question – how many hamfisted, spannerphobic STWers does it take…

To fit a set of SKS mudguards..?

Answer – piss off I’m going to the pub

A truly frustrating task… if it helps, ignore the instructions – the logical order is not the same as the order they suggest when it comes to trimming the struts and fitting the little end caps.

I quite like fitting mudguards, the fettling is what makes it satisfying.

Awww.. shit, you’ve just reminded me that that’s my evening plans.

lol, the first set I fitted took me about 3 hours I think. Second time was a lot quicker!

Worth it though. They’re rock solid once on and work really well if fitted nice and close.

I’ll raise you fitting any mudguards to a cotic roadrat (1st gen, cant comment on the newer ones)

For a bike of it’s type you would think it would be possible to fit guards without resorting to quite so much bodging

“I’ll raise you fitting any mudguards to a cotic roadrat (1st gen, cant comment on the newer ones)

For a bike of it’s type you would think it would be possible to fit guards without resorting to quite so much bodging”

huh ? twas easy – much easier than my partners genisis dayone infact.

do you have a newer roadrat or one of the original ones? if you have an original one please tell me the brand of guards you used and send photos 🙂

Horrible, horrible job. First time it took me 2 hours, lots of bodging and lots of swearing. Second time I paid the LBS to do it, the look at the mechanics face suggested he was chuffed at being given that task.

which part are you struggling with tim ?

im using SKS chromoplastic wides – 45s.

mines not the latest revised frame its the older short head tube one in long.

Try the Bontrager NCS guards instead. No cutting required 😆

at a guess is it getting round the caliper to the hole tim ?

thats my solution – on the Dayone.

the front is fine

But the rear – there is no chainstay brace to connect the bottom of the guard to – I ended up bodging something together using zip ties
And there is no “proper” place to attach the guard around the seatstays – the guard ends up miles away from the wheel which is not satisfying

I also have the SKS guards

I could be missing something obvious and fundamental – but I can’t see what

EDIT – I’m using Vs so no issues with calipers/ holes

oh that must be a REAAAALLLY old one.

mines has both of those things – albe it looking like they were tacked on as an afterthought…. thatll be why its easy.

i thought we were just on mk2 roadrats atm – must be mk3 then.

yeah – mine is one of the old old original ones. Guess I’ll just continue with my rattly bodgy guards

this may make me a soft-handed mincer but after i blunted the first hacksaw blade i saw which way the wind was blowing, paid 25 quid to the LBS and sat back for the afternoon. 25 quid very well spent i feel.

living in a tiny 1 bed flat with no garden does dent the chances for getting any decent bike maintenance on the go, however…

tin snips are your friend if you dont have a dremel

I found fitting them a lot easier than trying to get the snapped bolt out of the fork.

(its still there and now have a broken alenkey bit stuck in the bolt as well)

Pfff, SKS Commuters are, at least from my experience fitting hundreds of the things, the easiest guards to fit. I’m about to get a set for my new bike.

Tortecs are awful. Bolt cutters, faff, a million bits. Yuck. They were such a pain to fit that we would actively steer customers to the cheaper SKS ones.

I fitted some new bigger tyres to my tourer yesterday.
the front one fouled my front guard.
I destroyed the front guard in anger trying to get it to fit.
just ordered 2 pairs of wider mtb guards from wiggle…. 😳

Try the Bontrager NCS guards instead. No cutting required

That is a neat solution. Of course the downside is it makes your bike look like you’ve got spokey-dokeys!

Pfff, SKS Commuters are, at least from my experience fitting hundreds of the things, the easiest guards to fit.

I’m guessing most people are talking about the SKS Chromoplastic guards. I’d not heard of the Commuters before. Are they new? They certainly do look easier to fit (though not as nice looking).

It might be a bit extreme, but maybe a rivnut into the back of the seat tube ? Either to bolt the mudguard straight onto, or to hold a spacer bracket for the mudguard.

1st time you do it it’s a pain, but years of practise gets it down to < 30mins as long as the bike isn’t a really awkward one*.

*it makes all the difference, if you have callipers in funny places or weird racks or other paraphernalia to work around it can be a heck of a bodgefest!

last time I needed to fit mudguards I got the shop to fit them. The previous two bikes I fitted were both such a ballache I couldn’t face it again. the second one I ended up cutting out a section under the brake bridge and fabricating a bracket to reach over the top of the caliper. You’d have thought a bike that comes with mudguard eyes would also come with sufficient clearance for the mudguards 😡

Or you could have just bent the mudguard stay

anyone know anyone around Nottingham that will be able to drill out a bolt from a carbon fork? (head of bolt snapped off flush)

SKS guards are a piece of piss to fit!*
All you need is something decent to cut the stays with
Quick instructions

1) Remove wheel
2) Bolt guard to fork crown. At the rear you may need to drill it for the seat stay bridge, I use a stanley knife though, twisting it to make a nice neat hole (Takes practice)
3) Fit stays to eyelets, point them at the mudguard fittings, tighten
4) Fit plastic things to guards
5) Hold guard where you want it and mark the stay in the middle of the plastic thing, or thereabouts
6) Snip
7) Bolt stays on, uppermost first.
8 ) Adjust mudguard by sliding up/down on stay to get it central to tyre
9) DONE.

😀

*LBS mechanic, I fit loads, practice makes perfect!

Even SKS Chromoplastics I don’t remember being that bad, but the Commuters are an absolute doddle. They’ve been around for a few years and are a neater solution than the Bontys above.

MrNice- should you ever need them in the future some guards come with a break in the guard itself and a thin piece of metal holding the plastic parts together to go under the brake where there is insufficient clearance.

some guards come with a break in the guard itself and a thin piece of metal holding the plastic parts together to go under the brake where there is insufficient clearance

SKS Race Blades are like this and fit *most* tight clearance frames.

But the rear – there is no chainstay brace to connect the bottom of the guard to – I ended up bodging something together using zip ties

Untitled by PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

Untitled by PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

Untitled by PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

Untitled by PeterPoddy[/url], on Flickr

It’s lasted 3-4 years so far
🙂

sks raceblades go in my room 101 …. hateful things. never a winter ride goes by without “i need to stop and adjust my mudguard” from behind.

giant defy guards are REAL mudguards with the thin metal under the brake.

PeterPoddy – Member

SKS guards are a piece of piss to fit!*
All you need is something decent to cut the stays with
Quick instructions

1) Remove wheel
2) Bolt guard to fork crown. At the rear you may need to drill it for the seat stay bridge, I use a stanley knife though, twisting it to make a nice neat hole (Takes practice)
3) Fit stays to eyelets, point them at the mudguard fittings, tighten
4) Fit plastic things to guards
5) Hold guard where you want it and mark the stay in the middle of the plastic thing, or thereabouts
6) Snip
7) Bolt stays on, uppermost first.
8 ) Adjust mudguard by sliding up/down on stay to get it central to tyre
9) DONE.

*LBS mechanic, I fit loads, practice makes perfect!

and what if you have discs? or want to run a wider tyre?

you need mudguards that fit your tire…..SKS are sized to the tire they are PXX – where the XX is a number that refers to the max tire width.

as for disks – see my special order* stay above – they are designed to go round disk calipers neatly.

*ill sell them for 10 pounds each 😉

Fitted the mudguards on the commuter a couple of weeks ago, after last years fun I decided on a bit of tactical modification:

Trimming the front guard with my dremel in a few key areas to prevent rubbing and to do away with half the fixings and brackets in favour of zip-ties, so a bit more faff this time round modifying them, but next winter they will be a total piece of piss to fit…

That is an excellent solution PP – where did those metal bits come from?

The metal bit is a rack stay

and what if you have discs? or want to run a wider tyre?

Get yer thinking cap on!
Sometimes the stays can be mounted to the disc bolt, sometimes a long bolt spaced out with some presta valve nuts can get the stay round the calliper, sometimes you need to bend the stay. It’s not too difficult.

If you’re changing your tyres for wider ones you’ll probably need wider guards. Nothing anyone can do about that, is there? 🙂

I can fit the damned things to just about anything…. I must have done well in excess of 60, 70, dunno, maybe more sets now

It’s like disc brake specific racks: Most disc braked bikes don’t actually need them!

A timely topic; just in from the garage having fitted 45mm wide SKS mudguards to the CAADX. The Dremel did see lots of action to trim the stays to length… trickiest part was getting the nuts on the bolts that go on the stays!

Normally used to connect a rack to the seatstays.

agreed PP

most disk specific racks are just a standard rack splayed a bit with the “spacers” adapted into the bottom of the stay and supplied with longer washers +20quid for the privaledge . again see my photo above for fitting a non disk rack to a disk bike.

although a little known fact is that a tortec adventure disk rack will fit over a 3.8 surly nate and 165mm drop outs without any modds at all – a much cheaper fat bike option !