Two Wheels - Six Strings

Random news and thoughts about various two-wheeled projects and music, especially my band, Skull Full Of Blues.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Fender Adjustment

 I had a bunch of stuff that I needed to carry to work, yesterday, so I mounted up the bags and took the Mukluk.  I figured the fat bike would work well with the heavy load (I was right) and it had the rack on it, already.


Once I got to work, I got out my plastic welding kit and used the forced-hot-air "torch" to heat the fender almost to the point of melting, where it passes under the fork crown.  I was then able to raise the leading edge of the fender in a permanent manner.  This gives me a bit more room between the tire and the fender.  I hope that will prevent snow from packing up and stopping the wheel, when the time comes.

As a side note:  It seems really odd to me that there are no commercially-available fenders for these bikes.  I know it is a niche market, but Surly is owned by QBP, the largest bicycle parts distributor in the U.S.  Salsa markets a dozen different handlebars with their brand on them, but no fenders for a line of bikes which has an entry-level price point over $1500.00.  It just seems to me that these bike/parts manufacturers are missing the boat on the whole fender question...

x

6 Comments:

At 6:05 AM , Blogger Pondero said...

Hey, Jon, have you seen this?

http://www.pugsley-on-patrol.org.uk/equipment/mudguards.htm

Might not be the ideal solution, but with your knowledge of motorcycles, fatbikes, and with your DIY skills, you might like it pretty well.

 
At 6:16 AM , Blogger Jon said...

Chris: That is basically what I did, except that I used the plastic welder instead of a hot-air stripper to make the final adjustment on the front.

On the rear, the knobby tire and front derailleur take up a lot of room, leaving too little clearance to run the fender down to the bottom bracket area. find another suitable fender, I have an idea of how to get around that, now...

 
At 6:29 AM , Blogger Pondero said...

Ah yes, I didn't study your set-up close enough. I should have known you'd be all over this.

 
At 9:30 AM , Blogger Brad said...

http://mkfenders.blogspot.com/

http://www.ridepdw.com/goods/fenders

http://fatbikes.com/fat-tire-fenders.html

But I think these are the ticket! I saw this outside REI:

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/337848_4142131105258_2069463449_o.jpg

 
At 3:24 PM , Blogger Jon said...

I think the custom-built wooden fenders are cool, but I worry about their durability (and the price!). The mountain-bike style two-pice fenders don't get good reviews, and i don't much care for the looks of them.

I guess I should edit my little rant to specify "affordable, full-coverage" fenders.

I might end up with a coroplast (campaign sign) rear fender, just to try and get a little more bottom bracket protection, though...

 
At 9:09 AM , Blogger Wilson said...

Nevertheless...just a great looking bike!

 

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