rokstar

Hi there, this may be my first post here... so thanks for the troves of useful info around the site

I've got an 80s Club Fuji that I'm somewhat emotionally attached to and I would really like to put some full fenders on it to make it usable during the rainy months. At the moment I've got the "clip-on" fenders but they don't provide enough coverage. I'm really tempted to try the 35mm Honjos but before I plunge into that one-way road, I was wondering if anyone has any experience trying to fit full fenders on a Club Fuji? It has eyelets for fender mounting in the front and rear so it seems to be designed with fenders in mind, but the clearances look really really tight to me. Feedback appreciated!

Rok

Bianchigirll 

Hi rokstar. any pics of your Club? I think you would have lots of trouble with a 35mm fender on that bike without a good pair of tinsnips. the newer the bike (ie later 80s) the tighter the frame is likely to be so you most likely need a fender closer to 23mm.

Velognome 

WHAT? 32mm maybe a 23 fender would fit, what ... like an 18mm tire.

You'll be fine. Measure the clearance in the fork and stay and brake bridge, they should be about 35mm + or - . Then understand you will be limited to a max tire size of about 25mm. Here's a piture of a club with what looks like Planet Bike fenders so you should have no problem with Honjo's



When you're done.....pictures are a must.

trueno92

fenders make any bike looks classier! but fitting them can be a bit of a bear. The fenders part is easy, but finding space and/or turning the bike upside down to do the install while the wheels are unmounted can be a bit awkward if you live in small spaces.

considering the bike has fender eyelets, you should be even able to get away up to 45mm fenders, but I would stick with 3xmm to play it safe as you have to get it to fit between the front forks. The rear chain/seatstays should have more than enough room.

also make sure that this is going to take away some clearance from between the fork crown and tire, so your largest tire may be restricted to 700x28c.

prepare for a lot of fitting/screwing/unscrewing/test fitting etc.

but once its setup correctly, you shouldn't have to touch them again!

rokstar

hey guys, thanks for the replies -- I'll try to take some pictures tomorrow after work but I'm pretty sure it's a no go. The clearances are tiny. I haven't measured them, but it's a few mm at best... I think in the rear it's really insanely tight. After just fitting fenders on my wife's kona ***** tonk that is designed to have them (a marginally mind-numbing experience) I'm feeling pretty pessimistic about my fuji...

@Velognome: I'm surprised that you're able to fit the fenders in there -- it doesn't look like your frame was ever supposed to accommodate them! I'm thoroughly confused -- why would my frame have eyelets but absolutely no room for anything to fit in there?? In any case, mine is the red frame with yellow accents if that lets anyone age it better. I suppose I could also have a look at the serial number.

I guess there are two possibilities:

first, I have some pretty cheap tires on there (25mm) so perhaps their profile is higher than usual? I find this unlikely but thought I'd ask...

second, I put on a pair of shimano 105 brakes because the ones that were on the bike originally were starting to malfunction... so maybe these are somehow thicker and reduce the clearance? I'll have to measure everything tomorrow and take the brakes off... I'll get some photos then.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Velognome 

If your clearance problem is with the hight of the tire, it could be due to the width of your rims. A narrow rim width is going to result in a taller tire profile. The 105's should not be a problem, measure your tire hight, it may be more than 25mm? But in general if you have 4mm above the tire you should be able to make it work.

rokstar

ok I finally got around to taking some photos... and I measured the frame. So I think there is some slim chance this could work, but as always I would like to hear opinions.

here's the full frame... forgot to remove the ugly clip on fenders before taking the photo



front wheel -- the width at the brake is 3.5-4 cm. The vertical clearance is about 10 mm.





stay bridge -- the bridge itself is about 25 +/- mm. I measured the one on my wife's bike (kona ***** tonk) and it's about the same, maybe a mm or two wider, so I think it should fit in there ok


back wheel -- note the eyelets. I still don't understand how this frame was designed for fenders...


rear wheel -- this one I'm a little worried about. The width of the brake here is quite a bit less than the front. But it also looks to me like it's not really centered well so maybe the brake can be adjusted. In any case, the vertical clearance is pretty minimal. I suppose I could try a different brake on the back... and 23mm tires instead of the 25s that I have on now.

pcb 

I doubt the bike was designed for fenders, I think the eyelets are a nod to versatility, and were intended more for racks than fenders. Fuji later moved further away from versatility, the product manager believing that go-fast bikes shouldn't have eyelets, and anybody wanting eyelets should buy a touring model. I always pushed for versatility, especially after talking to riders/dealers in Seattle/Portland, he once threatened to bury my desk in a huge pile of eyelets after returning from his next Taiwan trip. The pendulum might have swung back since then...

You may have an easier time with plastic fenders, I've been able to squeeze them into tight stay clearances without having to cut them. I have seen tight rear brake bridge clearances dealt with by either running the fender OVER the rear caliper/bridge, or by cutting the fender into fore/aft halves and using a custom bracket to install the halves fore/aft of the caliper. I've seen photos of these fender hacks online, never saw one in the flesh, never tried anything this radical/involved myself.

You may be able to increase clearance under the caliper arms by using side- or centerpull calipers.

Using narrower tires will make the job easier, but will harshen the ride and give you less protection from pinch flats. I'm a believer in "the fatter the better" these days.

A more radical solution might be a 650b conversion, which might both let you use wider tires and fit fenders easier.

rokstar

yeah I'm not a huge fan of running tires any narrower than what I have now. But I have toyed with the idea of using 650b wheels. The opinions on this that I'm able to find online vary from "of course" to "that's the stupidest idea ever". Though one source I tend to trust seems to think this is a fine idea.

Most people seem concerned about the fact that you have to change the brakes... but that doesn't seem like that big of a deal at all. I would just find a decent pair of used long reach brakes.

I'm more worried about what happens to the bottom bracket distance to the ground -- I don't want to be scraping the pavement with my pedals.

pcb 

There are some who've tried 650b conversions and didn't like the handling, and there are frames that don't work well. I suppose it could be seen as not worth the bother, especially if you don't care about fatter tires and/or fenders. I have three 650b conversions, it worked really well on one, pretty well on one, and only passably on the third. It's all about how much fatter you can go with the rubber and the bb drop. The fatter the 650b tire gets, the closer the wheel is in diameter to the 700c wheel it replaces. So fatter rubber means less drop in bb height. Frames with higher bbs are less of an issue than frames with low bbs.

Switching brakes is always required, which, like you say, isn't a big deal. Unless you're talking cantis, which is usually a dealbreaker---conversion often means moving the canti mounts. Once you're talking a torch and repainting you have to really want/need it.

My best conversion is an '84 Marinoni Special, which was very tight with 700x28mm tires, maybe 23mm w/fenders max. Now it fits 35-36mm 650b tires with lots of fender room. This has become my rail-trail bike, handles really well with anything short of technical ATB-type trails. My moderately-successful conversion is an '80 Ron Stout Road, which was tight with 700x25mm tires. I can go up to 34mm or so w/650b, lots of fender room, bb didn't drop much. Tires are a little narrow for me for off-road, so it mostly sees road riding, very plush ride on asphalt. The least-successful conversion is a '96 Waterford 1200 with very tight clearances, barely fits 700x23mm. Even 650x32mm tires, the narrowest I can find, are tight at the chainstays, so it's pretty much road-only.

A 650b conversion of your Club Fuji would probably add a lot of versatility and fun. You'll need to do some measurements to figure out how wide you can go. The gold standard for 650b are the Hetres, 42mm of rubbery goodness, not many conversions can go that wide. I don't think you have a very low bb, so a small additional drop may not be a problem.

Stout pix:

rokstar

yeah I've done some more reading on this and I'm definitely thinking it's something worth trying. I don't think I'll need/want to go super wide, because the fuji will be exclusively used on city streets for the foreseeable future (I've got a full suspension mountain bike for other kinds of fun I've already gotten rid of the front derailleur and since I need to buy new wheels anyway I think I'm gonna put on a 3 or 5 speed internal hub. It's turning into an exciting project

trueno92

question, are these 700c wheels on here or are they 27"?

those frame clearances are pretty sweet, but if they are 27", going down to 700c will give you enough space for fenders!