Leather mudflap - inside or outside fender?
09-26-18, 07:38 AM
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Leather mudflap - inside or outside fender?
I bought a leather flap to install on the front fender of my ANT and am unsure whether it would be better on the inside or outside of the fender, although I generally feel like it would look a bit better on the inside. Black on black.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
09-26-18, 07:48 AM
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Inside.
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09-26-18, 07:52 AM
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coincidence ... was just looking at DIY mudflaps! & saw so many in & out. no one seemed to mention a functional difference so maybe it's a personal aesthetic choice 
'tis the season for flaps. please share before/after pics & product links, if you don't mind. thanks!
'tis the season for flaps. please share before/after pics & product links, if you don't mind. thanks!
09-26-18, 09:29 AM
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Personal pref and fender/tire clearance. My Shogun with Walnut Studio flaps. Like ollo_ollo, I have a Grand Jubilee I'm about to put flaps on, clearance is tight there so those will be mounted on the outside.
Last edited by PilotFishBob; 09-26-18 at 09:32 AM. Reason: Added note
09-26-18, 10:06 AM
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If you do not have toe overlap, the flap sooner or later will see your foot try to scrape it off if you run it outside. Now, running it inside means the fender must be further back and you will hit it more often, but the scrape will do much less damage.
Edit: I like inside both for less damage and because it curls the flap nicely. (But that curl sets up wind vortices and will cause less than stiff enough front fenders to oscillate. The Planet Bike fenders with just one set of stays are especially bad for this. (Yes, the factory installed flaps don't cause this, but those flaps are just toys.)
Ben
Edit: I like inside both for less damage and because it curls the flap nicely. (But that curl sets up wind vortices and will cause less than stiff enough front fenders to oscillate. The Planet Bike fenders with just one set of stays are especially bad for this. (Yes, the factory installed flaps don't cause this, but those flaps are just toys.)
Ben
Last edited by 79pmooney; 09-26-18 at 10:12 AM.
09-26-18, 10:16 AM
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There seem to be pro and cons for both methods. Inside looks better, to my eye, but has less clearance. Also, water thrown up by the tire will seep between the fender and flap and run down the outside of the flap. With the flap on the outside, anything thrown up by the tire will run off the fender and onto the inside of the flap. So, I guess inside looks better, outside is more practical.
09-26-18, 10:47 AM
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GB mudflaps come with fasteners that I don't think would work if you mounted them on the inside of the fender.
09-26-18, 11:01 AM
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+1 on inside, but really for looks only. Performance-wise there are pros and cons to each, as stated above.
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09-26-18, 02:50 PM
#11
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Inside looks nicer if you have the clearances. Be careful, though - I had pretty good clearances with a mud flap on VO fender so I mounted it on the inside. However, there was some flex in the front fender when putting too much weight on one side of the handlebar which caused the front tire to rub against the leather flap under load (e.g., one hand on a brake lever while reaching into a handlebar bag). This caused a sharp pitched creak that resulted in almost a half a year of bike tweaking (adjusting headset, lubing seatpost, etc) before I realized it was the mud flap rubbing. I'd really like to have those 6 months of my life back.
09-26-18, 09:39 PM
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09-27-18, 07:33 AM
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got a black mouspad & some binder clips I'm gonna try soon ... I have other work to do on the fenders so I'll wait for my small parts to arrive
09-27-18, 08:45 AM
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Possibly a new topic: For the rear wheel on my fendered bike, I want a long, skinny mudflap. I have leather on the front and would like leather on the front. I've seen a product for this purpose on V-O, but none anywhere else. Anybody known of another brand of long rear mudflap?
09-27-18, 08:49 AM
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Possibly a new topic: For the rear wheel on my fendered bike, I want a long, skinny mudflap. I have leather on the front and would like leather on the front. I've seen a product for this purpose on V-O, but none anywhere else. Anybody known of another brand of long rear mudflap?
& see post#15 here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/long-dist...uld-i-get.html
09-27-18, 09:37 AM
#16
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Gorilla Tape and stick it good inside and outside. Regular duct tape comes in lots of colors. If you do something crazy like riding your show bike in the rain that nice leather is going to get all sodden and discolored.
09-27-18, 09:49 PM
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It doesn't show much in the pic above, but my rear flap is long & skinny. Found a good selection to choose from in the men's belts at the Olympia, WA Goodwill and then cut it to shape. Found one that was same thickness as the GB front flap.
Maybe sacrilege to some but when I butchered a B17 for the Jubile, I cut a small front flap for my touring bike from one of the side scraps. Producing a Brooks mud flap. Don
Maybe sacrilege to some but when I butchered a B17 for the Jubile, I cut a small front flap for my touring bike from one of the side scraps. Producing a Brooks mud flap. Don
09-28-18, 03:08 PM
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10-15-18, 12:15 PM
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if there's enough water, don't think it matters whether it's in or out of the fender, cuz the water is gonna go around the flap
