Anyone have SKS chromoplastic mud guards?

pastryboy
pastryboy Posts: 1,385
edited October 2009 in Commuting chat
Either I'm missing some screws or they're the biggest piece of crap ever.

The front mudguard bolts on via the black plastic thing in the image:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/sks-chro ... s-zoom.jpg

Great except the bolts are so short there's almost no thread coming out the other end with which to screw them to the fork.

The instructions show this bolt as having a crosshead whereas the only bolts I have take an allen key. I had three bags of screws/fittings.

Anyone help?
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Comments

  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    pastryboy wrote:
    Either I'm missing some screws or they're the biggest piece of crap ever.

    The front mudguard bolts on via the black plastic thing in the image:

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/sks-chro ... s-zoom.jpg

    Great except the bolts are so short there's almost no thread coming out the other end with which to screw them to the fork.

    The instructions show this bolt as having a crosshead whereas the only bolts I have take an allen key. I had three bags of screws/fittings.

    Anyone help?

    Most new frames will have long bolts in the frame, new eh! who'd do that???

    beside you'll be needing Ti bolts FFS think of the weight :lol:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
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  • gb155
    gb155 Posts: 2,048
    itboffin wrote:
    pastryboy wrote:
    Either I'm missing some screws or they're the biggest piece of crap ever.

    The front mudguard bolts on via the black plastic thing in the image:

    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/sks-chro ... s-zoom.jpg

    Great except the bolts are so short there's almost no thread coming out the other end with which to screw them to the fork.

    The instructions show this bolt as having a crosshead whereas the only bolts I have take an allen key. I had three bags of screws/fittings.

    Anyone help?

    Most new frames will have long bolts in the frame, new eh! who'd do that???

    beside you'll be needing Ti bolts FFS think of the weight :lol:


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  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    My sets have always fitted perfectly.
    I like bikes...

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  • pastryboy
    pastryboy Posts: 1,385
    Very hard to get a good pic but you get the idea - big chunky bolt but only a few mm on the other side of the plastic bit - not sufficient to screw into the fork. The only other bolt that fits would hit the spokes as it's so long.

    IMG_2397.jpg

    And one of the tyres I ordered at the same time has a slit in the sidewall - it's not my day :roll:
  • rhext
    rhext Posts: 1,639
    I got mine with assorted length bolts. I think you might have a duff order there. They're brilliant once installed - but you'll need a proper hacksaw if you want to trim the struts to the right length. The metal is so hard it just strips the thread off a junior one!
  • That is odd. I guess you haven't used the `proper' bolts on the rear already have you?

    If it comes down to it a LBS should have an assortment of usable bolts..shouldn't cost much and probably less hassle than replacing the set.
  • FOAD
    FOAD Posts: 318
    There is more than one length bolt supplied and you are using the wrong one clearly.
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    If you have some other bolts lying about, use some washers, or pop to the LBS for longer bolts.

    As said you might be missing some as the front's do take longer bolts due to the safety clip (oh and they do work).

    PS have you checked the other bolts if they are a little longer - i.e. not taped up with the rears.
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    My sets have always fitted perfectly.

    Dude WTF with that avatar, no really come on! :roll:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    itboffin wrote:
    My sets have always fitted perfectly.

    Dude WTF with that avatar, no really come on! :roll:

    Some Welsh guy who won the World Champs?
    I like bikes...

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  • Roastie
    Roastie Posts: 1,968
    itboffin wrote:
    My sets have always fitted perfectly.

    Dude WTF with that avatar, no really come on! :roll:

    Some Welsh guy who won the World Champs?
    He's a twerp.
  • Roastie
    Roastie Posts: 1,968
    On topic: I find them great, and mine came with a set of screws in various lengths - longer for the front, shorter for the rear.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Roastie wrote:
    itboffin wrote:
    My sets have always fitted perfectly.

    Dude WTF with that avatar, no really come on! :roll:

    Some Welsh guy who won the World Champs?
    He's a twerp.

    He could be worse, he could be like that knob Armstrong.
    I like bikes...

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  • Again, mine were a perfect fit - plenty of bolts in various lengths. Even had some left over when I was finished :shock:
    Carlsberg don't make cycle clothing, but if they did it would probably still not be as good as Assos
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Roastie wrote:
    itboffin wrote:
    My sets have always fitted perfectly.

    Dude WTF with that avatar, no really come on! :roll:

    Some Welsh guy who won the World Champs?
    He's a twerp.

    He could be worse, he could be like that knob Armstrong.

    Now you keep this up i'm gonna have to report you :lol:
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • Roastie
    Roastie Posts: 1,968
    Roastie wrote:
    itboffin wrote:
    My sets have always fitted perfectly.

    Dude WTF with that avatar, no really come on! :roll:

    Some Welsh guy who won the World Champs?
    He's a twerp.

    He could be worse, he could be like that knob Armstrong.
    He's a gutless whining twerp. Love him or hate him, at least Lance has guts. Evans only pulled it off because no-one expected him to attack. That says it all.
  • itboffin
    itboffin Posts: 20,052
    Again, mine were a perfect fit - plenty of bolts in various lengths. Even had some left over when I was finished :shock:

    Left over bolts eh so what your saying is don't put any books of my shelves or shut the cupboard doors to hard... mmmm!

    DIY what?
    Rule #5 // Harden The Feck Up.
    Rule #9 // If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period.
    Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
    Rule #42 // A bike race shall never be preceded with a swim and/or followed by a run.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    I'm not actually a fan of Cadel Evans, I just like the World Champ Stripes, hence my previous Avatars...
    I like bikes...

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  • Roastie
    Roastie Posts: 1,968
    I'm not actually a fan of Cadel Evans, I just like the World Champ Stripes, hence my previous Avatars...
    Good to hear - now we can be friends! ;)

    I was sad Fabian couldn't do the double. Oh well.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Riccardo Ricco, now he's a rider...
    I like bikes...

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  • pastryboy
    pastryboy Posts: 1,385
    FOAD wrote:
    There is more than one length bolt supplied and you are using the wrong one clearly.


    Yeah I'm pissing about taking photos rather than looking at the bolts that came with it :roll:

    As I already said there are 2 lengths of bolt - 4 of that length and 3 that are about four times as long - so long they can't possibly be used to attach the mudguard at the front as they would hit the spokes.

    I started with the front mudguard as per the instructions and haven't used any other bolts.
  • pastryboy
    pastryboy Posts: 1,385
    Just looked at the wiggle reviews and it seems someone else had the same problem and had to replace the bolts
  • msw
    msw Posts: 313
    pastryboy wrote:
    Anyone help?

    I can empathise, is that any good? Been struggling with this on & off for a week now in spare half hours, thank God the rain's held off.

    On the particular issue of the bolts, I know it looks short but when screwed in it seems OK. The big problem I'm having is with the loop at the top that the main bolt goes through. Won't screw into the back of the brake bolt, because the brake bolt is recessed (does any normal road bike come with any other kind?) and when I mount it in front of the forks behind the caliper it's too tall and would scrape the bottom headset collar.

    Oh, plus, I don't have anything that can cut quarter-centimetre-thick steel, so trimming the stays to the right length is going to be hell too.

    And that's just the front mudguard.

    Tomorrow am giving up and taking it to the bike shop that sold me the guards. They saw the bike and said they'd be ok, they can bloody well fit them.
    "We're not holding up traffic. We are traffic."
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    msw wrote:
    The big problem I'm having is with the loop at the top that the main bolt goes through. Won't screw into the back of the brake bolt, because the brake bolt is recessed (does any normal road bike come with any other kind?) and when I mount it in front of the forks behind the caliper it's too tall and would scrape the bottom headset collar.
    I cut across the top of this bit so it formed a "U" and clears the headset. Stays put fine once the brake is secured.
    Oh, plus, I don't have anything that can cut quarter-centimetre-thick steel, so trimming the stays to the right length is going to be hell too.
    A junior hacksaw does this fine. A pipe cutter also works well.

    It is worth taking the trouble to fit these guards, once fitted they are superb!
  • msw
    msw Posts: 313
    alfablue wrote:
    It is worth taking the trouble to fit these guards, once fitted they are superb!

    Yes, key word there being "trouble". I'm sure they're great but it seems poor to have to cut bits off them to make them fit a pretty standard road bike; in any case, cutting the loop at the front is to enable me to fit it in a way that's not in the instructions, because that way doesn't work!

    Meh. Maybe I'm just impatient, but if the bike shop wants to charge me a tenner for it I can live with that rather than spend 2 more evenings swearing at a bit of plastic.
    "We're not holding up traffic. We are traffic."
  • alfablue
    alfablue Posts: 8,497
    I understand the frustration - it probably is worth paying the tenner to the LBS. But if you want real frustration, try riding with cheaper, lesser mudguards, they will drive you mad, but over a longer period!

    As for "standard road bike" there are all sorts of fork and rear triangle geometries and tyre sizes to cope with. If there was no adjustability then the guards would probably have to stand proud of the tyres by 3 or 4 cm to cope with all eventualities.
  • The bolt for the rear guard on mine was too short (the one that attached the guard to the seat tube) so I just used cable ties. Anyone used cable ties to attach the stays to the fork?
  • d21dga
    d21dga Posts: 113
    I fitted mine 2 weeks ago with not too many problems. All the bolts supplied were fine, in fact I've got loads left over as they seemed to provide bolts and fixing arrangements for every different type of bike. The only thing I have got to do is shorten the stays on the front guard. The rear one fits like a glove but the front one sticks out a bit behind the wheel and I've struck my pedal on it a couple of times.
  • artaxerxes wrote:
    The bolt for the rear guard on mine was too short (the one that attached the guard to the seat tube) so I just used cable ties. Anyone used cable ties to attach the stays to the fork?

    Yes. One of the front bolts I was trying to fit screwed the thread on the front fork, so I just used 2 small cable ties, been on 3 weeks now and even gone touring with it, and it is fine.

    Great mudguards!!
    "Encyclopaedia is a fetish for very small bicycles"
  • Since people are generally musing now....

    I plan on tweaking my rear ones to take the same `safety' clip thats on the front ones so that I can more easily get my fixed/ss rear wheel out of the track ends (Spesh. Tri-Singlecross.) I'm hoping that the most `difficult' thing about this will be trimming the stays a bit shorter.
    I also have a rack installed which I unknowingly attached outside the stays on the attachment bolt contra to advice I read afterwards. Not sure how vital that is ... if its just more likely to work loose or what. When I add the clips I will fix that.