Customising (bodging) muddies to fit bike with no clearance.

geeteewmb
geeteewmb Posts: 2,221
edited November 2007 in Workshop
What's the chance of me cutting out some of the plastic on these SKS muddies (http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360010679&N=SKS%20Chromoplastic%20Mudguard%20Set) around the brake caliper areas on an Allez so I could fit full muddies front and rear?

The clearance on the 2007 Allez Sport looks do-able on the rear, but tight around the forks.

Appreciate it would require some zip-ties and a bit of thought but I'm thinking they've got to be better than race blades...?

Comments

  • olr1
    olr1 Posts: 2,674
    It's very do-able, just don't tell everyone.

    Front; attach the mudguard to the fork crown using 2 zip-ties running front to back on each fork crown. It may rub a little, it may not. Use PVC tape on the fork legs and attach mudguard stays to the legs. The advantage is that you can adjust things by twisting the zip-tie back or forwards.

    Rear, use the bridge supplied with the mudguard, then use tape and zip-ties on the stays for the mudguard stays.

    I use a piece of rolled up inner tube to take up the space between the 'guard and the seattube, but you may not need to.

    Works very well, you get a bit of rubbing, but it goes away soon...
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  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    Where there's a will, there's a way...! Take a look at my post in this thread.
  • geeteewmb
    geeteewmb Posts: 2,221
    Colin, where did you get the metal brackets that hold each part of the mudguards together? That's ingenious!
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    GeeTeewmb wrote:
    Colin, where did you get the metal brackets that hold each part of the mudguards together? That's ingenious!
    I can't take credit for the idea - I spotted it on a US bike shop website. I search for info on how to fit mudguards (fenders in US-speak) to bikes not designed for them.

    Some of the brackets came with the rack and I scounged some more off a mate who used to work in a bike shop.

    You can get straight brackets like the ones holding the guards on. I bent those into the shapes I wanted using a hammer and assorted bits of wood.

    You can also get brackets with 90 degree twists in like the one holding the rack to the seatpost clamp.

    I'm sure that any decent bike shop could supply you with them.

    NB - take heed of my warning about the danger of a badly-bodged guard jamming your front wheel - you really don't want that to happen so double-check your handiwork and check again before every ride!
  • Blonde
    Blonde Posts: 3,188
    ColinJ wrote:
    NB - take heed of my warning about the danger of a badly-bodged guard jamming your front wheel - you really don't want that to happen so double-check your handiwork and check again before every ride!
    Modern guards are not of the rigid type anyway - mine are very, very flexible plastic (you can twist them into a knot without damage!) so should anything lodge in them, they bend rather than stop the wheel. It's really only if you have metal guards that you need to be concerned about that.

    You can chose whether to use zip ties or P-Clips to attach guards. I have actually found zip ties to be better - Easier to take off and then refit guards when using zip ties rather than P-clips (which tend to rust-on and you've also got a bolt between mud guard and frame to have to tighten and stay tightened). My p-clipped guards were not so secure because the p-clips were too large so not very tightly fitted. When the protective covering came off the clips revealing bare metal underneath, this made them even looser and the guards were always moving about. With zip ties they stayed put better and IMO looked neater and did not mark the frame.
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    Blonde wrote:
    ColinJ wrote:
    NB - take heed of my warning about the danger of a badly-bodged guard jamming your front wheel - you really don't want that to happen so double-check your handiwork and check again before every ride!
    Modern guards are not of the rigid type anyway - mine are very, very flexible plastic (you can twist them into a knot without damage!) so should anything lodge in them, they bend rather than stop the wheel. It's really only if you have metal guards that you need to be concerned about that.
    You're probably right but I keep remembering a conversation I had with the owner of an LBS 20 years ago. I'd gone in to enquire about mudguards and he launched into a diatribe against them. His best mate had been killed after his front guard jammed his wheel...
    Blonde wrote:
    You can chose whether to use zip ties or P-Clips to attach guards. I have actually found zip ties to be better - Easier to take off and then refit guards when using zip ties rather than P-clips (which tend to rust-on and you've also got a bolt between mud guard and frame to have to tighten and stay tightened). My p-clipped guards were not so secure because the p-clips were too large so not very tightly fitted. When the protective covering came off the clips revealing bare metal underneath, this made them even looser and the guards were always moving about. With zip ties they stayed put better and IMO looked neater and did not mark the frame.
    I've replaced my forks with chunkier carbon fibre ones since I bodged the guards on last winter and the P-clips no longer fit. I think I'll try zip ties this time. It's funny - I had exactly the same problem with the clips and it didn't occur to me to try zip ties despite having used one to hold the top of the front guard in place!

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