I've installed SKS's a few times (i have a couple of pairs which i put on seasonally here in norcal); it's definitely a trick the first time but gets easier each time you do it.
In terms of clearances, the fender clearance is determined by two things: the width of the fender and the positioning of the frame bridges/fork crown. The rule for adequate clearance with fender size is usually tire width+ ~10mm; so if you're using 41mm tires you should be shooting for about a 50mm wide fender. If your SKS's are the "P50" model then you should be all right, if they're something smaller like the P45 that might be causing some of your clearance issues. Other bleriot owners will have to chime in to tell you whether or not the frame can take that combination, I don't have experience with them myself. My usual order of operations is to secure the fork crown mount and bridge mounts in the rear, focusing on having a good fender line between the bridges, and then sliding the rear of each fender in on the stays (leaving all 4 nuts loose) until the fender line matches, at which point i secure the bolts. I will say that I'm probably way less picky about fender line than most on here. Since fenders are kind of a functional, seasonal thing for me I don't really care about getting them "just so." In terms of the front of the fender being warped, do you only notice it on the bike or or when it's off? If it's only on the bike, it may be that your brakes (i assume you're using the silver sidepulls) are deflecting it a little, that happens with the shimano sidepulls on one of my bikes. Again, it's only a few mm so I don't really care about it, YMMV. On Oct 18, 7:49 am, kevin lindsey <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm in the process of building my Bleriot and thought a pair of SKS > fenders would be practical and look great, too. However, I was > naively unprepared for the amount of tweaking, cutting, fitting, and > cursing required to install these things on my bike, a circumstance > made worse by the almost-nonexistent instructions included with the > fenders. Suffice it to say that I botched the job and have had to > order a new set of stays for my second installation attempt. Couple > of questions: > a) I have a set of 41mm 650bs and am a little concerned about whether > there is enough room for tires this big and a set of fenders on the > Bleriot. I got the rear fender installed more or less OK, but the > clearance between it and the tire was really tight. Am I pushing > things to far to expect 41s to fit with fenders? > b) Are there any secrets I'm overlooking when installing SKSs? > c) The front of my front fender came warped. Is there a way of > unwarping it, or will I have to cut it off? > Thanks in advance for any help. > Kevin -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
