No room for fenders... improvise?
 

Hi all. I would love to own a Soma Smoothie ES, Surly Pacer or similar road bike with room for at least 28s and fenders, but I'm not too crazy about building another bike at the moment. My road bike barely has room for Michelin 28s and I would like to mount fenders. I was thinking that I could possibly make this work with a little modification to the fenders. This is what I came up with:

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...fenderslol.jpg

It probably wouldn't be the classiest way to mount them, but could would this be effective at keeping dirt/water off of my back and legs? Would it matter not having the little bit of fender hanging over in front of the front brake caliper? Please chime in with your thoughts.

ps - I've been called a hack by more than one person. :lol:

Some cardboard, duct tape, plastic milk jugs, a wire hanger and some zip ties are all you need.

Reacharounds: I don't know if they still sell them or not but it may give you some ideas

These are available as a set:

http://www.zefal.com/zefal/produit.php?key=237501

http://www.zefal.com/zefal/produit.php?key=247001

What? I have planet bike fenders on my Soma, with a rack, but I also have skinnier tires. Yes, it is a tighter fit. My front fender is installed a little further back like on your picture. I had a worse time with my Gary Fisher.

Don't forget when you turn your wheel, you loose protection!

How long do you have your wheel turned?

In practical terms these things work pretty well, if not as well as full fenders.

We never had such a fun name for them, but here in Eugene we did a very similar thing. We used rack mounting brackets. (the pictures in the link are very good) Sometimes just cutting the fender and zip-tying the pieces in place. Also, PB's Freddy Fenders use zip-ties to mount a bracket to the chain stays. Looks pretty effective. I'm sure you'll be successful.

Gotta have full fenders front and back, huh? I just use a clip-on on the back, there's still some spray but it's not too bad.

Have you looked at the SKS raceblades?

http://www.rei.com/product/718392

or Planet Bike EZ fenders?

http://www.rei.com/product/723111

Sure, they're not full fenders, but they work pretty good. for a road bike

I have a downtube fender I've used for my mountain bike. It was good for keeping mud out of my face, but that's it. I think full coverage on the rear wheel would be great because when going through sand, the rear wheel throws a lot of it onto my legs and into my shoes which is very annoying.

The "reacharounds" (tee hee) look awesome and is pretty much what I'm aiming for. I'm pretty sure I can make something like that and make it look good. Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

May I be the first to suggest:

I don't think you'll get a fender btwn that front tire and frame without it bzzzzzzzing against the tire every time you hit a bump.

OK fender masters, prove me wrong. :)

EDIT: BTW, that's a pretty bike.

Here's how it turned out:

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...0/DSCF4462.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...0/DSCF4463.jpg

I went with Planet Bike Cascadia Road fenders. I could have done a better job, but I guess it could have turned out worse. I may re make some brackets one day. I just made these in a few minutes. I'm still fine tuning the fit, but so far, so good.

Good work.

Yeah, looks good. BTW, I wouldn't hesitate to use 23mm tires if that were what it takes to fit fenders.

A hint you may be able to use...

For some time I've used pop bottle plastic as fender extentions. It seems to me that if you cut and fitted a little length that fits between the two rear parts INSIDE the caliper arch and on the inner side of the fenders it would help to divert the watter and mud hitting the slip joints in the caliper. If the plastic is only attached to the back part or even if it's attached along the center line to both parts it'll easily flex with the caliper movement and with some careful sizing and trimming it won't flex into the tire.

If you find that it works out as I suspect it would then do the same at the front and add on the front extension. I know even from running a fender that didn't have much forward extension on the front that a helluva rooster tail flies up and then back into my face if I go too fast. I've since put on a proper fender with more front reach to avoid this.

Anyway, good on you for the ingenuity shown in all the adapting.