bOsscO

Does anyone have a good (aka non-destructive) hack for attaching a rear fender to seatstays without a bolt hole? The aluminum frame has wishbone style seatstays and the fender has the tab to attach a bolt through the seatstay bridge but the frame has no bolt hole.

Unca_Sam

Is this a disc frame with no brake at the "bridge"? Are you installing full coverage fenders? Is there no bridge at the chainstays?

Usually the clearances on bikes constructed in such a manner aren't conducive to cramming something else between the tire and the brake bridge. A full fender (clearances permitting) will do fine with a solid mount at the front of the arc, and at the rear. You could clip or fasten the front of the fender to the seat tube, and have it float over the wheel until you get to the fender struts at the rear.

bOsscO

Nope frame only has canti posts.
Yes
No separate bridge; looks like the photo attached.



Lots of clearance available. What kind of clip/fastener would you recommend?

Wanderer

Zip ties, one around each leg, and one between the two, one hanging from that, thru the fender eye.

Unca_Sam

The brake cable looks like it'll interfere with mounting, can you use cantis?
Reason being, SKS and PDW will both recommend a full cm of clearance between the tread and the inside in the fender. You can do less, but I try to keep at least half that, or you'll hear every picked up bit of grit. The zip ties trick will work, but they'll need to be snug so bumps don't knock the fender into rubbing.

elcraft

Zip ties through carefully planned holes in the fenders should work. If you need to seal the holes, a little silicone caulk should work. If done right, you won’t even mar the paint...

hsuBM

Ugh, that looks a fair weather only bike. What a pain. The only no-rattle solution is to have some kind of metal artist or just a Machinist fabricate up a U-bracket to mount to the brake posts with a center hole for your fender. As mentioned in another post, it looks like v-brake clearance is minimal and whether you hack in a mount or have a nice gajobber made up, you’re going to want to swap to canti brakes... for which that frame probably doesn’t have an easy way to mount a cable hanger...

I think you probably need to be exploring options regarding either adding another bike to the collection or swapping that one for one which can take fenders.

Unca_Sam

Now, recognize that this is unsafe, but hear me out...

Do you use your rear brake?

Clearing the brake cable is much easier if it isn't there...


Now serious. I chose to ride a road frame paired with incorrect brakes for the klunker challenge for a single 113km ride. The rear brake the bike was built with was a Weinmann Vainqueur 999 750, but the bike came with a pair of Dia Compe's 610 copy when I got it. The reach was fine up front, but the farthest reach in the rear had the middle of the pads line up with the edge of the rim. So I set them up wide open so I couldn't blow out the sidewall if I used the rear brake like a numbskull. I was "forced" into the situation, but I'd bet you'd get along fine without the rear brake.


Best course would be to mount something like the sks raceblades, but you'd lose full coverage.

bOsscO

The photos at a bad angle. I have about 20mm from tire tread to V-brake cable so shouldn't need to switch to canti's (although I can).

bOsscO

I don't think my family will accept 'I'm having trouble easily mounting a rear fender so I need a new bike' as a valid argument to buy a new bike
However I like your idea about a metal U-bracket that mounts to the brake posts...like what the early suspension forks had (see pic below). Now to find one...

Kapusta

Perhaps you could install a brake booster like this one and use the hole on the top for a fender mount.

bOsscO

That's exactly what I was thinking. A fellow I ride with has one and may let me try it. Thanks.

ARider2

Zefal makes the Gizmo that offers a way to replicate a braze-on style mount using zip ties. Perhaps this can be used to provide a way to attach the fender...





Gizmo Universal - Universal bottle cage

Kapusta

You going to drill a hole at the top?

unterhausen

I like the brake booster idea. And as a really useless aside, Planet Bike (I think) includes something that allows you to use zip ties with some of their fenders.

bOsscO

Cool thanks. I think that could work if the seatstay yoke wasn't so far away from the rear tire and was a round tube shape. Solid maybe.

bOsscO

Yeah if the ridge is close enough to the rear tire, that would be the plan. Otherwise I could add a cross brace lower down with a hole in the middle for the mount.
ALL THE HOLES!!

Unca_Sam

Again, since you have the clearance you need to stuff a fender in there, you only need the rear stays and the front attachment, if you can make it solid (SKS uses clips for the chainstay bridge.
My Commuter/tourer uses a long bolt and a cork to space out the fender from the chainstay bridge for a proper shape. You could easily use one of those zip tie braze-ons to do the same. Stainless bolts are $0.50 a piece at my Ace Hardware.

bOsscO

Thanks yes I'll try connecting just the fender stays and at the chainstay bridge and see how it goes. I do like 3-points of contact though.

Kapusta

Show us a pic when you are done.

bOsscO

Yuh will do

thebigchin

Yep. That's exactly what I have done on my daily commuter.