A Bike shop fitted some fenders for me, cable is rubbing the stay, is this safe or will it wear down the cable a bunch? Shall I just try bend it out the way? Thanks
Holy crap have they never fitted fenders before? That’s what the spacers are for in the kit. I’d demand a refund and have someone else do it correctly.
Edit: people downvoting this comment didn’t look at the second image.
dedolent on
classic reddit, making my comment disappear so i have to type it all out twice.
the part of the cable that’s contacting the fender is not under load, so even if it were damaged through contact (it won’t be), it wouldn’t affect the function of the brake.
as for the setup, there’s not much that can be done about how the stays are bent. i would’ve tried running the lower stay more straight to the fender, then trimmed off the excess, but some amount of bend would’ve been necessary. the upper stay must be bent to avoid the brake. one could’ve tried mounting to the mid-blade eyelets but that introduces its own problems. the other option is to try bending the drive side stays to match, for symmetry’s sake. but i don’t think it looks that bad and you’ll notice a big improvement the next time it rains.
Joker762 on
This is a bad job.
Back to the shop and have them spacer things out properly😮💨
zentim on
looking at picture 2 … wow, i would assume the stays are supposed to be cut to size, not randomly bent to fit?! id be pissed about this result.
[deleted] on
[removed]
case2150 on
Why would they not just mount the stays to the point in the middle of the fork?! Or use the spacer provided?
kiddredd on
There has to be a better way. Something that mounts on the other fork bosses?
vProTi on
Frankly, the shop did the best they could with those fenders. I’d say a complaint is warranted if these were the fenders they suggested for your bike. But if you brought them and asked them to fit them, they did a good job with what they had at hand.
Several posts here suggest spacers. Spacers are indeed a solution in many cases, but not in this one. The spacer would have to stick too far out to clear that mechanical caliper.
The fender is not pretty, but it’s functional. It keeps your feet wet, keeps dirt and grime away from the headset and keeps your chain cleaner. That’s what they are for!
Difficult-Antelope89 on
This is a botched job, if I ever say any. Unless you specifically told them not to use the mounting point in the middle of the fork, they should have used it. It’s very normal in modern bikes to use that bcs the low one interferes with the hydraulic brake.
Show them this, this is how they should have solved that problem, and demand your money back. What a shitty way to mount that fender. Either they didn’t want to do a proper job, or they ripped you off…
skjoe on
I would have mounted the fender struts to the mid blade mount to avoid the whole situation.
LocoCity1991 on
Fitting aftermarket fenders is always a hustle.
Mcdiglingdunker on
I don’t think there will be an issue. That said, when I did this I used a long screw and an m8 non threaded tube to bring it outside the caliper rather than bending them this way.
wheelstrings on
Here are the reasons why your fenders are installed like that:
1. Those SKS fender struts are not metal where they attach to the eyelet on the frame, and the angle of the top strut relative to the bottom strut is predetermined by the plastic housing. This would keep the mechanic from bending the top strut out of the way of the disc brake in a more astetically pleasing way.
2. Your Surly likely has clearance for 50mm tires or whatever, cuz that’s what Surly does. FFF! (Fatties Fit Fine)… Unfortunately, that often means that the struts that are included with the fenders barely reach the mounting bracket on the fender itself. Put too much of a bend in that top strut, and it’ll never reach the fender.
3. The mechanic who mounted these fenders decided that the fenders were safe and securely mounted. Concequently, they didn’t feel like having to explain to you why you’d have to buy new fender struts to get them to fit “just right”.
Area69_222 on
There’s no issue here, the piece of cable that rubs with the stay is not under load and if you are concerned about the rubbing you can try to get some type of protection for the fender support; something like a piece of duct tape, electrical tape or a piece hose around the area should be more than enough
SWL83 on
Wrap some tape around the cable
Or the fender. Dealers choice
coletassoft on
The cable is just fine, as long as the setup does not affect the return of the caliper.
Also, if anything is getting damaged, it’d be the stay.
YU_AKI on
The cable rubbing is fine, but the job overall isn’t pretty.
There’s a lot of argument about the bends in the stays; that could definitely be done better with shorter stays and cleaner bends.
People talking about avoiding spacers are neglecting to consider that SKS mudguards have a safety feature where the mudguard unclips if fouled, so it’s irrelevant. The spacers are absolutely fine to use in this kit.
We’re not even going to talk about the uneven clearance around the wheel. This could be done better but as it stands, it’ll work.
Ciryaquen on
It works, but that’s quite an ugly hackjob for a shop to send out the door.
If those were my fenders I’d have first tried mounting to the forward fork mount as that would have allowed more room to gently bend around both sides of the caliper instead of forcing both stays below the caliper. A spacer or two on the forward mount would have also helped with a very gentle bend clearing the caliper.
As others have mentioned, the mid-fork mount would have also allowed a cleaner install, although because of the fixed departure angle from the end fitting you’d still need to bend at least one of the stays to reach the fender attachment points.
Also, given that they decided to go with the rear fork mount and route beneath the caliper, they should have mounted the fender top attachment to the rear of the fork, not the front, as that would have reduced the magnitude of the bends on the stay. They basically picked the worst combination out of all the options that they had available.
2024Noname on
no worries, no danger. all ok mate
Dense_Application221 on
In this case you’re supposed to use the hole in the middle of the fork to mount fender brackets to clear the disc brakes. These fenders don’t look suited for that.
-HeyThatsPrettyNeat- on
Cable will be fine even it it does rub through
I personally would’ve just used the bottom stay, omitted the middle one, and then just found a way to mount the fender to the bosses on the fork. This just looks bad
Catalinbdr12 on
some people have too much time
Yiplzuse on
I always run my stays so they add protection to brakes etc. I also like sharp bends, this just looks like a quick job that will work. Just saw the second photo. Horrific. I would have bent them out and ran them over the brake. I think they may brake the fender if they get ice in them and vibrate.
Nervous-Rush-4465 on
Yes. Find a way to bend/route that cable away from contact with that stay. Right now, it is creating friction/drag on your braking mechanism.
deepstrut on
I’d just throw some gorilla clear repair tape around the stay (or 3M helicopter tape, but the gorilla stuff is cheaper) and then you don’t have to worry about rub
Life_Bid_9921 on
If it helps, the more I look at the weird bend stays… the more I kinda think I can live with them 🤷♂️
27 Comments
Holy crap have they never fitted fenders before? That’s what the spacers are for in the kit. I’d demand a refund and have someone else do it correctly.
Edit: people downvoting this comment didn’t look at the second image.
classic reddit, making my comment disappear so i have to type it all out twice.
the part of the cable that’s contacting the fender is not under load, so even if it were damaged through contact (it won’t be), it wouldn’t affect the function of the brake.
as for the setup, there’s not much that can be done about how the stays are bent. i would’ve tried running the lower stay more straight to the fender, then trimmed off the excess, but some amount of bend would’ve been necessary. the upper stay must be bent to avoid the brake. one could’ve tried mounting to the mid-blade eyelets but that introduces its own problems. the other option is to try bending the drive side stays to match, for symmetry’s sake. but i don’t think it looks that bad and you’ll notice a big improvement the next time it rains.
This is a bad job.
Back to the shop and have them spacer things out properly😮💨
looking at picture 2 … wow, i would assume the stays are supposed to be cut to size, not randomly bent to fit?! id be pissed about this result.
[removed]
Why would they not just mount the stays to the point in the middle of the fork?! Or use the spacer provided?
There has to be a better way. Something that mounts on the other fork bosses?
Frankly, the shop did the best they could with those fenders. I’d say a complaint is warranted if these were the fenders they suggested for your bike. But if you brought them and asked them to fit them, they did a good job with what they had at hand.
Several posts here suggest spacers. Spacers are indeed a solution in many cases, but not in this one. The spacer would have to stick too far out to clear that mechanical caliper.
The fender is not pretty, but it’s functional. It keeps your feet wet, keeps dirt and grime away from the headset and keeps your chain cleaner. That’s what they are for!
This is a botched job, if I ever say any. Unless you specifically told them not to use the mounting point in the middle of the fork, they should have used it. It’s very normal in modern bikes to use that bcs the low one interferes with the hydraulic brake.
https://preview.redd.it/me7lvzav3b0e1.png?width=737&format=png&auto=webp&s=52382b8b1549ab0bc9b5d31a722136083b5bb0e1
Show them this, this is how they should have solved that problem, and demand your money back. What a shitty way to mount that fender. Either they didn’t want to do a proper job, or they ripped you off…
I would have mounted the fender struts to the mid blade mount to avoid the whole situation.
Fitting aftermarket fenders is always a hustle.
I don’t think there will be an issue. That said, when I did this I used a long screw and an m8 non threaded tube to bring it outside the caliper rather than bending them this way.
Here are the reasons why your fenders are installed like that:
1. Those SKS fender struts are not metal where they attach to the eyelet on the frame, and the angle of the top strut relative to the bottom strut is predetermined by the plastic housing. This would keep the mechanic from bending the top strut out of the way of the disc brake in a more astetically pleasing way.
2. Your Surly likely has clearance for 50mm tires or whatever, cuz that’s what Surly does. FFF! (Fatties Fit Fine)… Unfortunately, that often means that the struts that are included with the fenders barely reach the mounting bracket on the fender itself. Put too much of a bend in that top strut, and it’ll never reach the fender.
3. The mechanic who mounted these fenders decided that the fenders were safe and securely mounted. Concequently, they didn’t feel like having to explain to you why you’d have to buy new fender struts to get them to fit “just right”.
There’s no issue here, the piece of cable that rubs with the stay is not under load and if you are concerned about the rubbing you can try to get some type of protection for the fender support; something like a piece of duct tape, electrical tape or a piece hose around the area should be more than enough
Wrap some tape around the cable
Or the fender. Dealers choice
The cable is just fine, as long as the setup does not affect the return of the caliper.
Also, if anything is getting damaged, it’d be the stay.
The cable rubbing is fine, but the job overall isn’t pretty.
There’s a lot of argument about the bends in the stays; that could definitely be done better with shorter stays and cleaner bends.
People talking about avoiding spacers are neglecting to consider that SKS mudguards have a safety feature where the mudguard unclips if fouled, so it’s irrelevant. The spacers are absolutely fine to use in this kit.
We’re not even going to talk about the uneven clearance around the wheel. This could be done better but as it stands, it’ll work.
It works, but that’s quite an ugly hackjob for a shop to send out the door.
If those were my fenders I’d have first tried mounting to the forward fork mount as that would have allowed more room to gently bend around both sides of the caliper instead of forcing both stays below the caliper. A spacer or two on the forward mount would have also helped with a very gentle bend clearing the caliper.
https://i.imgur.com/wFdGgI6.jpeg
As others have mentioned, the mid-fork mount would have also allowed a cleaner install, although because of the fixed departure angle from the end fitting you’d still need to bend at least one of the stays to reach the fender attachment points.
Also, given that they decided to go with the rear fork mount and route beneath the caliper, they should have mounted the fender top attachment to the rear of the fork, not the front, as that would have reduced the magnitude of the bends on the stay. They basically picked the worst combination out of all the options that they had available.
no worries, no danger. all ok mate
In this case you’re supposed to use the hole in the middle of the fork to mount fender brackets to clear the disc brakes. These fenders don’t look suited for that.
Cable will be fine even it it does rub through
I personally would’ve just used the bottom stay, omitted the middle one, and then just found a way to mount the fender to the bosses on the fork. This just looks bad
some people have too much time
I always run my stays so they add protection to brakes etc. I also like sharp bends, this just looks like a quick job that will work. Just saw the second photo. Horrific. I would have bent them out and ran them over the brake. I think they may brake the fender if they get ice in them and vibrate.
Yes. Find a way to bend/route that cable away from contact with that stay. Right now, it is creating friction/drag on your braking mechanism.
I’d just throw some gorilla clear repair tape around the stay (or 3M helicopter tape, but the gorilla stuff is cheaper) and then you don’t have to worry about rub
If it helps, the more I look at the weird bend stays… the more I kinda think I can live with them 🤷♂️