Mudguards broken

[Andy in Germany]

So I was happily pootling along through the forest on my randonneur bike, when a slight rattle from the rear of the bike became a loud clanking noise. Closer inspection showed the bracket holding my rear mudguard had snapped, leaving said mudguard flapping about in the breeze.

The mudguard itself is made of thin metal and torn as well, so it will need replacing too.

I have another one kicking about, so option one would be to find another right angle bracket and some extra large diameter washers to spread the load a bit more, and use these to fit the replacement mudguard. This has the advantage that I can keep using my current rear light, because the mudguard has holes for a light to attach to it directly, and I retain my smug green tree huggy glow and continue to whine incessantly about the throwaway society, et c.

Alternatively It could work out as cheap if not cheaper to replace both mudguards with plastic versions.

Apart from the inevitable dimming of my eco halo this would cause, I'm struggling to find 26" all-over mudguards that I can afford, and/or look like they may survive more than a couple of kilometres. I've had several plastic versions just snap on me and on one memorable occasion arrived at an interview at a bike shop with one held together with gaffer tape, which is why I tend to go old-school these days.

The other issue is if I can fit my rear light on a plastic mudguard: metal ones are no problem: 3 minutes with a drill and voila, light fitting. Plastic versions look suspiciously like they will snap if I try that.

Any thoughts and ideas welcome...

 

[Vantage]

How are you at fitting them?
Plastic guards don't like being forced to fit so ideally the stays should do no more than keep them from flopping about rather than using them to pull/push the guard in any direction.
I've a rear light mounted on my rear guard. Use a big (ish) bolt, 6mm and above and a big washer on either side of the guard. Make sure everything is dead tight. Shouldn't be any issues after that.
Ps...it wouldn't hurt to bend the washers to the guards profile/curvature.

 

[Drago]

Drill out the rivets holding on the remains of the bracket, or file the broken end flat.

Drill 2 holes through the mudguard, one either side of the seat stay bridge.

Thread a cable tie through the holes and around the bridge and pull it firm.

Stand back and admire your manly awesomeness.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Drill out the rivets holding on the remains of the bracket, or file the broken end flat.

Drill 2 holes through the mudguard, one either side of the seat stay bridge.

Thread a cable tie through the holes and around the bridge and pull it firm.

Stand back and admire your manly awesomeness.

The Blue Peter is strong in this one

 

[Skanker]

I used gorilla glue to fix my mudguard last year, in fact I tend to use gorilla glue to fix everything recently.
I should replace the mudguard really but it still seems more sturdy than it originally was.

 

[Andy in Germany]

How are you at fitting them?

Apparently, not as good as I thought...

 

[Andy in Germany]

Drill out the rivets holding on the remains of the bracket, or file the broken end flat.

Drill 2 holes through the mudguard, one either side of the seat stay bridge.

Thread a cable tie through the holes and around the bridge and pull it firm.

Stand back and admire your manly awesomeness.

The problem is that the mudguard itself is badly damaged, so that wheeze, sensible though it is, would simply tear the broken bit out...

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Drill out the rivets holding on the remains of the bracket, or file the broken end flat.

Drill 2 holes through the mudguard, one either side of the seat stay bridge.

Thread a cable tie through the holes and around the bridge and pull it firm.

Stand back and admire your manly awesomeness.

Just what I did, when the rear cracked on my CGR, at the bridge
Done, on a bigger scale, with truck mudguards
Two small ties, holding the two halves together, with the bigger one over the bridge

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Just what I did, when the rear cracked on my CGR, at the bridge Two small ties, holding the two halves together, with the bigger one over the bridge]

You should have added some duct tape across the crack for a proper quality bodge.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Just what I did, when the rear cracked on my CGR, at the bridge
Done, on a bigger scale, with truck mudguards
Two small ties, holding the two halves together, with the bigger one over the bridge
View attachment 485814 View attachment 485815

I figured out a variation on your and @Drago's suggestion involving three cable ties this afternoon. It'll hold until I get a permanent fix sorted.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

It'll hold until I get a permanent fix sorted.

Cable ties and duct tape are a permanent fix in my book. At least until they fail again in such a way that they just can't be bodged any more.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

If the mudguard is torn where the bracket went, then I would put a thin layer of inner tube around it and cover with electric tape and then bolt the mudguard direct to the frame. This will survive, my rear mudguard has been like this for quite a while.

 

[Blue Hills]

Cable ties and duct tape are a permanent fix in my book. At least until they fail again in such a way that they just can't be bodged any more.

Yes. Sks mudguards take duct tape very well. I ran a pair for years which were partly duct tape. Worked fine.

 

[silva]

- cable ties tend to be made from some plastics that becomes brittle and breaks, I started to use nylon/polyester ropes and just tie it with knots, and before make a few loops around anything to facilitate a tight knot.
- if you drill holes in a mudguard, round off or better - melt (soldering iron) the edges of the hole or they may wear through the ties or ropes.
- take into account that anything harder can fret out aluminium, so keep some distance, or put some buffering material (alike inner tube rubber) inbetween, as a wrap. Bonus is it will absorb vibrations (and avoid consequential noises).
- duct tape, and any tape, is crap when you have to dismount something, the ugly glue remainders are hard to remove and solvents may damage frame paint. Inner tube rubber is very elastic and thus easy to make a tight knot in it.
Of course it may not look cool...


-

 

[rogerzilla]

IME 35mm mudguards will break pretty quickly due to vibration. They generally crack across their width either at the bridge or where one of the stay brackets is riveted on. Classic stress raiser stuff.

45mm and wider guards are much stiffer and last much longer.