procainestart

I am trying to restore an early-80s Bluemels front fender on which the lower, white, flexible mud guard has given up the ghost. The front fender on the bike shown below (not mine) has a similar (the same??) piece:



I'm not up on my plastics -- anyone know what material this is (PVC??), or where I might find a suitable replacement? Similar is good and must be white; identical/actually Bluemels not necessary.

Thanks.

non-fixie 

Subscribing. These mudflaps always seem to be torn, distorted or completely missing on every pair of Bluemels I find. Whatever the original material was, it wasn't meant to make mudflaps out of.

Michael Angelo 

I guess If I ever wanted to build a Single Speed that would be it. Nice bike.

gomango

I so agree.

Gives me inspiration for my Gazelle project.

Bandera

Agree w/ non-f,

The mudflap on my 70's era Blumels front was flexy/flappy/floppy and either curled uselessly or rubbed on the tire, it was excised in it's 1st season. To make a replacement one could trim a white plastic bottle to shape & silicone & rivet it in place, or just ride w/o one.

edit: The original material was a plastic (PVC?) similar to the heft and pliability of a white inner shower curtain liner.

-Bandera

southpawboston

Great bike! As others above have mentioned, if I were to build up a single speed/fixed, this is largely how I would imagine it!

As for a suitable substitute for the Bluemels flap, one thing that comes to mind is the thin white (among other colors) vinyl that you find on three-ring binders. The binder covers are usually a stiff cardboard-type material with vinyl stretched over and then heat fused at the ends. You could cut out close to an 8.5x11" rectangle of vinyl from one cover, and use that to create a template of the original. One binder could yield four templates, from the front and back of each cover.

I'm not sure if the vinyl binder cover is thick enough to retain its shape; I'm guessing it's thinner than the Bluemels plastic, but maybe it's worth a shot?

Seeing this thread actually makes me regret ripping off the original white flap on a set of black Bluemels I have on my Mercian. That flap, like yours, had bitten the dust and instead of trying to create a replica replacement, I drilled the fender and attached a modern Planet Bike flap. Now I'm thinking maybe I should remove it and fabricate a replica of the original...

AZORCH

I've got a pair of NOS Bluemel's Lightweights hanging on the wall at the moment. I've been saving them for the "right" British build. Do you need a pattern for cutting the material? Let me know - I could probably trace it off the mudflap easily enough (after the holiday, of course.) I'm with everyone else so far, by the way - the mudflap material is really floppy: I can't see how it would be of much use.

krtchp19

I actually would not mind a pattern of the bluebells mud flap and of the metal piece as well, I have a pair of NOS Bluemels popular also hanging up that I'm going to put on my build.

Grand Bois

I think they're crappy looking so I cut them off and throw them away. My fenders are just for looks anyway. I'm a fair weather rider.

AZORCH

I have the pattern somewhere or other, but I don't like the material Bluemels used. I've tried various other materials - leather (too flimsy, as it turned) and various thicknesses of plastic. This latter is what has worked the best for me. My son-in-law works at Lowe's and had some packing stuff that came in a thickness about like a milk container, but in opaque black. It works great for this purpose, and looks good too - but it's hit or miss finding it.

noglider 

Some people have cut up milk jugs for mud flaps. You could use leather, too.

m_sasso

White plastic bleach bottle cut up, thin, light, flexible, clean, easily replaced, correct shape.

krtchp19

I will play around with different materials, there are a couple large hardware stores in my area. It would be nice to use the original pattern as I like the look of it. I'm doing the same thing with the Mud flap on my 64 RSW, the material on the original mud flap feels really flimsy like cardboard but the pattern is cool.

Velognome 

Nice idea, slightly thicker than the original, so as long as it doesn't distort the fender

jimmuller 

If it isn't torn, just distorted, hit it with a hair blow dryer. It will soften enough that you can reshape it. Well, do really hit it, just heat it up.

nlerner

https://www.phred.org/~alex/bikes/fendermudflap.html