intersection of my fender.

2) Mount Extender. There's clearance for 45mm tires in that fork of mine, and I'm only running 32's. That's a lot of gap to cover with a stock mount. My SKS P-45 fenders came up short by almost 2cm. The eyelet hanger bolt included with my VO Stainless fenders was even worse, increasing the gap to nearly 3.25cm. I drilled out the rivets on my SKS fender mount, riveted the mount onto the VO Stainless fenders, and affixed a strip-steel extender to bring the fender line close to the tire.