You Must "Re-Fender" This...
 

I had a just enough time left this weekend to re mount the front fender on my new bike (and make a bad pun). I had bought SKS Longboards and mounting the front was tough due to tight tire clearances, and because of my first fender mount with disc brakes, AND my misinterpretation of the instructions.

During the first installation, I ran into the problem of the front disc brake caliper being in the way of the left support struts. I have since learned from this site that many people use a spacer to move the mounting point outward an inch. My initial solution was to bend the supports in an "s" shape. This still didn't put the "breakaway" strut mount at the hub in the right orientation, causing it to alow the struts to pop out. I then used a 1 inch plastic "mending plate" from an old tail-light mount to move the mounting point downward. this allowed the support struts to clear the bottom of the disc brake caliber, but they had been bent into "esses" and I think that allowed for some funky vibrations while riding.

With the new support struts, I was able to keep them straight, but used my "downward" offset which kept the supports closer to the spokes, and not 'bowed out' like an outward spacer would do. One, I feel my solution looks better, and two, I still didn't have an outward spacer and didn't want to fgure out the bolt and spacer sizing at the hardware store.

I had put the nuts on backwards/inside out since that seemed to be easier, but it also precluded the secure fastening of the guide support struts to the fenders even though the bolts were tightened. (The nuts must be put on like 'hats'. I had put them on like 'funnels' since that made it easier to begin threading them on the bolts. But that will not allow sufficient tightening of the support struts to the fenders, allowing the fenders to move. This also allowed one of the nuts to loosen and pop off during a commute home, which caused the fender to be pulled onto the wheel. I had to improvise to get enough clearance to ride home.

Also originally I had 'eyeballed' the length of the fender support struts and ended cutting some too short, and some too long. This time I mounted the fenders first, and adjusted them (without the black end-caps/guides). Then I marked the support struts where they lined up with the rim of the fender, and cut them to length there. The end caps allow for about 3/4" of variation in length. This was a little difficult, since when uncut at full length the support struts stick out past the downtube. making steering the wheel impossible. I performed the pre-fitting with the wheel pointed off center. I then disassemble the fenders, cut to length with a mitre box and hand saw and re-assmbled.

Ba-Bam! They fit, and with one slight adjustment they allowed the wheel to spin free!

Thank you to Rivendell Bikes. I had searched online for just the SKS fender supports, and nuts and bolts, but couldn't find them even on the SKS site. SKS and others may offer it, but the Rivendell site came up first, and the set included the supports, nuts & bolts and plastic mount caps/guides enough for two fenders for $12 plus $12 for shipping and tax, etc.

I'm sharing this to help others who may encounter the same challenge, and to avoid my initial mistakes.
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