stringbreaker

Anyone have experience with the SKS fenders? I have the Planet Bike Cascadias on another bike. they were a real chore to get lined up right just wondering if the SKS numbers were any better. Looks like the front one has only one brace and might be kinda wobbly.

noglider 

A front fender only needs one.

On my LBS's recommendation, I recently bought the SKS. He says they're the best. It has two strips of aluminum running along each fender, and you can use them as wires. Connect wires at one end to the battery. Connect another pair at the other end to the light. Nifty, huh?

I doubt one brand is easier to set up than another. They all take some time to get right.

Aeneas

Have both... prefer the SKS. I have 2 sets of PB fenders and both seemed to adopt some sort of bend or curve before they came to me, maybe in shipping or maybe they were made that way, dunno, but no amount of refinement/ adjustment seems to straighten them out completely. SKS were slightly easier to install, straight and true.
At least that's my experience.

electrik

Do the sks have a breakaway tab?

noglider 

Yes, on the front fender.

kludgefudge

No experience with SKS but they have a pretty good rep. In my experience with the PB type yeah, they are prone to warping. its annoying. But they're cheaper than SKS. If you have the money I would say go for the SKS, but If you can't swing it the planet bikes will work just fine.

imi

I've had two sets of fenders with breakaway tabs in the last few years and the tabs broke on both of them (one was SKS, the other I'm not sure about)... Now I've found some "old school" fenders and am doing fine (just my experience... anyone else? or was I just unlucky?)

sstorkel

I have both SKS and Planet Bike fenders. SKS install seemed a bit more fiddly for me than PB, but they're pretty similar. Both brands are pretty chintzy as far as I can tell...

mkeller234

I also have both Planet Bike and SKS fenders. Like others have said, I think the SKS are a notch above in quality. Last year my SKS rear fender got tangled up with a loose shoulder strap, the fender was pulled past a 90 degree bend and locked up the rear wheel. After untangling the fender it swung right back into place with no signs of damage aside from a stretch mark.

Yan 

I too have the warping issue on both my sets of Planet Bike fenders, especially on the front fenders. I wish SKS made fenders with large mudflaps like the PB Cascadias.

noglider 

I'm sure a mudflap is easy and cheap to make. You could even use a plastic milk jug.

I was just looking at another thread about fenders where there were gorgeous be-fendered bikes. And now I lost it. Where is it? I shot my Cross Check with its new fenders.

ItsJustMe

I had SKS and when I broke those (a stick blew into my rear spokes in a windstorm) I bought Planet Bike hardcores. Honestly, I can't tell the difference between them. The SKS had metal inside them but it didn't stop them from breaking anyway, so I'd just as soon buy the PBs.

On the front I use a home made mudflap, costs about $2 to make. The only fenders I've seen that have sufficient mud flaps out of the box cost about $80, so I just do them myself.

dwilbur3

I thought the SKS setup was a pain, and I kept losing those proprietary nuts that hold the front fender on. I prefer Planet Bike.

The SKS fenders do look very sharp tho.

duckweed

I've used both SKS and PB fenders and also had warping issues with the front PB fender, not so much problem with the SKS ones. Material-wise, SKS is more rigid than the PB with less flex.

Arcanum

I have a set of SKS Chromoplastic fenders. They're pretty nice, but didn't come with mudflaps. I have a set of PlanetBike Cascadia flaps on order that I'm hoping can be retrofitted onto the SKS fenders.

noglider 

Here is my Cross Check with SKS chromoplastic. Bad picture. Sorry. And the front one isn't on parallel, but it's good enough for me.

Doohickie

I have SKS with the breakaway tab on front. I was doing some tight maneuvering a while back and my toe pushed the fender into the tire, the tire grabbed it and sucked in and folded the fender in on itself. The breakway tabs did their job; the stays popped out of them and nothing broke. The plastic fender got kinked but I straightened it out as best I could and it's been find ever since, just slightly gnarly looking but nothing you notice from more than three feet away.

Funny thing is that I didn't know why there was a little plastic piece to attache the front fender stay until that day when the stays popped out of it.

This picture is with the fender kinked; you can't realy tell where it's messed up.

EKW in DC

Only have one bike, and I'm on my first set of fenders, but they're PB Cascadias, and I love 'em! Haven't had any traumatic experiences w/ them yet. The install was pretty easy, I thought, and they've stayed straight ever since. Installed the fenders and a rear rack (first time doing either task) in about 45 minutes back in January... though I suppose YMMV on all counts.

labrat

I have SKS on one bike and Planet Bike on two. Odd thing is that I have had a warp in the SKS and not the PB as others have reported. Both were similar in mounting and performance with the edge to SKS for the breakaway tab. One thing no one has mentioned yet it the PB philosophy that they would rather have you rebuild than replace their stuff so they offer reasonably priced replacement parts with free shipping on replacement parts.

ItsJustMe

Planet Bike Hardcore is absolutely identical to the SKS, "proprietary" nuts and all. In fact I reused some of the hardware when I switched from the broken SKS. Other than the logo I'd have a hard time telling them apart.

I actually still have the SKS on the front, because the PB looks identical and the front wasn't broken, so I just threw the PB front fender on the parts shelf for later.

rumrunn6

I think I have both and I know 1 was more of a hassle to install. They are both fine to use though, just the install was a bit more finicky on one of them.

chaadster

Planet Bike "Hardcore" gets the nod...because they come in yellow!

Arcanum

Update: You can retrofit PlanetBike Cascadia flaps to SKS Chromoplastic fenders. A little cutting on the flap is required for the front to go on past the lower fender strut, but other than that it was easy and looks good. Should be effective too, but I won't know for sure for a few days.

JanMM

SKS on our tandem.
PB Hardcore on a couple of recumbents, which always require more creative fiddling to get fenders to work. I've gotten used to the PB stays and hardware for stays. Different than SKS.

tsl

Nice Blunts!

Back on-topic: I have both SKS and PB Cascadias. They both work just fine. No problems with either one. They just have different looks is all.