Mudguard advice

[Chris56]

I need a set of full mudguards but am a little nervous about what will fit on the front. I was previously using Bontrager NCS and the front was cut so that it was only mounted behind the fork. It kept my feet dry but was still getting hit in the face by spray from in front of the fork!

My forks are Cannondale Synapse 2017 disc and am running 25c tyres. There is approx 14mm between the top of the tyre and fork crown (seems plenty), but the forks.are only 32 mm wide when measured level with the widest part of the tyre.The narrowest SKS guards are 35mm

I am strongly sonsidering the SKS raceblades as they only mount behind the fork, but would like mudguards that extend in front of the fork due to commuting in all weather.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what may fit or what my best solution would be?

There are no issues with rear protection as the frame is a Planet X London road with acres of space for rear mudguards!

[Jdsk]

Please add some photos of the crown area.

What fittings does it have?

Jonathan

[Chris56]

Its a bolt fitting. It also has mounting points half way up the fork which is helpful

[Jdsk]

I see the problem!

How about:

SKS make some new race blades which don't go under the crown except by using a thin metal strip to connect front and back parts of the guard's

or any of the other suggestions in that thread?
https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=112312&start=15#p1097739

Jonathan

[Chris56]

Thanks, will take a look at them.

Only annoying thing I can see is that the stays mount onto the axle - could be a problem with disc brakes

[531colin]

You can generally warm mudguards up with a hot air gun and shape them....but I think that fork crown is much too tight!
i wouldn't like to ride that on a muddy lane.

[VinceLedge]

Roadracer might fit but it looks really tight, Raceblades or the Wiggle own brand ones might be your only option

[alexnharvey]

Is a different fork out of the question?

[Chris56]

Is a different fork out of the question?

That would be the more expensive option but would solve the problem. Only bought those forks because someone was selling them brand new for £40, so not out of the question

[thirdcrank]

When this type of query came up before, I mentioned a spearpoint extension. All I could find online to illustrate what I meant was an antique on ebay and that page is now missing.

The basic idea is the front part only of a front mudguard including a mounting bracket. You could improvise by chopping the front bit off a normal mudguard and bolting it to the front of the fork crown. Heath Robinson, I know, but fitting full-length mudguards on a bike without decent clearances will never be straightforward.

[alexnharvey]

An alternative to heat moulding the mudguards is to cut or grind them away so they fit neatly into the fork. With some of the plastics used that will increase the risk of cracking though.

Maybe a combination of cutting the minimum away to and then moulding the rest a bit would work.

[Chris56]

Thanks for all of the advice folks. I've got a few options there which I need to think carefully about.

I do have a spare guard that I could modify to make a "spearhead" out of and then fit Raceblades.

[drossall]

Whatever solution you go for, don't forget that it's dangerous to have narrow spaces under mudguards. Stones and so on thrown up from the road can jam between guard and wheel, locking up the latter and throwing you off. Even if you can find a way to fit one through, there simply isn't room to have guards in the space you've shown and be safe.

[Sweep]

Whatever solution you go for, don't forget that it's dangerous to have narrow spaces under mudguards. Stones and so on thrown up from the road can jam between guard and wheel, locking up the latter and throwing you off.

The "quick releases" on the likes of SKS guards would stop this wouldn't they?
I had a twig go into my front on a downhill a while ago and the guard released before I had an idea what had happened.

[alexnharvey]

Whatever solution you go for, don't forget that it's dangerous to have narrow spaces under mudguards. Stones and so on thrown up from the road can jam between guard and wheel, locking up the latter and throwing you off.

The "quick releases" on the likes of SKS guards would stop this wouldn't they?
I had a twig go into my front on a downhill a while ago and the guard released before I had an idea what had happened.

Not exactly. The quick releases stop the concertina type problem where the whole mudguards folds and jams. At the crown. There are lots of other ways to jam a front wheel, stuff getting stuck between tyre and crown being one.