GuyWood

Funnily enough, I fitted a set last night with the new round plastic bits and it took me ages to workout that they're just end caps. You fit all the metal work first until the fender's mounted and then slip one of these over the end of each rod and push the round bit down onto the nuts. They are a bugger to fit so unless you've filed the rough edges off you'll probably struggle. I trimmed the rods with an angle grinder cutting disc so mine were fairly neat.

frankenmike 

My first set of sks(bike was stolen) had just the basic plastic caps that fall off. My next set has the t-style caps, pretty slick but take time. If I ever get another set, I'll forego the caps altogether- they aren't necessary and serve no logical function if you dome the ends with a file.

rumrunn6

yeah plus a box of fender hardware & grinder

dsbrantjr

I use an abrasive disc on a Dremel tool; avoids the flying projectiles a bolt cutter creates. You can also use the side of the disc (gently!) to break the remaining sharp edge, which a bolt cutter also leaves.

dsbrantjr

Especially for items like fenders it is impossible for the manufacturer to anticipate every possible scenario, so needing to have (or obtain) or fabricate additional bits is not unexpected. The ability to improvise is one thing which sets the craftsman apart from the assembler.

rumrunn6

roger that. wish I had some nice thin bar stock. I tend to keep bits of narrow steel. hardware store usually also has copper. but fender L brackets for example seem to lend themselves to another material. kind of a head scratcher

PatrickGSR94

Yeah I watched that RivBike video several times before even ordering these fenders. I started the cut on each stay with a Dremel with a diamond blade disc in it, but that actually didn't work too well. So I finished with a hacksaw, which actually went faster than the Dremel. I don't have any bolt cutters. However I did forget to grind the ends into a dome shape on my bench grinder. Maybe I'll use the reinforced cutting wheel for the Dremel to do that, since I don't really want to take them all apart again.

I actually haven't even started fitting or cutting anything on the front fender. I need to add an extension piece to attach to the the fork crown bolt hole, and last night I felt like poo so didn't mess with it.

I still might end up cutting off the little circle part of the caps and using a dab of glue to hold it onto the stay.

AlexCyclistRoch

I use a cutting disk on my Dremel.

Andy_K 

Same.

It had been a while since I cut stays this way (and they were Planet Bike stays when I did), but my recent experience with the SKS stays was that they were a lot harder to cut with a Dremel than I remembered. It did cut them though. Maybe I picked the wrong disk. I grabbed it from an off-brand box of assorted attachment bits and I have no idea what its intended use was.

FWIW, I just picked up another set of Longboards today and they had the loop tabs on the caps like in the OP. The other ones I installed recently with the T tabs were a color that I believe has been discontinued so even though I only bought them 6 months ago they may have been older than that.

richart

Round vinyl caps work great on fender stays and they are cheap. About four bucks for 100 at an industrial supply such as McMaster-Carr. Order a size for a snug fit, soak in some warm water and slide them on, when they cool off they will be a tight fit.

ModeratedUser17082018

Thanks for posting this. I didn't realize the SKS plastic caps were just to cover the pointy end. These look perfect.

Makes me wonder why SKS doesn't just supply such a simple and inexpensive item instead of all the design and manufacturing needed for the "clever" end caps. Not to mention the user aggravation.

I'm in the planning (and saving) stages for SKS Longboards, so this is great info.

AdvXtrm

I checked the local hardware store, and they have these, but they are way too big. I'll keep checking around.

rm -rf

Those generic push-on caps could easily fall off again (I'd try gluing them on). The T-shaped SKS ends were kind of a pain to install: I had to mount the fenders on the bike, adjust the fender spacing above the tire, then mark the stays for a cut. Then remove the stays, cut them (with a hacksaw in a vise), install the caps, then reinstall the stays. The newer circle design looks like they can pop onto the nut without removing the stays from the fenders.

I really like my Portland Design Works fenders. They are ridiculously expensive, but work great. Only one stay per wheel, and no caps needed. I see they have new, less expensive, plastic fenders now (with two stays on the rear fender).

Andrew R Stewart 

And people wonder why shops charge what they do to install fenders. On some there's a lot of steps to be dealt with. Not any one is hard or requires an expensive tool. Just a lot of back and forth. Time consuming, and that's what is charged for. Shops that low ball fender installs also often short cut the process to a negative result. Andy

shkimjohn

I'm having the same issue with needing an extension. Right now the fender slightly rubs on the bottom of the noodle of my mini-v brakes because the crown bolt hole isn't low enough. For now it doesn't seem to interfere with the braking much so I'm going to assemble them and see if an extension really is needed.

fietsbob

I just file the cut end of the strut smooth, those plastic CSPC required safety thing?

were never in the kit 20 & 30 years ago.

PatrickGSR94

I ended up not even installing the stay caps at all. The stays are just bare. No big deal.

lost_in_endicot

I couldn't get those suckers on. I cut the loops off, and just glued the plastic ends on over the end of the stays.

I used a Dremel tool with a cut off wheel to trim the stays. Then I used a grinding wheel to clean them up.

I'll bet there's an engineer at SKS that loves seeing threads like this!

lost_in_endicot

I actually used my 3D printer to make a spacer for between the rear fender and the bike frame(about where the kick stand would go). Only took about 15 minutes to draw it in CAD and print it.

rumrunn6

well done! you can sell it to JunkYardBike's chainstay bridge

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...on-thread.html

lost_in_endicot

Hmm... maybe I can start my own business...

rileywalker

I found eyelet bolts and end caps on amazon a bit prices but arrived quickly. Would post link but can't.

bike_galpal

well that was a bit of a necro thread.

but reading through this.... isn't it just baffling that you take bottom brackets.... sure there are a dozen standards, but none of them work TERRIBLY, and they all use similar tools and same basic installation methods.....

fenders??? good luck on that!!! an extremely basic and straighforward application, that doesn't even need to have a ton of structural integrity? might as well think of 1000 of the most convoluted ways to do it. right? anyone else seeing this? jeez

djb

sks revisited indeed.
I put a pair on a touring bike last year and while I had to take my time to get it sorted out properly before cutting the stays, the overall quality of sks fenders and hardware has held up very well on my bike that I used to bike through Central America.

I have used planet bike fenders on other bikes and they work fine, but sks does seem to be of a higher quality, but yes, their system does have a certain pita aspect--but, I expect these fenders to last as long as my 1990 sks fenders that are still going strong.

and yes, that Rivendale video is very well done, I found it when I was looking up hints for mounting mine.

Glennfordx4

I have used clear Fuel line/Tubing on the ends for years, a good tight fit using soap & water or a silicone spray, but as I was reading I just happened to look over at one of my RC cars and noticed that a antenna cap would probably work ( they look like the caps you posted )

Glenn