SKS Chromoplastics - fitting issues

[Heltor Chasca]

I haven't even got as far as cutting the stays yet...it's getting the blimmin bolts to fit the eyelets that I'm struggling with. I'm convinced I must be doing something idiot. Those little holes just behind the axle at the bottom of the front fork and just above the rear drop out are actually mudguard eyelets, aren't they?!

View attachment 381169

I recon they are but without a close up I can’t be 100%. Take it real easy when attaching any hardware to the frame or fork. If you strip a boss or eyelet it could be an expensive mistake. Sometimes the paint covers the thread and makes it tricky. Once the bolt removes some paint, it’ll be ok. With your fingers, turn a little bolt COUNTER clockwise and see if it ‘clicks’ and then try clockwise. That way you have less chance of damaging the thread. Offer up the stays before you cut anything.

 

[MichaelW2]

It's not the bolts being too long that's the problem - they're too fat to fit into the eyelets. Which I am all confused about as I thought the eyelets and hence the bolts would be a pretty standard size.


Ok, at least I was on the right track there. Though looking at these photos he seems to have routed his rear guard stays inside the frame.
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/giant-road-e-1.215705/page-10

The mudguard stays are on the inside because the frame is weird at the rear dropouts with a curved outer surface. Never seen one like that.

If you have front disk brakes you can bend the stays to route then below the brake caliper.

Regarding the diameter of your eyelets, they may be 5 or 6 mm.

 

[Colin_P]

Mikalor rubber lined 'P' clips can be very useful for the stays of the front guard on disc braked bikes.

Cheap as well for being such a good problem solver.

 

[Velochris]

I haven't seen any eyelets that aren't a standard M5 bolt but there can always be exceptions. Double check you have been supplied with the correct size bolts but would be amazed if not.

If they are only just too wide it may, as mentioned, be excess paint that has not been cleaned out. Look into the eyelets at the threads. If they are blue then the paint needs cleaning out. You will need a tap fir this. I bought a cheapish tap and die set years ago and it has paid for itself many times over.

If the threads look clear and clean then not sure.

A final tip for mudguards is to keep your threaded inner tube valve washers. They are the perfect diameter to act as washers for normal M5 mudguard bolts if you need to space them out a little.

 

[Crankarm]

SKS mudguards are really easy to fit. I would suggest you give them and your bike to a bike shop to fit, preferably the shop where you either bought your bike or the mudguards.

 

[jay clock]

one of the very few tasks where I would hand over a lot of cash to an LBS. The other being a Brompton rear wheel puncture (just done one... about an hour)

 

[EasyPeez]

SKS mudguards are really easy to fit.

Several days and many expletives later, and I now tend to agree...

Sometimes the paint covers the thread and makes it tricky. Once the bolt removes some paint, it’ll be ok

If they are only just too wide it may, as mentioned, be excess paint that has not been cleaned out. Look into the eyelets at the threads. If they are blue then the paint needs cleaning out.

This was exactly the problem, and once I'd cleared the eyelets out the whole thing came together much more simply. I wouldn't call it fun, and there was some faff, and getting things a bit wrong and then taking them off and putting it all back together again, but that's usually the way I end up doing most things first time around.

Anyway, I'm really glad now that I didn't go with @vickster, @jay clock and @Crankarm 's suggestion - persevering and doing it myself has been both rewarding in itself and a valuable learning exercise for any future mudguard shenanigans.

A final tip for mudguards is to keep your threaded inner tube valve washers. They are the perfect diameter to act as washers for normal M5 mudguard bolts if you need to space them out a little.

This is a great tip - I used a spare valve lockring as a washer on all four corners. Cheers.

Think it looks a pretty smart job all in all, considering it's the first time I've done it.

 

[Pale Rider]

Neat job

Fitting mudguards is the least favourite task in my local bike shop because it can be so fiddly.

Looks like your front one has plenty of depth, which some do not.

It shouldn't need a flap.

You will soon know after a wet ride.

If the mudguard is doing it's job, the bottom bracket and underside of the down tube should stay clean and all but dry.

 

[EasyPeez]

It shouldn't need a flap.

You will soon know after a wet ride.

If the mudguard is doing it's job, the bottom bracket and underside of the down tube should stay clean and all but dry.

It did have a flap on the front one. I pulled it off as part of a failed previous attempt to fit the guards to my CX bike. They were never going to go on that bike - no eyelets, big square fork, supplied bolts too short for brake bridge and front fork etc etc!

The roads were wet and dirty on my ride this morning and I have picked up a very light coating of mank on my bottom bracket so will drill the front guard and re-fit the flap using a spare nut and bolt.

Cheers.

 

[Blue Hills]

Agree. That's vickster's traditional advice. An evans mechanic near **ed a frame of mine trying to get my sks guards to fit. THAT needed a visit to a shop to do a bit of frame drilling to sort. SKS guards are definitely a bit of a pig to fit (allow half to one day to fit) but after that you can relax. And repair with duct tape for a decade or so.

 

[EasyPeez]

Agree. That's vickster's traditional advice. An evans mechanic near **ed a frame of mine trying to get my sks guards to fit. THAT needed a visit to a shop to do a bit of frame drilling to sort. SKS guards are definitely a bit of a pig to fit (allow half to one day to fit) but after that you can relax. And repair with duct tape for a decade or so.

Are they ok to drill, if done carefully, do you know? I want to re-fit the rubber flap but would hate to crack the guard!

 

[Blue Hills]

It was the frame that had to be later drilled, not the guards. I have fitted them several times but must admit to not having specific advice. Just take it slowly in the good old brit way. They really are great guards. Honest.

 

[Pale Rider]

Are they ok to drill, if done carefully, do you know? I want to re-fit the rubber flap but would hate to crack the guard!

A piece of bodge tape over where you intend to drlll will make the material less likely to crack.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

A piece of bodge tape over where you intend to drlll will make the material less likely to crack.

Sharp bit. Slow. Do not push. Let the drill do the cutting.

 

[Nebulous]

I fitted SKS Bluemels to my new equilibrium, which turned out to be much more difficult than I expected. I ended up buying two sets -mainly due to impatience. None of my local shops had much stock, so I bought a 45 mm set. With a fair degree of bodging I got the front one to fit, (needed to buy a longer bolt as none of the supplied ones were long enough to go through the fork) but the rear was too big. I then bought a set of 35 mm ones online, paying for next day delivery. I was very tempted to leave the 45 mm one on the front, with the 35 on the back, but changed it over, which was reasonably straightforward. So several hours, over two weekends, and about £54 but I got there in the end. My chromoplastics on my cx commuter were fitted by Edinburgh Bike, on the basis of buy a bike and we'll fit any accessories free. The back one broke and I bought a new set, but they were easy to fit by just replicating the shape of the stays on the old one, to avoid the mechanical disc.