Fenders for 2020 S40?

[Casey Leonard]

I am having doubts about any typical fender fitting between front fork and tire...anyone else? 700x30. 2020 S40. I bought a set of planet bike ALX aluminum...ordered 43mm but received 35mm...they are against the tire enough that the tire will not move. Suggestions?

 

[velocio]

Source a previous model year S40's fork or move to 650B, which is what I did to get reasonable space for tires and fenders on my Gen 1 S40. Running 650B there's gobs of vertical room for a fast 38mm Schwalbe G-One Speed tire + P.B. ALX fenders in 45mm-ish. The fork crown is too narrow to fit the fenders without modification, but that's easy to work around compared to getting more room under the fork crown. It's my understanding, based on posts here on the forum, that the Gen 2 S40 fork better accommodates fenders than my Gen 1, with more space and decent attachment points for fender stay mounting.

Reports of the Gen 3 S40 fork's limited clearance strike me as an odd move for a bike marketed as being for all roads and all missions (i.e. loaded touring capable on rough roads in all weather), especially given the market's rapid movement towards road bikes with significantly more tire volume --- and, incidentally, more comfort, more flat protection, more grip in all weather and often more speed and better handling. A 700x30c tire is hardly large these days for what the market used to call a sport-touring bike. Is that an "adventure bike" now? Or, "road+"? Or, "all road"?

-Jack

 

[velocio]

Some friends have used these to install fenders on racy bikes where there isn't sufficient clearance under the fork for any sort of fender:
https://store.rivercitybicycles.com/product/river-city-bicycles-reacharound-fender-brackets-4486.htm
Here's a sample installation:


Better'n nothing, but strikes me as a kludge of the highest order and quite a shame to need to do that to a perfectly nice bike.

-Jack

 

[Mathew Fy]

If you don't want smaller wheels, then split fenders may work for you.
SKS makes the SpeedRocker that attaches to the fork struts.
You can cut your fenders and use this or that bracket to mount to the fork's center hole (like the installation shown in Jack's photo above.

 

[Casey Leonard]

Some friends have used these to install fenders on racy bikes where there isn't sufficient clearance under the fork for any sort of fender:
https://store.rivercitybicycles.com/product/river-city-bicycles-reacharound-fender-brackets-4486.htm
Here's a sample installation:
View attachment 9255

Better'n nothing, but strikes me as a kludge of the highest order and quite a shame to need to do that to a perfectly nice bike.

-Jack

I considered exactly what the picture is saying...haven’t heard from anyone I contacted yet.

 

[Casey Leonard]

Wheels have been on my mind, but didn’t want to do that until next season. It’s my first Cruzbike. Just trying to get things so I’m comfy.

 

[Robert Holler]

Sadly, yes the 2020 fork has less room than we all wanted for fenders in the 700c. The crown was changed to better match the head tube all in trying to keep the seat as low as possible for dual 700c - and it ended up a bit too tight with a 30c tire.

But definitely if you spring for 650b the result is a super peppy bike that you can have a much larger tire on if you want.

Also Race Blades work well for 700c up front attaching directly to the fork. Personally (my sole opinion as a rider) I have never found a front fender to be any good on any SWB recumbent of any brand unless you modify a rear fender for a "full wrap" (which then looks goofy AF) as a typical fender doesn't provide enough coverage and you wind up concentrating a stream of gunk right into your feet and into the air anyway which you then ride through... so fenders are always a real hassle up front.

 

[McWheels]

Goofy!! How very dare you sirrah!
View media item 206
Now, you might be right, but that doesn't make it ok

 

[Casey Leonard]

I

Sadly, yes the 2020 fork has less room than we all wanted for fenders in the 700c. The crown was changed to better match the head tube all in trying to keep the seat as low as possible for dual 700c - and it ended up a bit too tight with a 30c tire.

But definitely if you spring for 650b the result is a super peppy bike that you can have a much larger tire on if you want.

Also Race Blades work well for 700c up front attaching directly to the fork. Personally (my sole opinion as a rider) I have never found a front fender to be any good on any SWB recumbent of any brand unless you modify a rear fender for a "full wrap" (which then looks goofy AF) as a typical fender doesn't provide enough coverage and you wind up concentrating a stream of gunk right into your feet and into the air anyway which you then ride through... so fenders are always a real hassle up front.

I’ll try both ways. I ordered the mount that was pictured and was planning on cutting it up ...I’ll wait for a few rides and see how it goes. Thanks for the info.

 

[bladderhead]

Who cares about goofy? If you are on a recumbent you do not care about goofy. I care about the bike carrying its own weight in mud. The trouble I had with mudguards! I got a Silvio frame. The wheels I got were 700c. Then I started trying to put mudguards on. If I could have sent a message back in time, I would have told myself to get 650b. Or get those River City brackets. I ended up filing the fork crown. Even after that I had a terrible job fitting them. River City says "a perfectly good set of fenders will need to be cut. Your installation may require additional hardware.". No! Really?

I agree with @velocio. A tourer-commuter that cannot take mudguards?

I see that @McWheels has hydro. Was there a problem with the stays getting in the way of the callipers? And it looks like an IGH. What sort?

 

[bladderhead]

I'll try both ways

Leave that for the dating-websites.

 

[McWheels]

... I see that @McWheels has hydro. Was there a problem with the stays getting in the way of the callipers? And it looks like an IGH. What sort?

hydro? Those were mechanical calipers, but I do now have 180mm Clarks hydraulic. Again, still not problem. The stays are farmed away from trouble with a couple of velo-orange stay mounts.

IGH is a Sturmey-Archer X-RK8, paired with a 33T chainring & cranks for peanuts from the same people. It makes the watch-maker in me happy, but not the race-engineer.

 

[velocio]

Sadly, yes the 2020 fork has less room than we all wanted for fenders in the 700c. The crown was changed to better match the head tube all in trying to keep the seat as low as possible for dual 700c - and it ended up a bit too tight with a 30c tire.

There are always tradeoffs... It's an especially tough design challenge to make a "one size fits most" frame. It's like having to design a single pair of jeans that fit waists from 26" - 46", inseams from 26" to 36" and appeal to people who like painted-on skinny jeans as well as folks who prefer the droopy drawers "gangster" fit. Good luck with that Calvin Klein...

Robert, on my Gen 1 fork I have plenty of room betwixt top of 650B tire and fork "crown" (it's a unicrown fork, so it doesn't really have a crown, but you know what I mean), but the space between the fork legs is too narrow to fit a 45mm wide fender. Does the Gen 2 fork have more width near the top to more easily fit a fender? If so, is the Gen 2 fork reasonably interchangeable with my Gen 1 fork? If so, is the Gen 2 fork available for purchase?

But definitely if you spring for 650b the result is a super peppy bike that you can have a much larger tire on if you want.

I didn't necessarily want all that much bigger of a tire, but I did want a fast tire that was comfortable to tour with on less than perfect pavement -- and be able to flat foot at stops. I'm very happy with my 650B'ed S40, other than the "fork too narrow for fenders" thing. As bike mods go this is about as easy as it gets -- just remove 700C wheels and pop in 650B. Your conversion to 650B is now complete, stand back to admire your work, then raise a cold one to celebrate the prowess of your wrenching abilities.

Also Race Blades work well for 700c up front attaching directly to the fork. Personally (my sole opinion as a rider) I have never found a front fender to be any good on any SWB recumbent of any brand unless you modify a rear fender for a "full wrap" (which then looks goofy AF) as a typical fender doesn't provide enough coverage and you wind up concentrating a stream of gunk right into your feet and into the air anyway which you then ride through... so fenders are always a real hassle up front.

Fenders attached with rubber bands? Meh ... Installing the back fender on the front doesn't look goofy at all to me, it actually looks appropriate to the task. But, I admit my "goofy detector" may not be all that accurate or precise. I don't wear socks with sandals, but it doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

-Jack K.
Raleigh, NC

 

[chicorider]

Hi Jack,

I also have a 1st generation S40, running 650B wheels with 38 tires and a wide fender. I marked where the fender crosses through the fork, took the fender to my bench vise and put a slight inward bend between the marks by giving the fender a little squeeze. It didn't take much and it works great. And since the bend is between the fork blades, you can't even see it.

 

[bladderhead]

Fenders attached with rubber bands? Meh..

My front mudguard is fixed on with fencewire. Goofy enough for you?

 

[velocio]

Hi Jack,

I also have a 1st generation S40, running 650B wheels with 38 tires and a wide fender. I marked where the fender crosses through the fork, took the fender to my bench vise and put a slight inward bend between the marks by giving the fender a little squeeze. It didn't take much and it works great. And since the bend is between the fork blades, you can't even see it.

Craig,

Sounds like you're running metal fenders, which ones? I bought a set of plastic SKS's before I realized how much I'd need to chop away to get them under the fork. I've done that before, but it results in a pretty significant loss of structure and additional flex in the fender. More recently I acquired some of the Planet Bike ALX aluminum fenders, but haven't played with mounting them yet. My thinking so far was to squash them, as you did, rather than remove material. My livingroom/workshop doesn't have a bench vise though, so I'll be doing that surgery with a pair of pliers wrapped in old inner tubes. It's not the preferred method of doing that, but one has to work with the tools one has. Plus, anytime one can MacGyver something using old inner tubes it's well worth doing in my view.

-Jack

 

[chicorider]

Hi Jack,

Ah, yes. Plastic doesn't squish so well. I am using Velo Orange Zeppelin 52mm fenders. Any aluminum fender should squish just fine, even with pliers. I am certainly familiar with the work-with-what-you-got code. Good luck, MacGyver. You got this.