How do you deal with disc brakes and fenders?
01-15-19, 01:27 PM
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How do you deal with disc brakes and fenders?
We love our disc brakes, but they have made a mess of trying to attache fenders. So far in back we have been able to attach our old fender and rear bike rack, but only through the use of extra long bolts and hollow tubes to spring out the rear rack enough to clear the rear disc brake.
Last edited by since6; 01-15-19 at 01:34 PM.
01-15-19, 01:32 PM
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On the front we have had to do the same, and cut off part of the cheap plastic fender.
Long term fender solution for the front to allow clearance will be to have Bill Stevenson our tandem builder make a custom from rack that will allow sufficient clearance under the rack for a Honjo fender. But front and back while these solutions work, I don't like the weakness inherent in a rack not anchored tight against the fork/rear drop out brazeons. If we were to ever carry our weekly food shopping home in panniers I don't know how well this set up would last.
How have you solved the problem of Disc Brakes and clearance for either fenders or in the case of the rear rack, rack attachment to the bike frame?
Thanks for your thoughts and advice.
Long term fender solution for the front to allow clearance will be to have Bill Stevenson our tandem builder make a custom from rack that will allow sufficient clearance under the rack for a Honjo fender. But front and back while these solutions work, I don't like the weakness inherent in a rack not anchored tight against the fork/rear drop out brazeons. If we were to ever carry our weekly food shopping home in panniers I don't know how well this set up would last.
How have you solved the problem of Disc Brakes and clearance for either fenders or in the case of the rear rack, rack attachment to the bike frame?
Thanks for your thoughts and advice.
01-15-19, 07:09 PM
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We have a Topeak built for disc brakes on our tandem. It steps out the rack to clear the rest disc but keeps the fixing bolt close,you reach into the extension to tighten the normal length bolt.
I'd love the see pictures of your bike. Love seeing folks custom builds.
I'd love the see pictures of your bike. Love seeing folks custom builds.
01-17-19, 06:11 AM
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We love our disc brakes, but they have made a mess of trying to attache fenders. So far in back we have been able to attach our old fender and rear bike rack, but only through the use of extra long bolts and hollow tubes to spring out the rear rack enough to clear the rear disc brake.
Love the color of your bike, wouldn't mind seeing a full picture.
01-17-19, 09:09 AM
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Is this the Topeka Rack that clears disc brakes? It is the Uni Super Tourist DX (Disc) ? Do they make a similar rack for the front? I did not see one on the website. Are there other brands that make racks, Tubus,etc. I should consider too? What do your do for a front pannier rack? Thanks for sharing as now that I know there is a commercial solution I can show this to our tandem builder and see about having him build us custom racks (they're almost too beautiful to use). Thanks
01-17-19, 09:39 AM
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Per your request and thanks for help here's a little walking tour of our Stevenson Custom Tandem. One thing you will notice is that the stoker brace goes contrary to the normal slant direction this was an intentional design choice to make this a very strong/stiff frame by creating an additional triangular bracing (we are currently a heavy tandem, working on that). So this is a very strong frame, but at speed crossing rootlet bumps/bridge edges we notice little shock as the frame does that wonderful steel thing and absorbs the shock. We love the ride of this tandem. We also went with 650B wheels and ventured out to 32mm tires, largest until then had been 28mm, WoW this made a big difference and actually faster over real road chip surfaces, again absorbs road chatter rather than your body.
Missing seats? We take them off to have them for Spin Class, nothing better than your own.
Missing seats? We take them off to have them for Spin Class, nothing better than your own.
01-17-19, 09:41 AM
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Examples of Bill's incredible work, dual plate fork lug and lug work on the fork tubes.
01-17-19, 09:45 AM
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More examples of Bill's work, internally routed brake cable through both Captain and Stoker's top tube.
01-17-19, 09:49 AM
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Last guilty pleasures, the top picture is of a custom made extension for the Stoker and the bottom two pictures are of a custom made stem for my Stevenson Custom road bike. Not only is Bill a master builder he has found similar craft masters in chroming and painting/powder coating. Plus he's a really great person too.
(oops, pictures are great ways to remind you to get out the polisher and clean things up LOL)
01-17-19, 11:31 AM
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Is this the Topeka Rack that clears disc brakes? It is the Uni Super Tourist DX (Disc) ? Do they make a similar rack for the front? I did not see one on the website. Are there other brands that make racks, Tubus,etc. I should consider too? What do your do for a front pannier rack? Thanks for sharing as now that I know there is a commercial solution I can show this to our tandem builder and see about having him build us custom racks (they're almost too beautiful to use). Thanks
A real smart looking bike. Love the color.
01-17-19, 12:25 PM
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not a tandem rider & never been known for elegance, but FWIW this is is how I got around the problems of rack & fender stays with disk brakes
seatpost rack w additional custom DIY rack stays
rear left attaches to frame via a common compression clamp. fender attaches to frame & rack
rear right attaches to the drop as per usual
for the front I made my own giant compression clamps from metal strapping. I would later try some premade but they didn't fit as well. been torturing these & they have been holding up perfectly, even if they're not pretty
a slice of rubber helps snug them up for perfect tension/tightness
front fender stay quick release attaches right to them
several months later they're holding up great
I added some clearance & evened out the fender line
the green zip ties are holding the computer sensor
seatpost rack w additional custom DIY rack stays
rear left attaches to frame via a common compression clamp. fender attaches to frame & rack
rear right attaches to the drop as per usual
for the front I made my own giant compression clamps from metal strapping. I would later try some premade but they didn't fit as well. been torturing these & they have been holding up perfectly, even if they're not pretty
a slice of rubber helps snug them up for perfect tension/tightness
front fender stay quick release attaches right to them
several months later they're holding up great
I added some clearance & evened out the fender line
the green zip ties are holding the computer sensor
Last edited by rumrunn6; 01-17-19 at 12:38 PM.
01-18-19, 08:10 AM
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Is this the Topeka Rack that clears disc brakes? It is the Uni Super Tourist DX (Disc) ? Do they make a similar rack for the front? I did not see one on the website. Are there other brands that make racks, Tubus,etc. I should consider too? What do your do for a front pannier rack? Thanks for sharing as now that I know there is a commercial solution I can show this to our tandem builder and see about having him build us custom racks (they're almost too beautiful to use). Thanks
01-18-19, 08:17 AM
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I was looking around the internet for other front rack options and was pretty sure Tubus had a solution for disc brakes. What I wasn't prepared for is when I clicked on The Touring Store the banner has them closing at the end of business today. https://thetouringstore.com/
My wife and I are planning some more extended touring once we retire at the end of next year and this site as been a great resource as we dream and plan. I wish them the best in this tough environment.
My wife and I are planning some more extended touring once we retire at the end of next year and this site as been a great resource as we dream and plan. I wish them the best in this tough environment.
01-18-19, 08:59 AM
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Wow, another quality product gone. 
01-18-19, 09:26 AM
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01-18-19, 12:56 PM
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Thanks Paul J we hope to get out for a summer of rides once I get past now two surgeries. Ah yes, Life, what an adventure! 
01-18-19, 05:43 PM
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Planet Bike fender stay clears front BB7 with creative bending on one of my single bikes. Also, plastic spacers on screws between fork and stay ends.
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Bacchetta Giro A20, RANS V-Rex, RANS Screamer
Bacchetta Giro A20, RANS V-Rex, RANS Screamer
Last edited by JanMM; 01-20-19 at 04:28 PM.
01-20-19, 09:27 AM
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Thanks all for advice and suggestions.
01-25-19, 05:18 PM
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If you intend to carry loads on the rear rack I would recommend that you keep a close eye on your attachment point to the frame. There will be high impact torque applied when you hit bumps and may lead to bending and metal fatigue failure of either the mounting tab on the rack or the eyelet on the frame. For your rack, as designed, you only have to contend with shear forces against the mounting bolt In your implementation most of the impact forces will been seen as torque applied to both attachment points. If you look at racks made to clear disc brakes, such as the Topeak mentioned above, they all have a very beefy mounting structure which is stronger than the moment arm torque seen for this very reason. Topeak did their customers a niceity by recessing the mounting hole to allow reuse of the commonly available mounting bolt. They needed the structure strength anyway.
Love the color of your bike, wouldn't mind seeing a full picture.
That said, your solution to fender mounting looks just fine. No problem spacing the mounting point outward since fenders have no real loads associated with them.
And your bike is a thing of beauty! Thanks for including the close-ups of the wonderful lug work and fillet brazing. Truly wonderful. Fenders? You're going to take that beauty out into the rain???? (I kid. But still, I hope you waxed the paint and used tube prep before building!)
02-03-19, 09:57 PM
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Planet Bike Cascadia bike fenders - 26" x 60mm (silver)
We ride our DaVinci Grand Junction every morning. So, when it's wet out, the stoker gets a stripe up her back. I am thinking about adding Planet Bike Cascadia bike fenders - 26" x 60mm (silver). We have a rear rack. But, the frame has eyes where fenders could attach. We have a kickstand that has 2 prongs that raise the rear tire off the ground. That's what I use to pull the rear wheel to replace the tube.
If I install fenders, is it going to make it harder to pull and replace the rear wheel?
If I install fenders, is it going to make it harder to pull and replace the rear wheel?
02-04-19, 08:37 AM
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We ride our DaVinci Grand Junction every morning. So, when it's wet out, the stoker gets a stripe up her back. I am thinking about adding Planet Bike Cascadia bike fenders - 26" x 60mm (silver). We have a rear rack. But, the frame has eyes where fenders could attach. We have a kickstand that has 2 prongs that raise the rear tire off the ground. That's what I use to pull the rear wheel to replace the tube.If I install fenders, is it going to make it harder to pull and replace the rear wheel?
03-21-19, 12:32 PM
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fender install help requested
I got a pair of silver Planet Bike Cascadia bike fenders - 26" x 60mm for our DaVinci Grand Junction. They look okay. There are mounting holes midway on the front fork (see pic) and eyes down by the end of the fork. The directions call for attachment to the eyes using the supplied spacers (see pic) to work around the disc brakes. Would it be easier and better to attach to the mounting holes midway on the front fork? Also, does anyone have any suggestions about attaching the rear fender. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Last edited by jethro00; 03-21-19 at 06:44 PM. Reason: pic issue
03-21-19, 05:12 PM
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I use the Disco Rack Spacers from Perennial Cycle. They come in for lengths. (17mm 21mm 25mm 28mm) You put them in with a 10mm wrench and screw your rack or fender to them. They are made out of SS and not hollow like a tube.
