Better fenders for the LHT
 

I have a pair of plastic fenders for the LHT (dunno the brand), and find them to be quite useless - they are floppy and I have a lot of rub on the rear wheel.

Anyone know of a good pair of fenders that are easy to install and easy to maintain, and which will not keep flopping around and rubbing against the wheel?

Thanks!

My wife runs with a set of plastic fenders from Planet Bike that she likes, and seem solid enough for her. Don't know the particular model however.

These from SKS seem like winners to me as well...http://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=p...0438&LONGBOARD

I use SKS fenders for my Masi Speciale Commuter and they work pretty well but the front could be longer. The don't rub on the tires or flex at all. If I was to do it all over again I would buy Honjo hammered finished fenders. If I couldn't buy those, then the VO copies look good.

Yeah these look great, extra long, but only in 40s I believe... at rivbike. Honjos are too expensive. Heard good things about VO. How about some bamboo ones?

I was looking at the VO branded ones, myself. They look real nice and would go well with the green LHT :)

As for SKS, I am not sure if the ones I have are SKS or not - I should try to see. Is it normal for plastic fenders to be so damn floppy??

I'm halfway to going Berthoud on all of my bikes. They are a bit of a pain to install, but after the planet bike fender on my commuter exploded for no reason that I'm aware of, I decided that there is no economy in cheap fenders.

I got Planet Bikes on my CC. The front fender will rattle once in a while but despite my best efforts to knock them off they work well. I would not want to off-road with metal fenders as they will likely be ruined quickly.

If you want the style of the Berthoud but not the price-tag, get the Velo-Orange fenders. I've got a pair of the 42mm smooth stainless VOs on my distance bike. They're the same pain to mount as any metal fender, and just as rock solid once installed. Worth every penny.

Haven't had an issue with my SKS Chromoplastics

Do yourself a favor and get a mudflap for the front. Keeps much more rain off your shoes and the first thing anyone will comment on with your bike will be the mudflap!

Thanks - I was thinking of getting the VO metal fenders simply cos I think they'll look great with the Surly, but this talk about them being a pain to mount has me concerned. How much of a pain?

I use the Surly primarily for trips, and these usually involve flights, so I have to take them off, put them on, rinse and repeat, quite often. Will it make me want to pull my hair out in frustration?

LHT + SKS chromoplastic FTW!

http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x...album/all2.jpg

Another vote for the SKS Chromoplastics. I have them on my Surly LHT ... not exactly stylish but.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=214579

Regards
Andrew

Chromoplastics are going on today. I got them from a bike I flipped and they are perfect for 700x28 for commuting but wont be too good for wider. Look nice but will be adding reflective tape to them for the dark mornings coming up.

Fenders
 

Hi Who sells mudflaps for fenders? How do they attach? How well do they stay on? what are the best models?
Thanks,
Neil

The link in your quote shows SKS mud flaps as the first item, though Rivendell may switch those ads around. My Planet Bike Cascadias came with mud flaps attached.

I've had mixed results with plastic fenders. The SKS P-series (chromoplastic) are the sturdiest I've used. The Planet Bike Cascadias are nice, but the added weight of the front mudflap can cause some wobble, but it is within reason IMO. I've tried some others that were pretty wobbly.

Hard to go wrong with the Honjo or VO fenders. Installation is a little more involved, but is still not too bad if you're mechanically adept.

White Rain made my mudflaps. Cut down shampoo bottle, riveted on to the bottom of the SKS Chromoplastics. They aren't pretty, except in the rain. I'm going to replace them with something fancier when they finally break or fall off, but it's been about 12 years so far.

Wallbike has some fancy Brooks leather mudflaps, if you want to spend money.

If you have to take fenders on/off repeatedly then you may want to stick with a pair of RaceBlade or SpeedEZ type fenders that just clip on and off with straps to the stays. Or invest in having S&S couplers installed so you can break your frame down without having to disassemble the fenders.

Steel fenders upon initial installation involve having to mark and drill things, so that's the big issue. Now, the VOs come pre-drilled at a couple points, but you'll still have to do a little bit of futzing about with a drill for things like the stay mounts, and the rear fender mount at the seat stay if you're bolting to a vertical eyelet on the bridge. I also drilled the front for a rack mount stabilizer bolt to the underside of my VO randonneur rack, to keep the front long edge of the fender from rattling.
The only thing I'd have done differently is to use 2 mounts on the fender itself to run the stays through instead of one; but with just one the fenders are plenty stable. It took me about an hour initially to get them set up.

Hi pdlamb,
Thanks for your suggestion!
Neil

I have SKS fenders, I mounted a Planet Bike mudflap, you can get the flaps here (scholl down to "fender parts" and pick the width you require):
http://ecom1.planetbike.com/smallparts.html

I have SKS fenders and I like them just fine. They do not have mudflaps though. I recently purchased the Planetbike Cascadia for another bike. They have attached mudflaps, they look better and, if you purchase through the company website and belong to a bike advocacy organization, shipping is free.

the aluminum mudguards will need you to up your mechanical skills to install.
so come with the installation difficulty you wish to, it sounds , avoid..

I have several SKS Esge equipped bikes , they work..


one dis advantage: for those not in the tropics,
The metal ones won't be different in sub Zero temperatures.
plastics can be more brittle ..

I love my PB Cascadias. Switched em from my hybrid when I upgraded to LHT and am still quite pleased.

Mud flaps
 

Electra also sells some nice add-on mud flaps.

I had one that worked pretty well, until I managed to kick it into the tire as I was starting off from a light. It ended up getting pretty chewed up, stuck between the fender and the tire.

Another problem I had was getting it to stay centered. I probably should have attached it on the outside of the fender instead of the inside.