Ribble winter/audax mudguards

[paulworthington53]

This may have been done many times before I know but... I picked up my Ribble blue winter/audax today, swapped the supplied tyres for conti gp 4 season 23s. For the life of me I can't get the rear wheel to accommodate the tyre within the mudguard. The wheel just stops within one revolution. I knew 25mm would be tricky but 23mm? Hmm

As far as I can tell I can either,

Fit SKS raceblades to the rear (I've a pair knocking around so this would be cheapest)

Or

Fettle the existing guard - but to be honest I've fettled it for 3 hours now. I'm fettled.

Or

Find a tyre that fits.

Has anyone had sucessful reconciliatons with Ribbles and muduards?

[jsabine]

<unhelpful>
I *think* that my Dolan fixer is the same basic frame, with the only changes being track ends and cable guides. SKS guards and 25mm Krylions just work, no fettling needed.

[Hummers]

I use Conti 4 Seasons (23mm) albeit not on a Ribble Audax and hav e never had a problem. Can you post pictures?

H

[TheLurker]

I know Conti. Gatorskins & Bontrager Race-Lite Hard case 23s work with the full mudguards supplied with mine which is a 2006 frame.

There isn't much clearance though; probably under 5mm and I have had problems on v. muddy roads with mud gumming things up badly enough for me to have to stop and clear it. 

[martind]

I found on mine it was to do with the bracket by the rear brake calliper. With the mudguard adjusted fully up away from the tyre it still left the mudguard around 2 to 3mm away from the brake calliper which is all important when there is so little clearance. I bought this fitting http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/sks-stainless-steel-rear-mudguard-bridge-each-prod4388/ which is much tighter to the calliper and stopped the tyre rubbing on the inside.

[frankly frankie]

I would ditch the mounting hardware altogether, drill a couple of holes* about 1.5cm apart acrossways, and use a cable tie round the brake mounting bolt.
If it's a problem of the 'guard having a square profile and the brake bridge being rounded, you can mould a thermoplastic 'guard to shape using hot water (or a hairdryer) and fingers.

* or better maybe, cut a pair of short slits.  On thermoplastic guards like SKS you can do this very easily with the heated tip of a penknife blade.  Cut from the inside of the 'guard.

There isn't much clearance though; probably under 5mm and I have had problems on v. muddy roads with mud gumming things up badly enough for me to have to stop and clear it.

Put the minimum clearance at the leading edge (ie, the back) of the mudguard.  I have mine approx 1mm.  Nothing gets through.  Of course if you have mudflaps fitted this isn't going to work.

[Jethro]

I have exactly the same bike, tyres and SKS full length mudguards and have not had a problem, although I have had to remove the rear wheel occasionally to remove the gradual build up of mud.

As posted upthread, some photos might help here.

[αdαmsκι]

I have managed to fit a 28 cc Specialized armadillo on the rear of my Ribble winter/audax bike despite having full length SKS mudguards by using the:

drill a couple of holes* about 1.5cm apart acrossways, and use a cable tie round the brake mounting bolt.

* or better maybe, cut a pair of short slits.

trick. It works fine.

[Sergeant Pluck]

I wonder if this age-old problem will lessen when the new higher arched 105 callipers start to come through:

http://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/shimano-unveil-new-105-groupset-and-mechanical-sti-lever-for-hydraulic-road-disc-brake.html

[StephenR]

I have a Ribble winter/Audax frame and use Conti 4seasons 23mm without any problems. The frame is about 18 months old now so maybe they have changed the frame dimensions. I did have to fiddle with the rear brake caliper and mudguard but this only took a few minutes. Make sure the mudguard is set as high as possible in the bridge.

[paulworthington53]

Yeah, from my squinting in the dark last night, it does seem to be the brake area where the guard rubs. I've tried moving that part of the guard upwards to try and free it but there's not much space for it to move to. You couldn't get a cigarette paper in the gap between brake and guard. Rather than bodge them now g think I'll put on the raceblades which are on my old bike which are easier to adjust. When I change the tyres I'll try and get something shallower. Any ideas for shallow tyres as good as continentals?

[Plodder]

I have managed to fit a 28 cc Specialized armadillo on the rear of my Ribble winter/audax bike despite having full length SKS mudguards by using the:

drill a couple of holes* about 1.5cm apart acrossways, and use a cable tie round the brake mounting bolt.

* or better maybe, cut a pair of short slits.

trick. It works fine.

This is what I've done. Works a treat.

P

[Hedgebanger]

 Off post but the best Ribble winter/ Audax frame was the black sloping tube version from 2007/2008. 28mm tyres and mud guards or 32mm tyres and no guards.  Why did they drop it and keep going with the blue frame?

[slohill]

Yeah, from my squinting in the dark last night, it does seem to be the brake area where the guard rubs. I've tried moving that part of the guard upwards to try and free it but there's not much space for it to move to. You couldn't get a cigarette paper in the gap between brake and guard. Rather than bodge them now g think I'll put on the raceblades which are on my old bike which are easier to adjust. When I change the tyres I'll try and get something shallower. Any ideas for shallow tyres as good as continentals?

I have found Vittoria Rubino 23s to be excellent, reliable winter tyres with a flatter, wider profile than most giving good mudguard clearance---and they are cheap too!

[slohill]

I wonder if this age-old problem will lessen when the new higher arched 105 callipers start to come through:

http://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/shimano-unveil-new-105-groupset-and-mechanical-sti-lever-for-hydraulic-road-disc-brake.html

I have found historically that campag calipers are better for use with mudguards as they have a wider arch than Shimano causing less mudguard squash when squeezed---but note this is historical and that you also must have brake levers that allow calipers to open to drop wheels out.

[paulworthington53]

I'd post a couple of pics but I'm on a tablet and the thing doesn't seem to work. I'm not even sure which thing I should be attempting. The mona Lisa makes it say IMG in the text but what dies that mean?

I thought I was reasonably modern.

[Reg.T]

The picture needs to be somewhere accessible to the web, and you need to know the URL to it. Paste that URL between the opening and closing IMG tags.
HTH

[paulworthington53]

Solution - short SKS guards


Problem - Lack of clearance - and that's without the guard!

[paulworthington53]

Doing summat wrong here

Got it!

[Revolution9]

You need brakes with a 57mm drop like Shimano R451

[frankly frankie]

Can't see how that would make any difference, in this specific case.

[Chris N]

I'm sure what he meant to say was 'You need a bike that will take brakes with a 57mm drop like Shimano R451'

[Aunt Maud]

I put Portland Design Works Full Metal Fenders on both my bikes as I was having clearance problems with the plastic crud catchers. PDW have a bracket that goes over the top of the rear calliper, so they will work with minimal clearance between brake and tyre. I reckon they'll work on yours without any problems.

Get them from;  tredz.co.uk

[Ningishzidda]

Take the bike back to Ribble and demonstrate they have bolloxed up.
If Ribble insist they haven't, challenge them to fit a pair of round 'guards with adequate clearance.
If they can't, they should supply you with another bike which is 'fit for purpose' if 'fit for purpose' is a Winter trainer/Audax bike that can take mudguards, as in their website photograph.

[nightrider]

Ribble do offer SKS mudguards for a extra £20.