Room for mudguards

"Paul D" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is clearance for mudguards on a road bike a feature of the frame design or
brake calipers?

Both. Well, what brake calipers you fit are a feature of the frame design,
since that determines where the rim is in relation to the brake. And you
need a suitable distance between the rim (= brake block position) and the
brake to fit the guards, so you need brakes with long arms, aka deep-drop,
and a frame to fit these. These are in fact the same as older normal-drop
ones. Shimano make some (used to be RX100, may be a posher label now), as do
others (mine are tektro).

cheers,
clive

Paul D said:

Is clearance for mudguards on a road bike a feature of the frame design or
brake calipers? I've only had experience with Ultegra brakes on my nice bike
& ancient campag ones on my winter bike. Groupsets (shimano in particualr)
don't seem to make different styles of caliper so i'm guessing either they
all work fine & its the frame design or they don't work but don't bother to
tell you.

Both on my racing bike. Some "aero" fork crowns have barely enough room
for a 25mm tyre even without the brake.

I'm still none the wiser. Going with the example of the Ribble frame i'm
looking at, if I get them to build it up for me I can specify any groupset
from Sora to Ultegra (possibly Dura Ace as well), but they throw in a set of
mudguards (fitted of course) with a the complete bike. So how does this work
out, or rather my real question is if I want a Tiagra/105 mix (bits i've
already got + some others I'll buy ie brake calipers), what calipers should
I be looking for?!

"Clive George" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Paul D" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is clearance for mudguards on a road bike a feature of the frame design

or

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

brake calipers?

Both. Well, what brake calipers you fit are a feature of the frame design,
since that determines where the rim is in relation to the brake. And you
need a suitable distance between the rim (= brake block position) and the
brake to fit the guards, so you need brakes with long arms, aka deep-drop,
and a frame to fit these. These are in fact the same as older normal-drop
ones. Shimano make some (used to be RX100, may be a posher label now), as

do

Quoted message said:

others (mine are tektro).

cheers,
clive

Paul D said:

Is clearance for mudguards on a road bike a feature of the frame design or
brake calipers? I've only had experience with Ultegra brakes on my nice bike
& ancient campag ones on my winter bike. Groupsets (shimano in particualr)
don't seem to make different styles of caliper so i'm guessing either they
all work fine & its the frame design or they don't work but don't bother to
tell you.

Also, anyone had any good bad or otherwise experience with Ribble bikes
(both riding & buying from)? Looking to replace my knacked old winter bike &
quite fancy the winter/audax frame & fork from Ribble for £160 hence the
questions.

I bought my 653 from them 15 years ago and it is still going strong. The
front gear braze on wasn't quite straight but close enough to not bother
sending it back, and the paintwork was looking decidedly shabby after 15
years.

Seeing as they don't make them that old any more, this probably isn't much
use but they do seem to be able to provide reasonable kit at a good price.

...d

Clive George [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Both. Well, what brake calipers you fit are a feature of the frame design,
since that determines where the rim is in relation to the brake. And you
need a suitable distance between the rim (= brake block position) and the
brake to fit the guards, so you need brakes with long arms, aka deep-drop,
and a frame to fit these. These are in fact the same as older normal-drop
ones. Shimano make some (used to be RX100, may be a posher label now), as do
others (mine are tektro).

Shimano still make a (IIRC) 105 deep drop brakeset which should allow
mudguard clearance. Or you could fit Daniel Salmon's low-profile
aluminium mudguards which would probably fit anyway!

Jon

"Paul D" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is clearance for mudguards on a road bike a feature of the frame design or
brake calipers? I've only had experience with Ultegra brakes on my nice
bike
& ancient campag ones on my winter bike. Groupsets (shimano in particualr)
don't seem to make different styles of caliper so i'm guessing either they
all work fine & its the frame design or they don't work but don't bother
to
tell you.

Also, anyone had any good bad or otherwise experience with Ribble bikes
(both riding & buying from)? Looking to replace my knacked old winter bike
&
quite fancy the winter/audax frame & fork from Ribble for £160 hence the
questions.

Ta.

Paul

I've bought one of these frames, but haven't put it together yet. As I
needed new calipers, I phoned Ribble before ordering and was assured that
this frame will accept standard drop (49mm) brakes. As they sell a lot of
them, I assumed that they're right and got some Campag Mirage brakes.
Intend to build it up on Monday coming, so I'll shout loudly if they don't
fit!

John Miller

Paul D said:

Is clearance for mudguards on a road bike a feature of the frame
design or brake calipers?

Both, plus the design of the mudguards. Narrower mudguards will be easier
to cope with.

When it comes to the brake calipers, it's not just about drop but the shape
of the arms (how much they splay out and the underside profile). A modern
Campag front brake fouled my mudguard whereas an Alhonga was fine. Also,
Campags don't have enough drop for all bikes.

The frame & forks and wheel size* govern how much drop is required. Drop is
measured from centre of mounting bolt to centre of rim braking surface.

Take advice from the frame supplier or take a chance.

* Wheel size only needs to be considered if using smaller wheels than the
frame/forks was designed for, eg. 700c wheels in a frame made for 27"
wheels.

~PB

Paul D said:

I'm still none the wiser. Going with the example of the Ribble frame

i'm

Quoted message said:

looking at, if I get them to build it up for me I can specify any

groupset

Quoted message said:

from Sora to Ultegra (possibly Dura Ace as well), but they throw in a

set of

Quoted message said:

mudguards (fitted of course) with a the complete bike. So how does

this work

Quoted message said:

out, or rather my real question is if I want a Tiagra/105 mix (bits

i've

Quoted message said:

already got + some others I'll buy ie brake calipers), what calipers

should

Quoted message said:

I be looking for?!

if it helps I have sks narrow guards fitted between tiagra calipers and
25mm tyres. The limiting factor on my bike is the fork crown. I had
to bend the fork crown bracket on the 'guards to get a tighter radius
which allowed an extra mm or so together with filing out the groove
which the bolt goes through on the bracket. Before I did this the tire
had worn down the heads of the rivets on the inside of the guards
saving another few [censored] papers' worth. I do occaisionally hear bits of
grit being fired through the gap in the wet but I have never triggered
the mudguard stay release (except once but that was caused by me
kicking it). I am sure that some would consider the clearances
inadequate but I have almost 8000 all-season urban commuting miles on
my setup

best wishes
james