thehugoball

Been struggling all day to try and make these VO fenders work with this late 70s Raleigh Record that I found in the trash. I assumed there would easily be enough clearance for fenders, but apparently not. I'm running 28mm Panaracer Paselas on 700c rims and the fenders are VO polished alloy 36mm 700c. The front fender clears the wheel, though not by a lot, but it's the rear wheel that has been driving me crazy. No matter what I do I can't seem to get the fender high enough to clear the tire and the brake bridge seems to be the reason. It's a 53cm frame, not some unusually large or small size frame. As you can see in the pictures, I used the included L bracket at the top of the fender to attach it to the brake bolt, and it's as high as it can go. With the wheel installed, it won't spin, and just rubs the underside of the fender. Clearance at the chainstay bridge isn't an issue, nor is it at the back of the fender, where the fender stays attach. Is it possible that this frame just cannot accept these fenders or am I doing something wrong? I have installed many SKS Chromoplasts in my day, but only one other metal fender, a Honjo, and it too was on an old Raleigh Record, albeit a much earlier one than this. Appreciate any insight.

Andrew R Stewart 

Not every bike we ride will fit the tires and fenders we wish for. The amount of clearance between the top of the rear fender and the underside of the brake bridge is pretty small so w=even if you loose the leather(?) spacer under the L bracket the fender will still be real close to the tire. You could then file the L bracket's slot a bit longer rill the fender contacts the bridge undersides (or the caliper's) and that will be all the gain of tire clearance you will ever see. Unless you split the fender into two parts, one that mounts behind the caliper and the other from the caliper to the chainstay bridge. One issue with metal fenders is that when they get real close to the calipers/bridges they can rattle over road bumps. Andy

3alarmer 

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^^^what Andy said. It looks like the problem is that you want to use that L bracket according to the instructions and unmodified. Fender mounting is all about intuitive use of what you have to accomplish the goal.


If it were me looking at those pictures, I think I might abandon that L bracket altogether, and make up something different out of a more flexible metal like plumbers tape. You could easily form up some of that pre-drilled metal strapping, and tie the fender directly to the brake bridge. Pad with old innertube rubber or something else to silence any rattles. If you do decide to keep the L bracket and just file the slot longer, you might need to shorten the brake bolt end because of interference with that nut. Might be easier to drill the fender and pop rivet that bracket onto the fender, thus eliminating the interfering nut.

thehugoball

That's a pretty good idea, thanks!

alcjphil

I would use a bridge clip instead of the L bracket

​​​​​​https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mudguard...d-bridge-each/

Pop N Wood

Looks like you have plenty of room. Modify that L bracket and the fenders will fit no problem.

JohnDThompson 

Looks like you could get a couple more millimeters of clearance if you ditched the L-bracket and secured the mudguard directly to the brake bridge. Drill a small hole in the underside of the bridge, and a matching hole in the mudguard where the mudguard would meet the bridge, and use a sheet metal screw to anchor the mudguard.

Either that, or use a lower profile tire.

Andrew R Stewart 

Unrelated to the fender's position is the common Raleigh brake bridge issue of it's reinforcing sleeve sticks out past the bridge OD on the back side. Note the gap between the curved brake washer and the bridge, you can see light there. I always felt this was one sign of less then ideal construction. Sure the sleeve helps reduce the bridge from being crushed but with it's end being proud of the tube the brake tends to not fit as well as it could. I've seen many of these sleeves not well brazed in place and thus rattle/move about. If one tries to file down the sleeve's end to better allow the curved washer to seat against the tube make sure the sleeve is well brazed. Andy

Wanderer

I would drill a hole the same size as the slot, as low as I could and stay on the flat. Then, take a round file, and open that slot to the hole. Shorten the bolt, and bolt it up as high as it will go. Done, and solved,