Specialized Sirrus and SKS Chromoplastic Guards - Help!

[LazyLoki]

Hi guys,

Finally given up trying to be brave and doing without mudguards on my commuter bike so I picked up a set of SKS Chromoplastic guards yesterday. They seem like well made guards and I've read plenty of good reviews but I'm doing my nut in trying to get the things fitted!

Does anyone have a Specialized Sirrus (any model - I think they all have the same geometry) with these guards fitted? The main problem I'm having is that there is no way I can see to fit the rear guard at the brake carrier as the hole is drilled in the bottom. Is there some kind of work around or are these guards just not meant for this kind of bike?

Sorry if I haven't explained this very well, I'm new to all this bike stuff!

Thanks for any help,

Neil

 

[Morrisette]

Hiya,

I have a Specialized Vita which I think is the 'women's' version of a Sirrus? Anyway, at the weekend I put aside half and hour to fit these same SKS mudguards to it....THREE HOURS LATER they were finally on....they MAY be good guards...OK people like them and they look OK when finally in place....
BUT
They are an absolute pig to fit. Every time one part is in the right place another part of it has pinged off somewhere....

The answer I came up with to your problem was to use a couple of cable ties. They work very well, and as you say there is no way to attach the bottom of the guard to the bike using the screws provided.

Hope this helps!

 

[008]

I had full length SKS Chromoplastic mudguards fitted to my 07 Sirrus Elite... until they snapped in half after about 9 months of daily commuting in central London. Not sure if there was too much tension in them when they were fitted... but they did look good.

Anyway, apart from being a bit fiddly to install and the little nuts pinging off, didn't really have too much problems fitting them. Not sure what you mean by brake carrier but there should be a lug hole between the chainstays just behind the cranks. You need to remove the rear wheel to get to it.

Screw the mudguard into that lug hole, then fit the 'Secu clip' and 'V' stays and adjust accordingly. Like I said, try not to put too much tension on the guard or it may snap in half like mine.

Good luck!

 

[Landslide]

The main problem I'm having is that there is no way I can see to fit the rear guard at the brake carrier...

The guards should come with a metal clip like this:

Take the rear brake off and place the clip over the brake axle between the rear of the brake and the frame. The four "legs" of the clip then wrap around the sides of the guard. Once you're happy with the positioning, the legs can be crimped with pliers to hold the guard in place.

 

[HLaB]

I used to have them fitted to Sirrus and as with my Ridgeback its a case of drilling a small bolt hole that lines up with the small horizontal bit (sorry I don't know the proper name, its about an inch above the wheel) that connect the seat stays ant bolting them there.

This is a picture of my Sirrus when it had them.

 

[longers]

I bodged a pair on by fixing the clip shown in Landslides pic to the seat stay bridge, bending it right over and then fitting the guard into the clip. It was a bit of a pain but has worked, getting on for 13,000k without a problem.

I would have been too worried about drilling the bridge as HLAB did, but his bike hasn't fallen apart yet

 

[HLaB]

I would have been too worried about drilling the bridge as HLAB did, but his bike hasn't fallen apart yet

Ah that's what its called 'the bridge' I didn't have to drill the bridge, the threaded hole is allready there, just the guards and I got the bike shop to do that

 

[LazyLoki]

Just got a chance to check back here, thanks for all the replies and advice. Reassuring to know that the things will at least fit onto my bike. I noticed after I had bought them that SKS actually produce a hybrid version of these guards so that might have been a better choice.

As far as I can see, it's more of a problem with the design of the Sirrus than the mud guards. I have no idea why they have the hole drilled on the bottom of the bridge rather than at the rear.

Anyway,

Thanks again for the advice, round 2 this evening...

 

[Mr Celine]

As far as I can see, it's more of a problem with the design of the Sirrus than the mud guards. I have no idea why they have the hole drilled on the bottom of the bridge rather than at the rear.

The bracket that is fitted to the rear guard is designed to fit road bikes with dual pivot brakes, not the v brakes on the sirrus.

I fitted the rear guard to my sirrus 06 comp using a small right angle bracket cut from a piece of the meccano-like stuff that used to come in handy for fitting car radios.

 

[LazyLoki]

In the end I wimped out and took them into my LBS to get them done properly. The guards I bought are only rated rated to fit up to 28mm tires and I have 25mm so its a real tight fit, only a few mm of gap all around the wheel but they work really well. Commuting in London my bike is normally filthy with all the crap on the roads but I cleaned it after having the guards fitted and its still almost spotless! Wish I'd done this ages ago!

 

[Morrisette]

Glad you got it sorted out (more satisfactorily than me!). I could've got the LBS to do it, but it got to a stage where I wasn't going to be defeated! They are now in place - I have yet to actually ride the bike with the guards on as ever since I added them it's been snow, hail, rain, slush....but they look good on the bike sat in my house!