Cycling UK Forum

Having fitted new Ultegra rim brakes earlier this year, the reach of the nut is not long enough to make contact with the bolt when I tried to fit mudguards ready for winter.

After some cussing, a quick search through SJS Cycles revealed that it is an issue that the late great Sheldon Brown, (surely the patron saint of bike mechanics) solved with his long reach fender nuts.



Don't you just love the man?

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/

Did your brakes not come with a bag of alternative length nuts?

They do look to be a neat and simple solution to a problem. Now there is just the matter of getting the mudguard fitting to not rub on the headset. Or is the headset concealed?

peetee wrote:Did your brakes not come with a bag of alternative length nuts?

Mine never have, but not an issue for me with Mercian as the mudguards are secured under the bridges where there are screw-holes vertically.

However, with Moulton the standard front brake bolt WAS long enough until I fitted a front dynamo light ......... so I bought a longer bolt.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-Road ... SwYaZfHMiW

If you wan the option to mount/remove mudguards like that without having to remove the brake then I prefer to use the Gilles Berthoud version, not quite as fancily finished but can buy individual nuts in different lengths for £2.99 each



https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brakes/9-gilles-berthoud-brake-spindle-screw-for-mudguards/

Both versions are a neat solution if you want the advantage of adjusting or removing/fitting the mudguard without disturbing the brake.
Also credit to SJS for stocking them, they may not be the only ones, there's a couple of other suppliers I'd also have looked, but I don't know of another who has such a wide range of small bits in stock.

amediasatex wrote:If you wan the option to mount/remove mudguards like that without having to remove the brake then I prefer to use the Gilles Berthoud version, not quite as fancily finished but can buy individual nuts in different lengths for £2.99 each

And regarding the point raised by pwa, it has the added advantage of keeping the mudguard bracket clear of the lower headset cup. That in turn allows the bracket to be positioned at the optimum height using the slot.

Not only is the Sheldon Fender Nut more expensive, it's likely to be necessary to bend or cut the top of the bracket to prevent it fouling on the headset cup, and that makes it much more difficult to get the mudguard at the optimum height to maximise tyre clearance, especially on a bike using 47mm-57mm medium drop dual pivot callipers.

the other thing that can often be done is to fit a new centrebolt to one of the brake calipers, and convert the bike from AK to nutted brakes.

The usual way this is done is to fit a new very long centrebolt to the rear brake, and use that caliper on the front. The front brake is then fitted to the rear, where the centrebolt is usually the correct length for a nutted fitment. You will need various M6 nuts, washers and spacers (tip; the ones from V-brake blocks are useful here) to ensure that the nuts bear against the right part of the fork crown/brake bridge. You will also need to turn the brake blocks around so the inserts are not dragged out of the open end of the holders.

FWIW it is usually not difficult to bend the mudguard bracket so that it clears the headset lower race, but very occasionally something more faffy is required than that.

cheers

pwa wrote:They do look to be a neat and simple solution to a problem. Now there is just the matter of getting the mudguard fitting to not rub on the headset. Or is the headset concealed?

No problem with clearing the headset: