Mudguards for Kinesis GF Ti

londoncommuter · March 2018

I’m having problems with SKS Chromoplastic P35 guards and my rim braked Kinesis Gran Fondo Ti (V3). The first set lasted a around six months with the front cracking at the brake bracket. They’re slightly too wide for the fork, touching the insides and I gave SKS the benefit of the doubt that the extra stress of being ever so slightly compressed had caused the early failure. The next set I trimmed slightly to prevent this (and to avoid gouging the paint again on the inside of my nice new forks) and they’ve lasted even less time. Again, being generous, maybe removing even a tiny bit of material weakened them. Anyway, they’re not working for me.

What alternatives can people suggest, ideally for this specific frame/fork? Are metal guards the way forward or do better plastic ones exist? I am a bit sad to think I’ll need to get heavier (and really expensive!) guards as I’ve carbon everything as finishing kit on this so bit of a shame but I guess if they’re ultra-reliable and don’t rattle then that would be a fair trade off.

Kinesis £40

They do their own metal guards now although they seem a bit of a bodge. The rear needs trimming to avoid abrading the inside of the chainstay (as did the SKS) and, more worringly, they say:

“NB: To fit the mudguard on the Kinesis TRACER 1.5 fork (rim brake) you will need to crimp the mudguard”

I read that as they’re slightly too wide, designed to take 30mm tyres, and need a bodge similar to the SKS. Not sure which is better, cutting plastic guards or “crimping” metal ones! It's a shame they don't make a version for this frameset.

https://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/Catalogu ... s/FEND-OFF

PDW £72

Officially, these only take 23c tyres but the Road.cc review says they’ll take 25c, maybe even 28c. Are they even more of a bodge though as they refer to being for frames not designed for proper guards? Can they be “trimmed” if needed at the rear and/or mangled under the fork?

https://www.condorcycles.com/products/p ... 6250459018

Velo Orange £50

These are 35mm wide and take 25c tyres but will they fit? How much butchering do they need?

https://velo-orange.com/collections/fen ... -x-37mm-v2

They also do this slightly wider (and less ugly?) version, taking up to 27c:

https://velo-orange.com/collections/fen ... th-fenders

Sorry that’s a bit long winded. I haven’t got much faith in advice from Kinesis so please don’t suggest contacting them!

londoncommuter · March 2018

Another couple of options. Any thoughts on these?

Radial Avert Pro Aluminium Road Bike Mudguards:

https://www.radialcycles.co.uk/radial-a ... rds-1.html

Or very cheap alternative to SKS in plastic for £10:

https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/stronglight-mudguards/

svetty · March 2018

The PDW ones are not really trimmable. I run them on my GF T1 V1 with short-drop brakes. They are nice and narrow and don't foul the frame or forks. I can run 25mm Conti tyres - these work fine unless the roads are very muddy when they do occasionally clog requiring me to drop the wheel and scrape the mud out with a stick. I've had to do this 2 or 3 times this winter. To be fair though this is a frame/forks issue rather than a mudguard one - hence the V2 and V3 frames taking long drop brakes/discs. The SKS guards were no better in this respect.

Because they have a slight cut-out to clear the frame at the brake bridge they don't give quite the same coverage of the brakes as the SKS ones so the brake callipers aren't quite so well protected from road crud. As they are made from aluminium - and because they have a more robust bracket - I don''t imagine they will break at the rear brake bridge mount as the SKS ones inevitably do with time. The other issue is that the front mud-flap is very low at the rear. This means reasonable coverage but is a pain if you have a fork-mounting work-stand.

Overall they are very well made, look the business and I suspect will last forever.

figbat · March 2018

I have M:Part Primoplastics on my Synapse - it's the first experience I have of 'guards but having spent a bit of time fitting them right, they work well. The main faff is shaping the bracket that holds the rear one to the brake bridge (the bracket is supplied flat for your own shaping); that took a bit of cutting, hammering and fettling but once done they are stable and quiet. They are plastic but have a reasonable amount of give to them.

First.Aspect · April 2018

I have the Kinesis ones. Good so far, but the metal on metal at the rear bridge rattles and needs a tiny bit of duct tape. Better that than end up breaking the bridge constantly tightening it.

I run 25c tyres and if there was a narrow and wide option (I just can't remember - early onset) I'd have gone for the narrow ones. Anyway they are fine. Not too wide at all.

I sympathise with reticence over crimping by the bottom bracket. I have a ti frame so I just wedged it in there and bolted it. The tension stops it rattling.

Oh they only have one set of stays at the front so do shudder slightly over particularly crap road surfaces. Not enough to clip the tyre though.

Hope that helps.

davebradswmb · April 2018

As I have said in your other thread, I have fitted Tortec Reflectors. I can't speak for the GF Ti, but these have been fitted to my Kinesis Racelight T2 for over 4 years now with no problems. I am running 25mm tyres on this bike, I haven't tried but I don't think that I could get 28mm on with the mudguards, but that is a limitation of the frame rather than the guards.

londoncommuter · April 2018

Thanks everyone for their comments. To add a bit.

Kinesis

They advise "rolling" the guards in a vice to shape them to narrow/fit them to the inside of the Tracer fork and GF Ti chainstays. Here are a couple of pictures of the finished result. Looks very nice although dubious about my ability to get them as tidy. Maybe too much hassle to make overly wide guards work? Still think it's a shame they don't knock out versions at 30mm or 35mm with the above mod already done.

PDW

I've discounted these as they are too much of a compromise for a frame that can take proper guards i.e. they are too narrow under the fork and have a bodge of an attachment on the seat tube. Would be fine if they were cheap but not at £70.

Radial

Love these and think they would be perfect but unfortunately they don't make them anymore!

Velo Orange

Can't really see a great way of them working under the fork. The Kinesis ones look easier to mangle slightly.

Not sure what I'm going to do yet but hopefully the above helps anyone else (over)thinking about this.

svetty · April 2018

londoncommuter wrote:

PDW

I've discounted these as they are too much of a compromise for a frame that can take proper guards i.e. they are too narrow under the fork and have a bodge of an attachment on the seatstay. Would be fine if they were cheap but not at £70.

Not quite sure where you have the idea that the PDWs are a bodge?
They are proper mudguards that have robust screw-in attachments to the frame eyelets at the drop-outs just like the SKS Chromoplastics - they don't attach to the seatstays. They are a bit slender at the fork as I mentioned above but this isn't really an issue in real world usage.

londoncommuter · April 2018

Svetty wrote:

londoncommuter wrote:

PDW

I've discounted these as they are too much of a compromise for a frame that can take proper guards i.e. they are too narrow under the fork and have a bodge of an attachment on the seatstay. Would be fine if they were cheap but not at £70.

Not quite sure where you have the idea that the PDWs are a bodge?
They are proper mudguards that have robust screw-in attachments to the frame eyelets at the drop-outs just like the SKS Chromoplastics - they don't attach to the seatstays. They are a bit slender at the fork as I mentioned above but this isn't really an issue in real world usage.

Not a bodge as such. Sorry, I meant Seattube not seatstay and that they seem to have a loop to wrap round the tube rather than the more traditional hole at the bottom you use to bolt guards to frames that are properly set up for them?

svetty · April 2018

No they bolt to the small stay between the chain-stays just like SKS. The extra seat-tube bracket is only needed on frames that don't have the proper hole for the bolt.

londoncommuter · April 2018

Svetty wrote:

No they bolt to the small stay between the chain-stays just like SKS. The extra seat-tube bracket is only needed on frames that don't have the proper hole for the bolt.

Thanks for that. Their instructions (for the narrow model) don't show that:

svetty · April 2018

I left the nylon bracket on my rear mudguard even tho it is redundant. This would enable me to move the guard to another bike at some point in the future should I wish to.
It would be simple enough to remove it if the aesthetic of a redundant bracket offends although as it sits just behind the seat tube on my Mk 1 Ti GF it doesn't catch the eye.

Mudguards for Kinesis GF Ti

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