dydst

O.K. -- I'm pretty much set on buying a set of Freddy Fenders.

Are these relatively easy to install? It looks pretty easy, like I just take the wheels off, maybe release the brakes, tighten a couple of screws and voila, they're on.

So, bottom line, are they as easy to put on as I think? Or am I missing something?

daredevil

yep, not much to it assuming you have eyelets. the challenge is getting em tightened down so they don't rattle.

I_bRAD

super simple. You probably don't need to take the wheels off either.

dydst

Thanks, guys:, I REALLY appreciate all of your expertise. I do have one more important question: I just assumed the Freddy Fenders ATB hardcore would fit on my suspension fork; a Nashbar representative just told me that they fenders definitely will NOT fit on my front suspension fork.

Is this really so?

Edit: in fact, I could've SWORN that looking at commuter bike pics here, I've seen fenders on front suspension forks. Am I insane?

crozetiga

I have SKS ATB fenders (from nashbar) on my suspension fork bike (Trek 4300), but I had to do some fabrication to make it work. The rear fenders were easy, there were eyelets and even a threaded hole down by where the kickstand would mount that worked perfectly for mounting the rear fender.

The front fender was a different story. One side was easy because I could bolt the strut to the disc brake mounting points (which I dont use). The other side I had to fabricate a mount because there is no eyelets or mounts. Here is what i did.

I had an extra piece of stainless steel lying around (pretty thin sheet, but think enough to be pretty ridgid once bent- you can buy it at Lowes or Home Depot) I cut a strip about 2-3 inches wide and about 6-8 inches long (i didnt measure this is just a guess) The wider it is the more stable it will be, and the length is arbitrary because you will cut of the excess later.

I bent the piece around the shock tube and bent the 2 ends so they were flush up against each other. If you were to take the piece off the shock tube it would be in the shape of a p, d, or b (depending on its orientation) I put a piece of cut up inner tube under the metal so to not scratch up the shock tube, but it is not necessary.

Then I drilled a hole in the two ends- I tried to line it up with the mounting point on the other side on the disc brake mount. You need to keep the hole close to the shock tube because it will hold the piece tight around the tube and prevent it from slipping. But you it needs to be far enough away that you have clearance to get the mounting bolts and screws on for attaching the strut. If it is not as stable as you want you can drill a couple of more holes in it and put pop rivets or bolts in it to sure it up. If it too loose and is slipping down too easily, try tightening up the bend around the tube or stuff an inner tube under it (if you havent already)

Trim off the excess length on the end of metal so you only have alittle around the hole(s) you just made.

Attach the strut.

For the top mount, SKS included a mount that slides over the fender and allows you to attach it to a point above the fender. I think it is for the rear fender but I didnt need it because I just zipp tied the top of my rear fender to my trunk rack The mount worked perfectly for the front fender when used in conjunction with the mount already on the top of the front fender. I slid the mount onto the front fender so that it was next to the front fenders mount. it was about 1 1/2 inches apart and slide right over the U in the suspension fork. I had to supply my own long screw, because it didnt come with a long enough one. I also wrapped the U with an old inner tube so to not scratch it up too bad.

I did have to trim some length off the ends of the front struts because of contact with my toes, but after that I have had no problems.

I realized about halfway through this, that a picture is worth a thousand words. So I will try to post a picture of the mounts this weekend some time. Hope that helps

Josh

dydst

Dear Crozetiga,

Thanks for the excellantly detailed post. I will study it. give it some thought, and see what happens!

crozetiga

Here are some pics of my mounts:

Cyrus

Thanks for the pictures Croze. Sheet metal will be much easier than what I was going to do. Although I need these mounts for my front rack, but same situation. I have to holes but the geometry doesn't work with the rack. Probably because the hole are for fenders.

In any event; snipping & bending sheet metal is the way to go. Even more durable than some aluminum brackets I was thinking of fabbing.

aMull

I don't think you'll need to take the wheels off, all i did was tighten a few bolts and that was it. The hardest part was aligning them

cyccommute 

You could probably do something similar using nylon p-clamps and zipties since the fenders don't have to bear any weight. But your set up will do. Here's what I did for my mountain bike/commuter

For the front I used an SKS Shockblade and a spray shield mounted on the downtube. This protects the bottom bracket and the front derailer pretty well. It also comes off pretty quickly when I don't need it.





For the rear I used a clip-on but I added a piece from another fender to extend all the way down to the bottom bracket. The rear is mounted over the brake.



The only tool I have to use is an allen wrench under the fork.

The whole thing looks like this (without the splash guard)