# An All Purpose "How Do I Get Fenders/A Rack On This" Thread.



## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

I've seen a hand full of suggestions. a lot of ideas. scattered through out this forum and the net.

But not all of it on one place. So I'm going to ask that we perhaps funnel what we've learned/use into this thread?

In my Case I'm trying to fit high coverage, wheel tucked fenders and a pannier rack on a Soma Groove. Nothing I've found has made me satisfied yet.


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## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

It has the braze-ons. Use a Topeak disc rack and just bolt the fender on. Maybe attach the fender to the rack with P-clamps if you don't want to share the hole.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

Topeak racks dont fit this frame. they also dont fit around the brake to REACH the Braze on's. No Braze on fenders I've found actually fit in any sense. because the caliper sits THAT close.

My Soma Front fork has NO Braze on's. it also has the brake mounted in such a way that it would not be easy to put P clamps.

I dont want high in the sky MTB fenders. and I want my nearly 2,000 dollar bike to look good. so rigging randomly isn't ideal for me.


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

Rear fender:

I had to clear a rack on a bike much the same situation you have with the rear caliper. I used a short stainless straight piece obviously with holes in each end and nice allen head hardware. Looking classy is in the details.

Front:

Looked at your pics and they don't help me. Can you provide photo of the fork sides and the crown front, rear, & bottom above the tire?

Rack:

Nice top of seat stay mounting points. I assume the right side is not an issue

Clearance for Disc Brake:

OMM Red Rock Disc Adaptor Kit 5mm | OMM Accessories | Bike Bag Shop

Moving the mount outboard puts some strain on the mount, so keep the weight below 50 pounds. No carrying girlfriends, like you can with a Wald rack.

Another source of hardware: Fit Solutions for Tubus Bicycle Bike Racks

Some of the front rack mounts might work for the front fender? That was a quick googling, it was not exhaustive, if you don't like you can look some more. Hope this helps.

BrianMc


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

what fenders are these and do they come in larger coverages?!


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Clip-on fenders are made by a few different companies. Mine are Planet Bike. SKS Raceblades are the standard. They're more expensive but better regarded. Clip on fenders are somewhat fiddly and while you can get a little more coverage than the ones in the picture, you're not going to get anything that compares to bolt-on fenders. They're also not especially secure, and I found that adding mud flaps to mine has given them an annoying tendency to sway when the bike is not absolutely stable. Since they're on a road bike I use for training, it's often swaying, swinging around, etc. I find that more permanent, bolt on fenders are better for riding "like I mean it," but since I already have the race blades and I'd just as soon ride that bike fenderless when weather permits, I haven't bought a set for it. The fenders on my commute bike are the semi-permanent kind, that bolts on, and I can get out of the saddle and hammer with no rubbing; I also haven't had to mess with them in months.

I have SKS Shockblades for my mountain bike that are on it for most of the winter. They keep my upper body dryish and cleaner, and they don't catch on things off-road. That's another option, but IME not nearly as satisfactory if I want to ride, stay dry, and I'm not worried about something catching between the tire and a close fender, or between a spoke and a fender stay.

News 2011/2012 - SKS Germany

Solve the rack problem yet?


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

found an avenvir rack that attaches to the seatstays with p clamps and has a higher capacity that a seatpost rack.

I know that I want tucked, metal fenders. but I just cant get happy with the mounting options... Or jerry rigging options for them. I am getting closer to doing shockblades. but outside of my aesthetic issues... this is a city bike. and I feel like fenders that high up will just be big air brakes that get in my way.


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## Bokchoicowboy (Aug 7, 2007)

Agwan said:


> Topeak racks dont fit this frame. they also dont fit around the brake to REACH the Braze on's. No Braze on fenders I've found actually fit in any sense. because the caliper sits THAT close.
> 
> My Soma Front fork has NO Braze on's. it also has the brake mounted in such a way that it would not be easy to put P clamps.
> 
> I dont want high in the sky MTB fenders. and I want my nearly 2,000 dollar bike to look good. so rigging randomly isn't ideal for me.


You have tried the Topeak _disc specific_ racks? How does it not fit? Is the disc offset mount not long enough, or is it too large a diameter and gets in the way of the caliper? I have used the Super tourist disc specific rack on several disc brake mountain framed bikes with no problem.

One one bike, for the fenders I got a set of Planet Bike Speedez ATB Fenders to use on a bike with only one rear braze-on (that the rack was occupying) and no front fork fender braze-ons (Rock Shox Judy suspension fork). I was able to set the rubber mounting pad in a location out of the way of the front and rear brake calipers and still have a solid mounting. In the case of the front fork, the mounting "pad" was located right above the brake caliper, which was out of the way well enough.

Remember, you can adjust the fender supports by adjusting the screw attachments at the fender as well as bending the supports to work with your frame and fork shape. Someone commented the type of mounting speedeze style fenders have is not solid, and I agree the rubber-band straps are not the best, but once you have your location for the mounts dialed in you can use zip ties to get a pretty solid attachment.

These fenders have pretty good coverage. I think the Planet Bike Cascadia I have covers a little bit better, but these were no slouch, keeping wet road mung off me very well when riding in the rain.

And as far as where the fenders sit above the tire, that is entirely up to you. I was running WTB pathway and Continental Travel Contact tires with these. I might have even been able to squeeze in my WTB Weirwolf tires if I needed to. I dont like the :airbrake" type of mounting position, so I had the fenders within about a half inch or less over the tires. Covered fine, looked really clean. I did add something not in the basic kit that comes with the tires for mounting though. Planet bike includes a mount that attaches to the rear fender by clipping onto it's sides and then bolting to the brake-bridge style crossmember that runs between most frame's seatstays. Standard stuff. The front they had directions to just run a zip-tie through the mounting hole at the top of the fork to the holes in the fender. I did not like the little shimmy that loose mounting caused, so I got an extra clip mount like used on the rear and mounted the front fender with that. Solid freakin mount with that installed.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

Bokchoicowboy said:


> You have tried the Topeak _disc specific_ racks? How does it not fit? Is the disc offset mount not long enough, or is it too large a diameter and gets in the way of the caliper? I have used the Super tourist disc specific rack on several disc brake mountain framed bikes with no problem.


yes, I have. that is why I said I did. the big blocky shape of the mount wont get near my braze on. both the brake and my drop out get in the way.

but thanks for the info! right now this style of mount tops my list


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## Bodeen (Oct 24, 2009)

Mmmm... Anyone know the make of these forks?


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## Bokchoicowboy (Aug 7, 2007)

Agwan said:


> yes, I have. that is why I said I did. the big blocky shape of the mount wont get near my braze on. both the brake and my drop out get in the way.
> 
> but thanks for the info! right now this style of mount tops my list


So your bike has these type of dropouts?










Pain in the butt. Those things were designed to make it easier for the frame builder, by not having to match the angles of the seat and chainstays when they install them during a build.

[Rant] Not knocking the genius and quality of Joe Breeze, but doing something like that is poor design. The intent of the frame design, even the dropout, should be toward end-user happiness, not ease of frame building. Customers pay the bills, make the bike usable. What we have here is a bike that is not usable as the owner wishes it to be. That braze-on for the rackmount on your frame is completely unusable unless you find some sort of adaptor to make it work, and something beyond the offset mount the Topeak rack has is going too far, too much work. Failure is by Soma in this case, and Breeze for making those damn worthless things! [/Rant]


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

Yep! those damn things!

Right now I'm wishing I had waited for the 2012 Surly Karate Monkey frame. to do my build.

my bike is sexy though... so its not a total loss.


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## CommuterBoy (Oct 4, 2007)

Agwan said:


> what fenders are these and do they come in larger coverages?!


What is the point of that front fender? Your crotch *might* stay dry, but your feet and your face are guaranteed to get every bit of road grime that the tires can unleash.


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## CommuterBoy (Oct 4, 2007)

I have a front fork with no fender eyelets or hole in the crown. I stuck a star nut up into the bottom of the fork crown and used a long bolt to mount the top of the fender, and then used the disc brake tab on one side for the struts, and used a hose clamp on the other side.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Your bike is sexier than any road-going Karate Monkey.


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## Agwan (Feb 16, 2011)

My one and only Problem with Commuterboy's fix is one of aesthetics. Also it doesn't help out back... I can dig P clamps... but that long bolt... It would bug me no matter how functional it is!

I know its a silly reason. as my bike is my car. and not a dentists show piece. but I am all about looks...

thus why it is buried in Red anodizing!


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## CommuterBoy (Oct 4, 2007)

Paint the bolt? :lol:

edit: and it's not bad from the side!


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

There's a Kona P2 fork in which the suspension correction is achieved by putting the base plate higher up on the steer tube instead of making the legs longer. At least, that's what it looks like. It could be that there's an additional tube between the steer tube and the crown.










I don't know if it's in current production, available with disc brakes, etc.

You could also get a custom fork. Some frame builders do them. But it's such a weird geometry, I don't know if the right hardware to make a fork like that is available to a lot of builders.

I gotta be honest, this thread is making a Kona Dew more and more attractive to me.  At least in theory. My old Raleigh is holding up pretty well.


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## GlassTrain (Oct 22, 2008)

A bit of ingenuity, a few trips to the hardware store, and 1 1/2 pounds of P-clips, hose clamps, and bolts/nuts/washers.....











I've since added an OMM style front rack since this was taken.


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