Fenders for a Q-45

[benphyr]

front of boom, bottom bracket, chainrings, chain, front derailleur, pedals, feet and cranks (and possibly any light that you have mounted there if it is in the way of spray, and maybe even more on the brakes if the splashing is really bad).

Heavy-medium steady rain will get you wet no matter what from above.
Sporadic rain showers and light rain as well as slush, snow, puddles, etc. after rain/snow/salt: If you don't have mudguards you will get as much coming up from below as coming down from above. So preventing upwards travelling water splashes and water being carried on the tires and then thrown up and back and up and forward is often more important than a rain jacket.

Not important on a DF of course but that bottom bracket and associated drive train bits on Cruzbike.. that is another story.

My opinions of course. Ride on!

 

[McWheels]

Here is my take. I'm using 2 fenders for the front. I hope the photos are self-explanatory.

That is completely how to do it!
View media item 207

 

[onmyback]

I live in Vancouver, Canada, which has similar weather to Seattle. My extended front mudguard keeps water/mud from;
- shooting at the top of my shoes, at the extreme of the pedal stroke. If the road is wet, but no rain is coming down, I try not to wear my rain gaiters.
- soaking the bottom bracket. On a DF bike, with fenders, bottom brackets only last about 1.5 to 2 seasons, due to spray from the front wheel.
- getting on the chain and chainring.

 

[dule0911]

Any opinions on 28' fenders on Q45, do they fit or there is just to much space between the tire and the fender? The radius is probably not quite right, but I see some models have "universal" sizes and fit 26-28' wheels, so wondering how they would fit. I'm using the stock tires.

I'm stuck not riding because I totally forgot to aquire fenders, and the rain came. Foolish mistake, now trying to get fenders asap to get back on the bike. Some of the fenders I find locally, which don't look like complete sh.. are for 28', so wondering if they will fit or not.

 

[onmyback]

Front;
You'll want a rear fender, or two joined front fenders, to get enough coverage to protect your feet and the crankset. You will need to extend the fork bracket, to get the front fender closer to the tire. If they're calling it a universal 26-28", it should have some give to it. Make the boom end bracket, so that it doesn't restrict adjustments to the boom length/X-seam length.

Rear;
I broke my initial rear fender, then broke the piece of steel that I reinforced it with. It seems that the severe up and down movement of the swing-arm is hard on fenders. A local shop turned me onto the SKS P55 Chromoplastic Longboard, which are very flexible, even in cold weather. I have yet to break it.

 

[billyk]

I broke my initial rear fender, then broke the piece of steel that I reinforced it with. It seems that the severe up and down movement of the swing-arm is hard on fenders.

I had this same problem and tried the same solution (reinforcement with an aluminum strip; see pics above) ... still broke it.

Then I went riding with the observant @Lief Zimmerman, who pointed out that my (air) shock was too soft and the seat post was hitting the fender on hard bumps! Keeping the shock pumped stiffer solved the problem once and for all.

 

[onmyback]

I had this same problem and tried the same solution (reinforcement with an aluminum strip; see pics above) ... still broke it.

Then I went riding with the observant @Lief Zimmerman, who pointed out that my (air) shock was too soft and the seat post was hitting the fender on hard bumps! Keeping the shock pumped stiffer solved the problem once and for all.

I had increased my OEM shock preload, quite a bit, when I was still breaking fenders, but there may still be enough travel. I'll have to check it out. I did give up on hanging my tail light from my rear rack, because the fender was hitting it on large bumps (my commute includes quite a few concrete slab streets).

 

[dule0911]

Great, thanks for the input guys! Bought a cheap second-hand set of 2 rear fenders + 1 front fender, to try and see how it will all work. After the trial & error I will decide on which new set to buy. SKS P55 Chromoplastic Longboard is from what I researched only available on amazon, I don't see it on the official SKS site for Europe, not sure if they still make them new. If not them, i will probably use some SKS with the extensions (those rubber mudflaps, from SKS or somewhere else, doesn't matter), since the other brands are not that easily accessible to me.
I will keep an eye on the rear wheel up/down movement to see if it hits anything, and try to mount the fender as close to the tyre as possible.
@omnyback
Did the comfort suffer after you've adjusted the preload? I really like the comfort of the stock shock, would hate to see it get worse because of the fender. But since I'm a bit on the heavy side, that will probably have to be a trade of to stay dry(ish) in the winter months.

 

[onmyback]

Great, thanks for the input guys! Bought a cheap second-hand set of 2 rear fenders + 1 front fender, to try and see how it will all work. After the trial & error I will decide on which new set to buy. SKS P55 Chromoplastic Longboard is from what I researched only available on amazon, I don't see it on the official SKS site for Europe, not sure if they still make them new. If not them, i will probably use some SKS with the extensions (those rubber mudflaps, from SKS or somewhere else, doesn't matter), since the other brands are not that easily accessible to me.
I will keep an eye on the rear wheel up/down movement to see if it hits anything, and try to mount the fender as close to the tyre as possible.
@omnyback
Did the comfort suffer after you've adjusted the preload? I really like the comfort of the stock shock, would hate to see it get worse because of the fender. But since I'm a bit on the heavy side, that will probably have to be a trade of to stay dry(ish) in the winter months.

Comfort didn't suffer, after increasing the preload.

 

[dule0911]

Here is my temporary fender solution. Drive wheel is one 28' no-name rear fender cut around the mounting point, the rear part of the wheel is a front SKS fender put underneath that one (forward of the mounting point). On the rear wheel, one standard SKS rear fender, for which I had to make another front support since the original support broke in the first bumpy 40km of riding. It was under tension, so I understand why it broke, hope this one will last.
Anyway, this is to get me through the winter, or maybe during the winter I will buy brand new fenders to replace these ones. Two rear ones should do the trick, I just need to add some ruber extensions on the rear par of each.