User submitted reviews
Review by [email protected]
I decided to sell my aluminum rain bike. Hard riding and cheap shifters. I demoted my Litespeed to rain bike status and put these fenders on it. They are a bit finicky to get lined up so they don't rub, but they hold still. My old fenders on the aluminum bike had no room for attachment at the rear brake bridge, so they rattled. These have brackets that go under the brake bridge and the fork in the front, so there is no clearance problem.
Coverage is good. My friends like to ride my wheel on wet days because I throw off very little water.
The fender stays mount to the skewers and that could be a pain when the wheel has to come off for a flat. I knew that going in, but I don't like it.
Review by MackieImages
I installed two sets of these (a 58cm Bianchi race bike now turned commuter and a very small women's Bianchi) and so far am super happy with how they've worked. Yes, the first set took some time to get on (45 min - 1 hr), but the second set was much much quicker. These attach, in part, using the skewers, so if you're someone who takes off the front wheel a lot, you may need to do some minor tweaking after putting back on the wheel.
Front coverage is great IMO, while these do not provide full coverage in the rear,it's close given that there are few options out there that do on bikes that can't take normal fenders. I do believe they could somehow use the water bottle mounts to hold a third section that would provide almost complete coverage.
Generally speaking though, I would easily recommend these.
Review by Chris
If you have a modern road bike and plan to ride through the winter, these will significantly improve your experience. They�re a little tricky to set up, and even more so if you don�t have a repair stand, but there is a fair amount of adjustability, and you should be able to get them installed without rubbing. Have patience and it will pay off. Once you have them on and adjusted you should try and leave them on all winter except for maintenance
Review by Steve F
These installed easily enough and look pretty good without adding too much weight to the bike. They are well made, give plenty of coverage and seem like they should stay in place. It's nice not having to worry about my back getting drenched and my saddle bag and taillight getting sand and salt sprayed all over it that is for sure.
Review by Anonymous
Fought with these for a few hours (about one hour at a time). I finally thought I had things dialed in and then I pumped up my tires and they rub against the fender clips. Spent another hour trying to adjust the clips (you also have to adjust your brakes every time you adjust the fender clips). I gave up.
Review by Tomas
A must for group riding in winter in the PNW! They fit on any race bike, look good, offer decent protection, and are easily removable when the weather cooperates. A buddy flap is still necessary to avoid getting cursed at by the rider behind you, but that is true of all fenders. I like them so much I bought them for friends. Now we can ride our fast bike all year.
Review by Anonymous
These are high quality,but finicky adjustment. Once installed the perform very well. They do require occasional tweaking and adjustment to remain centered over your tires and prevent rubbing. They are very lightweight and you'll hardly notice them.
Review by Anonymous
This is the second set I've bought, the first for my husband's bike and now for my bike. These fenders work great, have brackets that fit nicely without hindering your brakes, and allow you to easily take them on/off as needed. I had a bracket break once and, after contacting the manufacturer, was sent a new one right away. SKS really stands by their product and is happy to help if you need it. No jerking you around.
Review by Anonymous
I put these fenders on my road bike. I had to make adjustments but the product is designed so that you can make it fit most anything. Coverage was good. The mud flaps were effective.
Review by wayneh
Installation was fairly straightforward. After some minor adjustments the set went on the bike great. And when not needed the front and rear are easily moved by just clipping off at the brakesets and wheel axles.
Review by Layback
These fenders, while a novel idea, are incredibly dangerous. People, like myself, are lured to these because they can be taken off and put back on so easily. The latch system on these fenders eventuall will fail however, as they did on mine. There was a recall and a product redesign on these a couple years ago but it wasn't adequate. Eventually your rear fender will fail at the grey clip in point, rotate, jam in your rear wheel and cause you to skid out of control. I know 5 people who this has happened to. Thankfully none of them were seriously injured. It's just a matter of time, in my opinion, before someone skids right into oncoming traffic because of these. Buy with caution.
Review by Anonymous
I bought these to make it easy to remove when not needed. I had previously had permanent style mounted fenders, but one had broken recently so decided to try these. My biggest complaint is the two smaller pieces of the fenders that are mounted in front of the brakes on front and rear. With the brackets provided I find that they rattle and shake quite a bit from road vibrations. Mainly the front, so much that I often end up pulling it off mid ride. My second compliant is that when you have to remove the wheel, you have to deal with the tabs that are on your skewers and position them correctly again to get the fender in the correct position. I have found this most troublesome when I get a flat, and all I want to do is get back on the road as quickly as possible. This just adds to an unforeseen step in getting that accomplished.
On the positive side, they do stay in place once mounted to your desire. That being said, I will not buy these again and instead just go back to permanent style mounted fenders.
Review by Mike
The fenders are well made but the radius of the fender is less than the 700 x 28 tire so the fit is not great. The end of the fender is too close or touching the tire.
Review by Anonymous
I bought these to use on my LeMond road bike which had very little clearance between the brakes and the wheels. I didn't care much for the kind that strap to the fork as they don't provide much coverage. These were easy to install, provide lots of coverage, and can be removed in about 10 seconds.
The only thing that bothered me was the bracket connecting to the brakes. Once in place, the bracket negates the teeth on the washers that keep the brake calipers from rotating. I tightened the bolt up really tight, but occasionally I will need to rotate the calipers back into alignment if they get bumped. Not a serious issue, just a minor annoyance.
Overall, I love these and would definitely purchase these again as standard equipment for all my road bikes.
Review by Anonymous
These fenders are pretty great, a bit on the expensive side but worth it for a full fender for a road bike. Installation instructions are junk, better off watching a youtube video on how to install them. They also came with missing pieces (which biketiresdirect's fantastic customer service helped me with) and the end connectors were a newer version that was not pictured either on the box instructions or the picture on the website. Also, I did not have enough clearance for the short fender portion behind the seatstays. Other than that, they are great fenders with some adjustability and stays put once connected, I also love the quick disconnect feature. Once they get the parts issues and instructions figured out they'll be good to go.
Review by James
Nice coverage, low profile. The quick release mechanism is handy should you need to remove them to maintenance the bike, or on the sunny days of January you can run without them if you absolutely have to.
The biggest problem I had with them was during assembly, the illustration on the box shows an open ended bracket where it mounts on the skewers, the part that goes over the skewers is a loop.
Review by Anonymous
Living in Portland, I needed a full set of fenders that would fit my road bike. My Race Blades were OK, but I wanted to be drier. These fit right away and I was off and riding in about 15 minutes. And while I'm not completely dry, I'm certainly a LOT drier than I expected.
Review by Anonymous
Been using the standard race blades and am happy to finally see an extended version. The extra coverage is great. Could be still a bit longer at the back (never too much), but works well. Installation is simple, and is easy to get on and off. Stays in place and easier to adjust than the standard rubber straps on the regular race blades. Also it is more structurally rigid and don't have problems with wheel rub due to movementdeflection. Once set, they stay where they are even after removal and reinstall which is a breeze with the snap onoff system. The mounting bits left on the bike are not the most attractive, but not bad. Only small issue is some interference with the stationary trainer interface at the rear QR, but no big deal. Primary use is on a dedicated rain road bike where there is no clearance for standard fenders.
Review by Brian M
PROS Since the attachments are made to the brake caliber stems, the fenders do not touch the fork or the rear seat stays. This means no vibration or rubbing. My wife's bike had to have the carbon fiber fork replaced in the past due to other fenders rubbing the fork to the point of replacement - not good. The fenders are also great for low clearance frames so it doesn't rub against the wheels at all. Great customer service as well.
CONS The pin which attaches the plastic fenders to the metal stays (attachments to the brake stems) gets dirty. When you take the fender off for whatever reason, it can be difficult to click the fender back in place as the pin won't always attach to the metal stay. If the fender doesn't click back in place, it won't reattach. Cleaning will help, but I have also asked customer service for additional pins just in case the old ones become compromised.
Review by PDX_Biker
I went through a few set of fenders over the years, mostly the short versions because they can fit the narrow carbon frames. There are a few good looking full coverage fenders out there but they are required some modifications and additional hardware to fit narrow frames. This set of fenders take care of all those fitting issues and look good too. Been riding more this winter. Highly recommended !