rasmith3530

Hopefully, someone has encountered this and worked around it when trying to mount fenders on their bike. I have a 1991 Schwinn CrossCut hybrid bike and a set of SKS fenders to install on it. My problem involves the mounting of the rear fender. On most bikes, the brace between the seat stays is drilled in such a way that the fender's bracket can be bolted up easily. In the case of this bike however, it appears that the brace was drilled 90 degrees opposite and appears to be threaded on the side of the tube facing the tire tread. Has anyone seen something like this and what did you do to work around it?

Rob

FastJake

Are the fenders metal? If so could you drill a hole in them and run a bolt directly through the bridge and the fender? This would probably be the cleanest option IMO.

Since fenders always seem to end up being a "custom" install I have a sheet of stainless steel that's thin enough to easily cut, bend, and drill holes in. Very simple brackets can be fabricated to make just about anything fit.

CACycling

You could get a small "L" bracket and bolt it under the bridge with one end of the "L" pointing upwards at the back of the bridge them bolt the bracket to that.

TimmyT 

You could also use a really fat zip tie (zap strap, whatever you call them) or wire and lace it through, and be done with it. The bracket might be the surest bet.

BobLoblaw

+1 for a zip tie. Plenty strong enough to be a permanent solution.

BL

fietsbob

If the bolt hole faces the tire , you put a hole in the mudguard
and run a bolt thru it to the hole in the brace. [duh]

rasmith3530

The fenders are that shiny black plastic material. These ones are by SKS but I've seen similar products by Planet Bike and Bontrager as well. I'm a little bit leery about drilling through the fender for fear of it cracking, but the "L" bracket or Zip tie solutions might be workable. Thanks for the replies.

AEO

the shiny black plastic is made from polycarbonate.
polycarbonate is very hard to crack from drilling. The only way to actually crack it is to make a scratch mark, with a box cutter and then really bend it along the scratch line.

SKS raceblades use self tapping screws for permanent affixing to the supports, for instance.

MichaelW

SKS chromoplastic doesnt crack and screwing it directly into the threaded hole is a common method. My black rear fender has been mounted this way for 4 years.
Drill at least 1.5cm from the tip. Pick the drill size to be a tight fit for the bolt. Use a washer.
If an allen bolt stands out too much and interferes with the tyre, use a panhead bolt.

On normal chainstay bridges (lacking the threaded hole), I discard the fixing bracket altogether and use a small ziptie through a small hole, 1cm from the fender tip, wrapped around the bridge. Again, this fixing is very durable and lasts for years.

fuji86

Always hated fenders, just made cleaning the bike a little more work and water. And it never stopped them from rusting. Plastic ? I'd opt for the seat post mounted mud flap for an mtb. You're gonna get a little dirty riding a bike, same goes for a moped, scooter or motorcycle. I guess in the snow, wear a cheap plastic rain coat or poncho over the outside of your clothing ?

rasmith3530

The place where I'm having the issue is actually the bridge on the seat stay. The bridge on the chain stay actually has a small bracket for this purpose.

Over the years, I've been to 44 states on motorcycles, so I'm no stranger to riding in the rain, and generally, the only time my motorcycle would be down was the period between Chicago's Toys For Tots run and Daytona Motorcycle Speed Week, which I would ride to, on a 1949 FLH.

Just trying to keep from getting that nice stripe up my back! ;-)

TimmyT 

Fenders (particularly the front one) also keep crud off your drivetrain. Someone posted about using a plastic light mount bracket for a rear bicycle light. That person drilled a hole through it and mounted it to one of the inside seat stays to attach the fender. This could work, too.

MichaelW

The std seatstay bridge bracket is a piece of metal that you bend around to grip the fender. You slide it along to the correct position then press hard on the bent tabs to grip the fender tightly.
The bracket has a slot for the brake bolt so you can adjust the height and clearance.
You use the same bracket at the fork as well but you sometimes have to bend the slotted tab out the way of the lower headset race.