There are two ways you and "clean up" the fender line on the rear of that Trek, if you wish: One way is get a small plastic spacer from the hardware store (they come in different diameters and lengths) and install it between the fender and the chain stay, using a longer bolt. This will probably necessitate letting the air out of the rear tire to remove the wheel, which can be a pain. But that's the way mine are and I've learned to live with it. Or you can use a longer bolt and install a spring between the fender and the chain stay. The springs, too, are available in different sizes from the hardware. That way, when you want to remove the rear wheel you can just push it forward, compressing the spring, in order to get enough clearance. If the chain stay is not threaded, but just drilled, be sure to install a self locking nut on the end of the bolt to keep it from loosening.
On Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 10:23:27 AM UTC-6, Bill Schairer wrote: > > I’ve ridden with fenders off and on going way back. I’ve only used > plastic fenders and never paid too much attention to the cosmetics of it > all - just tried to get them on and running without tire rub. Naturally, > seeing all the beautiful pictures of bikes that show up here with nice > metal fenders, or wood, I’ve wondered what it would be like to get some > nice aluminum fenders installed instead of the SKS I have on my Atlantis. > Not only might they look nice but I’ve read they don’t rattle as much so > are quieter than plastic fenders. > > A few weeks ago, I bought an old Univega touring bike that had been > customized. What caught my attention was the full dynamo hub lighting > system. I bought the bike for no other reason than to get the lighting > system for my Atlantis. Although the bike was old and the build overall > did not look too recent, the lighting system seemed to be almost unused and > I got the whole bike for less than what I could have built up my own new > lighting system. > > So back to fenders. In addition to the lights, this bike had Honjo > fenders so here was my chance to see what some nice aluminum fenders are > all about. Unfortunately, the fenders are rather narrow so there was no > way I could install them on my Atlantis with the 50mm tires I’m running. I > chose instead to install them on my old Trek 720 mostly just to see what > they were all about. I had read that metal fenders can be a challenge to > install requiring patience. I learned this is true. What, I think, I also > discovered is that these fenders wrap so much of the tire that removing and > installing the rear wheel with the horizontal dropouts is a bit of a > challenge and a nice fender line pretty much impossible (not that that was > ever very important to me). I have tentatively decided these things are > made for bikes with vertical dropouts. > > What I have not been able to confirm is that metal fenders are quiet or > even quieter than plastic fenders. On my first ride, the front fender > rattled on any but the smoothest pavement. I’ve traced that to the stay > mounting bracket on the fender and I think I can solve that rattle. BUT, > the rear fender, while it does not rattle, it seems to function as an echo > chamber or whisper dome that amplifies all the noise of the drivetrain! I > have trouble attributing this annoying feature to my lack of installation > skills. After only one ride (maybe I need to be more patient), I’m kinda > thinking these things may not be for me. Has anyone else encountered this? > What am I missing about these things? If I can’t figure that out I may be > trying to find a new home for these and probably drop thoughts of > converting to metal on the Atlantis. > > > Ha, the cockpit shown here also came from the Univega. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
