The idea that metal fenders have less clearance than SKS generally stems from the fact that most metal fenders have bulky hardware that you run inside the fender to attach the stays. SKS fenders have that flat plate riveted to the fender, so there's almost nothing inside the fender in the way of hardware. In virtually all cases, the stay is held in place by a daruma bolt. There's a nut inside at least. Some people run a washer inside as well. Some run the daruma cups inside. The stack up of that standard hardware is at least 4mm tall. In my experience Velo Orange daruma bolts are over-long, so if you don't scrub off the excess, that stack up could be taller.
Additionally, the rolled edge of most metal fenders can be another issue, particularly through the fork crown. That edge in a SKS fender is much flatter. People like Jan recommend a 10mm gap (or more) from the fender surface to the tire, everywhere. Bulky hardware eats into that 10mm in spots. The rolled edge may drop that 10mm to 7mm, but that's OK. People who don't actually care about fender clearance and instead want to find the larger possible tire they can run with fenders with no rubbing, generally find that combination with plastic fenders. I don't think I've ever heard a mechanic claim they could make room for fatter tires by swapping from plastic fenders to metal. On my 57cm Leo Roadini, I run 28mm tires when the bike has metal fenders on it. Bill Lindsay El Cerrito, CA On Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at 6:20:03 AM UTC-7, lconley wrote: > > The idea that metal fenders have less clearance than SKS is false. You can > buy wider metal fenders than you can plastic. You can press/pound a recess > into metal fenders at the fork crown, front brake area to increase the > overall clearance in other areas. Some Honjo fenders can be had > pre-clearanced for this purpose. You cannot put a recess in the SKS plastic > fenders without cutting. If you want to maximize clearance, you can always > cut the fenders (plastic or metal) at the fork crown, front brake area, > this cures the open brake - fender interference issue. The forward part of > the fender can be held in place with a modified "diving board" rack mount, > fender stay, rack or some combination thereof. Rivendell will even do this > for you. > > Laing > Cocoa, FL > > On Monday, May 13, 2019 at 9:24:28 PM UTC-4, Matt D wrote: > >> My 61 Roadini is set up with 17mm Alexrims G6000 rims, Panaracer >> Gravelking 32c tires (which run true to size), and Tektro R539 brakes. I'm >> headed to merrie olde England in June with bicycle in tow and I'd like to >> prepare for the rain that seems to go along with the island but I'm not >> sure I can fit them. >> >> My research has only turned up this - Paul Gong on a RBWOB facebook group >> says: >> *"I have a Roadeo which has the same designed-in clearances. I can just >> fit Jack Browns and SKS P45 Longboards with careful installation. This was >> a combo that Rivendell often featured on their website and Instagram. I'm >> pretty certain metal fenders like VO and Honjo wouldn't fit with Jack >> Browns. Their design and hardware require more clearance than Longboards."* >> >> Jack Browns, of course, being 33.3mm. That makes me suspect that >> Rivendell's limit of 28 with fenders might be a little conservative. I >> don't intend to ride many loose surfaces or gravel so I'm not all too >> worried about things getting caught under it. Is anyone else running >> fenders above 28mm on their Roadini or Roadeo and if so, what do you >> suggest I use? >> > -- 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. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/ee49b1b5-92aa-49c9-b342-8f0f03648e6b%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
