mikeybikes

Just got my fender installation on my 2009 Sirrus squared away. The installation was a royal PITA. At least, the rear fender was.

I got a set of SKS "hybrid" fenders from my LBS. I know these are for tires wider than what I have on my bicycle, however I doubt the narrower width of road fenders would have helped at all.

The largest problem was getting the rear fender to mount to the chain stay. The front dérailleur is largely in the way. In order to get it to mount, I ended taking my Dremel rotary tool and cutting a large chunk out of the fenders, totally defeating one purpose of the fenders, to protect the front dérailleur.

After that was done, I had to drill a hole in the middle of the fender so I could get mount it to the seat stay. The little plastic bracket that comes with the fenders for the seat stay doesn't work because the bolt hole is perpendicular to what seems to be the standard bolt hole in the seat stay.

After that, the install went fine.

Oh yeah, the front fender went right on without a hitch.

Anyone who says the Sirrus is great because it accepts fenders... well... they never tried to actually install a set.

(I'll post pictures of my modification once I find my camera...)

Brando_T.

as a Sirrus owner, I'd like to see your pics, please.

mikeybikes

Large hole to be cut:

Could have gotten away with one that wasn't so tall, however, it needed to be as wide to provide room for the FD to pivot.

Needed to drill a hole so it could mount to the seat stay:


Bike with fenders. Yay.

Sirrus Rider

I used Planetbike Cascadias which had a clamp for the fender that had to be ziptied to the frame. Worked Great! My front fender was the PITA as the bolt that came with the fender was way way too short. A trip to Tru Value Hardware solved that as I found a bolt that was just long enough.

mikeybikes

Did you mount it to the chain stay? If so, how did you clear the Front Dérailleur? or was that by some miracle of difference in model years, not a problem?

Sirrus Rider

Mine is the '07 Entry level Sirrus and is the extra small frame (XS 47cm). The front derailer is a snug fit against the fender.



Here is another view which shows the fender all the way down to the chain stay bridge:



Here is a picture of the rear fender brake bridge support:



On the front fender I mounted the support on the back of the fork crown so that I would get an extra inch of coverage.



Lastly, as I mentioned previously I needed a longer bolt to connect the front fender and even with the bolt I used it was a tight fit. So in this last photo if you study it carefully you can see that the just barely in the nylon of the nylock nut.



Hope this helps..

Brando_T.

thanks for the pics guys

Lexcruiser

Hey there.. Quick semi-related question..

Is there enough clearance for a 700x32c tire to fit on a Sirrus? With fender? Without?

Thanks!

b_young

I'm not sure what the "c" is but I have 700 x 37 or 38 on my Sirrus now without fenders. Its tight. I got a Roubaix so I changed the Sirrus from 25's up to the 37 for comfort as a commuter.

mikeybikes

It looks like there should be plenty of room for 700x32's. I'm contemplating 700x32 in the front with the 700x28 or even 700x25 in the rear.

Lexcruiser

Thanks Mike. Whats the reasoning for running the staggered wheel setup (larger in front, smaller in rear)?

mikeybikes

The front will provide a little bit better handling, but more importantly, more shock absorption.

The narrower rear will keep rolling resistance to a minimum.

Sheldon Brown has a great article on tire sizes and covers some of that: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#mixing

dynaryder

I had an '05 Sirrus Sport Disc(ie,it had disc brakes). Freddy Fenders went straight on,no mods.

Just sayin'. Everybody says it's hard to put fenders on disc bikes.

Sirrus Rider

Would've loved Disks, but appearently Specialized dropped the option for cost cutting.

GRedner

I have an '07 Sirrus (IIRC), and I had the shop I bought it from install the fenders - they had to cut a hole to keep it from interfering with the front derailleur. When I get home tonight I'll take photos, if I remember.

Also, 700x32c tires do fit, though I find them a bit tight under the fenders, and have a tendency to mushily jam up when riding in fresh snow. Otherwise, no complaints.

PaulRivers

While I really, really think the Sirrus could use more tire clearance (no one is road racing with this bike, for crying out loud) I've heard several bike shops complain that the problem is the never front deraillers - evidentally the old ones sat to the side of the tube or something, but the never ones sit right behind the tube causing the fender problem.

dynaryder

No clearance probs with my old '05's rear der. Also,I was running PB Hybrid fenders,so I had clearance for 38mm tires. Do the newer models have less clearance?

mikeybikes

Clearance problem is with the front derailleur, not the rear. I'm assuming you mean front.

And not sure what makes the difference between the 2005 and 2009 models. In the 2009 model, the clearance between the front derailleur and the rear tire is slim... as is evidenced by the above photos.

The only difference I can find by looking through the specs is in 2009 they switched to an Altus front derailleur. It probably sits further behind the seat tube then the T301 that's on the older models.