Which mudguards for Felt VR40

[Dadam]

I bought the bargainous Felt VR40 on sale at Merlin before Christmas as a winter road bike, as it has hydro discs and can take mudguards.
It seems the official Felt mudguards seem to have been out of stock at Merlin for ages and can't find any at reputable suppliers.

I'm not sure how to make sure if any aftermarket mudguards are compatible, apart from the clip-on type.
The attachment points are on the rear side of the fork lugs and the rear dropouts.

Which mudguards will fit this bike? Ideally full length.

I have a set of SKS Chromoplastics on the hybrid, but look the stays would only fit with lateral bolts not front/back ones.

 

[ade towell]

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m19b0s190p4870/SKS-Straight-mount-Mudguard-Stay-Adaptors-(pr)?gQT=1

These should help with your Chromoplastics. My mudguard of choice are Kinesis fend off aluminium, not sure if they'll fit your specific bike though

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/kine...TSG5NM5vhjHk5QaAkBdEALw_wcB#172=295&173=10779

 

[si_c]

You may be better off with a set of half mudguards which attach via straps to the stays, the reason being that there is no brake bridge/seat tube mount for guards to fit to if they are full length - the felt ones come with a bracket which clamps to the tube.

 

[Dadam]

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m19b0s190p4870/SKS-Straight-mount-Mudguard-Stay-Adaptors-(pr)?gQT=1

These should help with your Chromoplastics. My mudguard of choice are Kinesis fend off aluminium, not sure if they'll fit your specific bike though

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/kine...TSG5NM5vhjHk5QaAkBdEALw_wcB#172=295&173=10779

That's great thanks! In my mind that would make them fit. At 4 quid I could potentially get a set of those adaptors and try out the Chromoplastics on the new bike. The current ones are staying on the hybrid but if I know they fit with the adaptors then that opens up the options.

 

[Dadam]

You may be better off with a set of half mudguards which attach via straps to the stays, the reason being that there is no brake bridge/seat tube mount for guards to fit to if they are full length - the felt ones come with a bracket which clamps to the tube.

Raceblade XLs are the backup plan yes. I've got a set for another bike. Or Speedrockers
It's a good point about the brake bridge, however it should be easy enough to rig something there. I have a cunning plan involving a 3d printer.

 

[si_c]

Raceblade XLs are the backup plan yes. I've got a set for another bike. Or Speedrockers
It's a good point about the brake bridge, however it should be easy enough to rig something there. I have a cunning plan involving a 3d printer.

I'll have a look in the garage later, I did have a VR50 for a long time but I can't remember what I did with the mudguards and/or fittings from them

 

[Dadam]

Thanks. How did you find it?

 

[si_c]

Loved it, did about 30k miles on it - mostly as a commuter, but also as a long distance bike. Was quite sad when I had to retire the frame due to a crack.

 

[Dadam]

@si_c
Do you remember how the front mudguard attached at the top? My Felt bike has no bolt hole in the fork either in front or behind. There does appear to be an axial hole underneath though I couldn't see if it was threaded.

 

[si_c]

@si_c
Do you remember how the front mudguard attached at the top? My Felt bike has no bolt hole in the fork either in front or behind. There does appear to be an axial hole underneath though I couldn't see if it was threaded.

This is the mounting point, it threads through the underside of the mudguards - if you look at the fitting kit (sadly not available online anywhere) you can see there is a long rubber-like strip through which the mudguard bolt fixes to the fork. You can likely use any mudguard if you make your own fittings though, annoying but probably not much more effort.

 

[Dadam]

This is the mounting point, it threads through the underside of the mudguards - if you look at the fitting kit (sadly not available online anywhere) you can see there is a long rubber-like strip through which the mudguard bolt fixes to the fork. You can likely use any mudguard if you make your own fittings though, annoying but probably not much more effort.

Thanks, I understand now! M5 I guess? Not a problem, I've got a selection of stainless bolts.
I couldn't work out how the official items were supposed to fit. The photos of the fitting kit are all quite low res and couldn't see what that strip thing was, and the fronts seem to just have a single stay. Seems a bit of a low tech afterthought but it's something I can replicate.

I was starting to be resigned to clip ons, probably Speedrockers. I like how the rear ones attach, and the telescopic extension for the seat tube, but I think the strap clips for the 2 piece front look ugly.

 

[si_c]

Thanks, I understand now! M5 I guess? Not a problem, I've got a selection of stainless bolts.
I couldn't work out how the official items were supposed to fit. The photos of the fitting kit are all quite low res and couldn't see what that strip thing was, and the fronts seem to just have a single stay. Seems a bit of a low tech afterthought but it's something I can replicate.

I was starting to be resigned to clip ons, probably Speedrockers. I like how the rear ones attach, and the telescopic extension for the seat tube, but I think the strap clips for the 2 piece front look ugly.

Yeah it's fairly straightforward in principle, I'd be tempted to modify something like SKS Bluemels, remove the riveted traditional mounting bracket and then create a new point to mount through. I'd probably want to replicate something like the original fitting kit if possible - if you're 3D printing something for the rear then it should be easy enough to do for the front as well.

I had a look in the garage last night, I've still got the mounting bracket for the seat-tube attached to the frame, so I can take a few photos/measurements if that's of use to you. Sadly though (particularly given current lack of availability) I've lost the mudguards themselves, I was sure I'd kept them, but looks like they got thrown out in our move a couple of years ago, which is frustrating as my long term plan includes repairing the frame to bring it back into use.

 

[Dadam]

That would be fantastic, really appreciate it.

Yes I'm thinking of a basic bluemels set and carefully drill out the rivets for the mounting bracket.

For the rear, plan A was to 3d print a clamp across the seat stays where the brake bridge would be, but inspired by the Speedrocker design I'm now thinking of sliding the bracket for the brake bridge mount further down toward the seat tube, bolting it to a piece of some stiff but flexible plastic sheet to link it to the bracket and tieing it off with a velcro strap round the seat tube. I can then experiment with positioning, and either modify a surplus rear reflector clamp or 3d print something. The bike has the mounting hole at the bottom behind the BB.

 

[Dadam]

Decided on the Bluemels Matt 45mm set, now arrived. Also arrived are the SKS straight mount adaptors. Spent some time today judging how well everything will fit. Decided to swap out the tyres from the ridiculously chonky Kenda Kwests that came on the bike (allegedly 32c but measure 35mm!) to some much nicer Rubino Pro 30s which measure 31mm on the rims. I may need to trim the guard slightly where it goes under the fork crown



At the rear it looks good except I will likely need to trim the rear to get clearance for the front mech.

While the wheel was off I confirmed the hole under the fork crown is threaded M5 and found amongst the copious collection of bolts in the Bluemels fitting kit, an M5x10 bolt with a flat slot head which might do the job if it's long enough.

Due to the angles and the fact they attach much higher up the fork I will need to put bends in the front stays.

For the "seatstay" mount...


something like this would be perfect
(photo found on FB, that's apparently a clamp that comes with a Specialized Creo)

I can't find one for sale but should be easy enough to design and print one like it. PLA should be fine as it doesn't need to be very strong.

 

[Dadam]

At the weekend I fitted the rear guard. I confirmed I will definitely need to trim it to clear the front mech. I may also trim the sides slightly where it fits the chainstay bridge; it pinches the guard slightly.


Apart from the mech, clearance is fine. It just needs that extra support at the bridge. The mech is pushing it to the left so can't do final fettling yet. Those SKS adaptors are perfect, thanks @ade towell



Can't find the Creo part I mentioned above for sale on t'internet anywhere, and in any case I don't know the seat tube diameter to confirm it fits. So I've designed this:



Not tried printing it yet so might need a few iterations.