sks raceblade crack

colsoop

Hi

I bought a pair of the sks raceblades after i lost a crud guard in a fight with a bush. All was going well, i was happy with the fit and quality of the guards.
I have been using them regularly for the last month during the cold weathe with no issuesr.

On returning from a ride last week I was greeted with the guard split cleanly in 2 and a crack appearing at the mounting point.

I spoke to my LBS where i purchased said guards and they got on to SKS who said tough luck or similar.

I don't imagine that stance will change from SKS but i was more interested to see if it is an isolated case and me being unlucky or others have suffered the same fate.

A piccy:

nferrar

Bit of gaffer tape will fix that To be fair to SKS it could have just been some debris got in and caused the damage, I wouldn't expect Mavic to replace a wheel if a stick went through the spokes. I have raceblade longs myself so will keep an eye on them - I've not seen this issue posted before though so not convinced there's an inherent issue with them.

KINGGARY

Try contacting SKS direct, there is a contact email for Germany on their website.
I had an issue with some raceblade longs where the supplier didn't want to know, I got in contact with SKS direct and their response was much better. I had to send some images to clarify the issue and they were swiftly replaced.
Well worth a try.

keef66

http://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=news&i=128

asjc

My short rear one did that too, just rear of the mounting bracket thing, they are probably 3 or 4 years old and go out on the commuter 40 miles per day in all weathers so they havnt done too badly, reackon the cold makes them a bit brittle, I cable tied on the long rear bit from my crud catchers so now dont splash crap all over the faces of people on club rides.

colsoop

Thanks for the replys and useful links. I have sent an email with piccy to SKS direct to see if they are easier to deal with.

bobones

colsoop wrote:

Hi

I bought a pair of the sks raceblades after i lost a crud guard in a fight with a bush. All was going well, i was happy with the fit and quality of the guards.
I have been using them regularly for the last month during the cold weathe with no issuesr.

On returning from a ride last week I was greeted with the guard split cleanly in 2 and a crack appearing at the mounting point.

I spoke to my LBS where i purchased said guards and they got on to SKS who said tough luck or similar.

I don't imagine that stance will change from SKS but i was more interested to see if it is an isolated case and me being unlucky or others have suffered the same fate.

A piccy:

These should be replaced under warranty by the retailer. Sounds like your LBS just can't be bothered. I've had 2 sets of SKS guards crack and both were replaced by my LBS without issue. I had initially contacted SKS directly but they'd told me that I should go to the retailer because they were still under warranty. If they'd been out of warranty, by all accounts SKS would send out a replacement set free of charge!

binsted

Thanks for this post, I have a pair that have broke in exactly the same place, I have repaired with a piece of aluminium strip and 2 small bolts but given this information I will be back to Halfords with the bike tomorrow.

bobones

They've got to be "fit for purpose" so cracking after a few months normal use doesn't cut it.

schweiz

I doubt if your LBS has even contacted SKS!

I had a SKS PURO mini pump a few years back. It looked very nice, worked well out of the packet but whilst it was on my bike it all seized up and when the time came to actually use it, I was left stuck with a flat tyre. As I'd bought it online in the UK and it wasn't worth posting it back to the UK for the retailer to deal with, I sent a quick e-mail to SKS and they sent me another without further question and didn't even want the old one back.

kentphil

Adihead posted this is in my sks thread:

I've been using these for 4 years now and am on my 3rd pair! I think the single best piece of advice here is regarding putting something such as 'no more nails tape' under the rear bridge. I've had several of these snap and replace every 3 or 4 months. Tightening them up does indeed cause the guard to split eventually. They always work loose unless you clap them so tight they damage the guard in my experience. I could have saved myself a lot of time and money if I'd had this piece of advice! They first set btw were fitted by my LBS and indeed I'd asked their advice before about this and even had them check my subsequent installations to see if they could advise on my the bridges keep snapping but no suggestion as good as this! Regarding the new style clips, I just cut off the lower bits and put the top bits of the covers on as others have said. I've not cut the stays as not good at stuff like that but agree if you cut them the right length the new style caps would work well. Anyway, good news is I've only been paying £18 per set from Ribble so not the end of the world! Current set do seem to be holding up ok for now but I shall order some 'no more nails tape' and will give it a whirl next time the bridge snaps!

EDIT Here's the thread link:
viewtopic.php?f=40004&t=12893583&p=18048665&hilit=sks+mudguards#p18048665

colsoop

I thought i would update this as i received a reply from SKS this morning.

They are sending a replacement guard out to me free of charge.

schweiz

Like I said, your LBS couldn't be @rsed contacting SKS. They were probably hoping you'd part with £30 for a new set!

gerroffandmilkit

Shocking customer service from your LBS.
Quality service from SKS though. Glad you got it sorted.

binsted

Following my earlier post, I returned to Halfords. Sorry sir mudguard out of warranty, so I sent photographs to SKS in Germany who without hesitation said they would post a replacement. Top service, thats the attitude that keeps customer loyalty.

deadhead1971

Just found this thread after googling the issue, as mine appears to have split in the same place.

The front one went first - the lower section splitting off just below the point at which it was in contact with the brace.
This was irritating, but did not cause a danger and it was still functional, though not as effective obviously.
Then a week later the rear one split as shown in the pic. This was dangerous, and had to be removed from the bike.

I've contacted the shop (they were bought online, only a few months ago) and they've kindly agreed that I can return them.

There was a product recall of this line, last year. I'm assuming that what I received was an updated design, but who knows, we may be identifying another fault which may lead to another recall, so it's important to share the info.