Fend Off mudguards .....or others

kingrollo

Looking for some mudguards to complete my winter bike - Really like the look of kinsesis fend off guards - but Im not the greatest diy person - and a review suggested these don't come with bolts to fit to the frame ???

Any thoughts ?

Bike is mudguard compatible. so don't need or want the clip on jobs.

mrb123

I've got the Kinesis. Very well made and solid feeling.

Got my LBS to fit them though - well worth a few quid to avoid half a day struggling with them. With mudguard fitting there always seems to be a bodge required somewhere.

joeyhalloran

If you want to get spendy you could look at Portland Design Works

daniel_b

PDW are in another class.

i.bhamra

I have a set of Fend-Offs, they are very good, long enough and wrap around the sides of the tyre enough to keep you, your bike and anyone riding on your wheel free of spray. They are solid once fitted, definitely fit and forget.

You will need to get bolts to attach to the frame (depends on the frame but usually M3 for dropouts, rear bridge and fork blades and M5 for fork crown I think?) these are cheap and easy to source from DIY shops or Amazon etc. The bolts for securing the stays to the mudguard are included and the packaging also doubles up as mudflap (you will need to get a nut and bolt to fix that in place too).

You will most likely need to trim and (for the front one possibly bend the stays if the attachment point on the fork is higher up the blades as is often the case with disc frames). They are easy enough to do with a hacksaw and pair of pliers. Only very basic DIY skills required! Worth the effort in my opinion.

kingrollo

i.bhamra said:

I have a set of Fend-Offs, they are very good, long enough and wrap around the sides of the tyre enough to keep you, your bike and anyone riding on your wheel free of spray. They are solid once fitted, definitely fit and forget.

You will need to get bolts to attach to the frame (depends on the frame but usually M3 for dropouts, rear bridge and fork blades and M5 for fork crown I think?) these are cheap and easy to source from DIY shops or Amazon etc. The bolts for securing the stays to the mudguard are included and the packaging also doubles up as mudflap (you will need to get a nut and bolt to fix that in place too).

You will most likely need to trim and (for the front one possibly bend the stays if the attachment point on the fork is higher up the blades as is often the case with disc frames). They are easy enough to do with a hacksaw and pair of pliers. Only very basic DIY skills required! Worth the effort in my opinion.

Thank you.

This is the bike - (Hasn't arrived yet)

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Merida-Scultura-Endurance-4000-2023-Road-Bike_244392.htm?sku=824703&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bikes > Road bikes&utm_content=Merida&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz8emBhDrARIsANNJjS5q22zSXkEBat4cAv1m6YALA9LwEJj13v_MmyqjAhgXZvESb10QlKAaAvZ4EALw_wcB

It comes with a removable rear stay bridge - any idea what other frame bolts I would need ?

joeyhalloran

It seems bonkers to me to not include hardware to fit mudguards when 90+% of bikes that can take mudguards use the same hardware!

i.bhamra

joeyhalloran said:

It seems bonkers to me to not include hardware to fit mudguards when 90+% of bikes that can take mudguards use the same hardware!

I agree! Most frames I've had with eyelets also came with bolts fitted though, funnily enough the only one that didn't was from Kinesis!

kingrollo

joeyhalloran said:

It seems bonkers to me to not include hardware to fit mudguards when 90+% of bikes that can take mudguards use the same hardware!

Agree

i.bhamra

@kingrollo it's hard to see form the pictures, I can see the front ones half way up the fork blade on the inside (most likely M3), cant see the rear eyelets or the fork crown one (I'm guessing that one is on the back of the fork). I'd say if you got a couple of M5 bolts and 5or 6 M3s you'd probably be fine.

Given that it's not clear on location/number of mounting eyelets I'd wait until you get the bike before commiting to a particular mudguard though so as to be sure of compatability without more significant modifications.

paulbnix

I like the SKS Chromoplastic mudguards.

Flasher2

Always used SKS ones but needed some new ones last winter, bought these as half the price and honestly so much better, easy to fit and can now run 28mm tyres whereas with the SKS could only run 25mm.

https://www.wiggle.com/p/lifeline-narrow-road-mudguard-set

whyamihere

I've never seen M3 screws used for mudguards, only M5. That's why SKS ones come with a massive bag of different length M5 screws. I can see the logic in not including them though, I have so many spare screws I've never used from SKS mudguards because they supply enough to fit every conceivable option, it's a bit wasteful.

i.bhamra

My mistake, usually M5 not M3!

bobones

The Fend Offs are great: much better vfm than PDWs and more durable than chromoplastics that will surely break one day. I've had them on my Dolan for a couple of years, and they're still like new.

My tips for fitting are use a dremmel or heavy duty croppers to cut the stays once you've fitted the guards to the bike, and deploy some thick double-sided tape like No More Nails on a Roll under the brake bridge clamp and where the front guard touches the underside of the fork to prevent rattles. If you don't have a dremmel or bolt cutter then fit the guards, mark the cut point on the stays, then remove them and cut with a hacksaw.



I've added SKS mudflaps which look a bit better than those made from cutting up the packaging they come in.

dannbodge

I've got PDWs on my Ribble.

They are absolutely incredible.
Luckily, I got them brand new off ebay for about £60

edward.s

replaced my 3 year old chromoplastics with Fend-offs when the former snapped. the Fend-Offs are excellent and fitted well with a bit of care. I'm lucky to have a good selection of stainless hardware to hand at home, but you can buy a 'selection pack' online for not many pennies which would do the job.

Add some reflective mudflaps from RAW flaps and you will have full winter warrior spec

joeyhalloran

RAW flaps probably isn't something I should search for on my work computer.

edward.s

just to save you the search:

https://rawmudflap.uk/

bobones

Those are a bit flimsy and flappy for me. The SKS jobs are good though.

i.bhamra

Here's mine complete with RAW mudflaps (not as flimsy as the Kinesis cut out packaging) and have lasted 3 winters so far. Had to bend the stays to get the guards to sit how I wanted them to because of the location of the eyelets on the frame.

kingrollo

kingrollo

Ok - as above the bike has arrived. The eyes on the rear stays are they where mudguards stays get bolted too? .....also there is no hole in the front fork crown for the guard to be fitted .....any ideas on which guards will be the best option?

i.bhamra

Seems like an odd place for the eyelets on the seat stays. Also odd that there is nowhere to secure to the fork, have you checked under the crown (between the fork and the tyre)? You'll need to do some serious bodging to get Fend-offs to work with the stays and brackets provided. I'd be asking Merida what they recommend (maybe they make something specific). Or maybe someone else has a similar setup and can advise better than me.

paulbnix

I have a Planet X Hurricane as my winter bike.
The fork has eyelets at the bottom and one at the top but it is at the back of the fork crown. I suppose it's less obtrusive than the front if it's not used.
The SKS Blumels I first used were wrong when bolted to the back of the fork - too short at the front and long at the back.
I ended up attaching it to the fork crown using tie wraps.
It was successfully secure but when I replaced the mudguard some time later I noticed that the tie wraps had scored the surface of the carbon fork.
The replacement SKS Chromoplastic was a much better fit when bolted onto the back of the fork.

bonk_king

I haven't read through all the mudguard threads on here, so forgive me. No doubt there are quite a few.

I have a simple question in my mudguard quest, now that winter is around the corner and I'm going to need them.

Is it the common concensus that it's pretty much a done deal that all clip on mudguards will eventually slip/fail in some way, and that the mudguards that actually bolt to the bike frame are the only way to go for long term success?

I have some "Raceblade Pro XL". I bought them some time ago but never fitted them. They are the clip on type with the wrap around rubbery gripper type fastener.

Am I wasting my time with them? Can I trust that wrap around rubber fastener? I suspect vibrations and bumps during a ride will play havoc with such mudguards.

webboo

bonk_king said:

I haven't read through all the mudguard threads on here, so forgive me. No doubt there are quite a few.

I have a simple question in my mudguard quest, now that winter is around the corner and I'm going to need them.

Is it the common concensus that it's pretty much a done deal that all clip on mudguards will eventually slip/fail in some way, and that the mudguards that actually bolt to the bike frame are the only way to go for long term success?

I have some "Raceblade Pro XL". I bought them some time ago but never fitted them. They are the clip on type with the wrap around rubbery gripper type fastener.

Am I wasting my time with them? Can I trust that wrap around rubber fastener? I suspect vibrations and bumps during a ride will play havoc with such mudguards.

I have some of these or something similar. As well as the rubber fastener, on mine you can add tie wraps as well. However despite this they flap, wobble and change position, more the front than the rear.
So on that note can any one recommend a mudguard for a close clearance frame with no eyelets on the frame. The current version of Crudguards don’t fit. Anyone used the type where you fix a bracket under the forks then clip the guards on to the bracket.

bobones

Aluminium guards on a frame with eyelets is the only way to get a setup that will last for years, be trouble free, and silent.

Despite that, for non-eyelet frames, QuickGuard v2 are a neat solution, and SKS Raceblade Long and Pro XL are used by many.

bonk_king

From the bit of research I've done it does seem that the Raceblade Pro XL are towards the top of the pile when it comes to the "gripper" type mudguard fit.

I fitted mine earlier, they went on very easily. They look quite good too. Though I must say I can see these things moving all over the place during a ride.

I might give them a 20km trial run tomorrow.

pangolin

I've use crud road racer mk3's for a couple of winters and have had no issues. The reviews are quite polarised so obviously they don't work for everyone.

i.bhamra

webboo said:

I have some of these or something similar. As well as the rubber fastener, on mine you can add tie wraps as well. However despite this they flap, wobble and change position, more the front than the rear.
So on that note can any one recommend a mudguard for a close clearance frame with no eyelets on the frame. The current version of Crudguards don’t fit. Anyone used the type where you fix a bracket under the forks then clip the guards on to the bracket.

SKS RaceBlade Long have been the best solution I found for close clearance frames without mounting eyelets (I used them on a Kinesis Aithein with 25 mm tyres, this was the early version before they increased frame clearance, rim brake with centre-mounting calipers). Brackets attach behind the calipers and stays held in place by the QR skewers. They stayed in place and didn't need much adjusting. A little bit of insulating tape between the mudguard and where the stay attaches cured a mildly annoying rattle. You could probably use a self tapping screw instead if if you wanted as the guard and stay bracket are plastic.

Calipers still get a bit mucky due to the cut-outs in the guards but other than that they keep most of the muck away from rider and bike. You could probably bodge the cut out with a bit of old inner tube or something but it wasn't a big enough deal for me to try.