SKS P45 Fender Set

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

Bought these for my wife's bike and they are great. The silver ones have that classic look that metal fenders have, but don't weight nearly as much. And unlike the metal fenders, these can take a beating and you'd never know it.

The only thing I haven't been too happy with was the installation. SKS is not at fault though; I just find installing any fenders to be time consuming. Be prepared to throw an hour at the task.

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

I've had these fenders for about five years and have mounted them and unmounted them over and over again. I recently weighed them (about a pound and a half total) and decided to leave them on for good. For all of those people who say they are difficult to install, GET A GRIP! The instructions aren't great but there's really only one way to mount the founders properly and it doesn't take an engineering degree to figure it out. Of course you need to remove your rear wheel to mount the rear fender to the chainstay bridge (sort of like you have to open the hood of your car to check the oil). And yes, you need to trim the stays to size after you're finished (a bolt cutter comes in very handy for that). It takes a little time to get a decent fender line but you pretty much learn as you go; its a bit time consuming but not very difficult and like most other bicycle maintenance it gets less difficult every time.

The fenders do a great job of keeping you and your bike dry, especially if you use mud flaps, which you can make yourself or buy pre-made. I first used homemade flaps and just put on flaps made by Plantet Bike, which actually fit SKS fenders fairly well. Yes, you will need to drill holes in the flaps and fenders to mount the flaps. The stays are a little bit flexy but hold the fenders' shape well and can be shaped to adjust the fender's alignment with your tires. The fenders themselves are very durable, pretty light and pretty... pretty. Once all the stays are screwed tight and you get the fender line right, the fenders are very quiet with no rattling to speak of. If you trim the stays, the fenders will actually improve the look of your bike. Only negative I have to say is that if you use a mud flap on the front fender, it might interfere with mounting your bike on a trunk mounted car rack.

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

All fenders take plenty of time and patience to install and these SKS fenders are no exception. You will need 3 or 4 hours if you are particular on how perfect you want them to look. Keep in mind though, once you are finished you will be very happy with the results if you are careful. You will probably have to go to a speciality hardware store and pick up longer front stainless steel allen bolts for the front stays as well as some 7mm x 1mm rubber washers to place at strategic spots to keep holes from cracking or fenders from vibrating. You might need to drill out some of the features the fenders incorporate if your frame has braze-ons, for example, under fork crown or rear seat stay bridge. Then you will need additional screws for those holes.

Even more time is needed for installation of Honjo alloy fenders, for example, and when finished you will have more vibration noise than with the SKS's. Some say the alloy fenders look a bit more vintage, etc but I now prefer the quietness of the SKS and they are more flexible which I believe makes them hold up nicer.

With the rear SKS fenders you may have to improvise with the rear stays if you have double braze-ons or you also have a rear rack. Be careful here--I had to place a double bend on the upper rear stay to clear my Blackburn rear rack. Once done the installation was done it looks perfect and very custom.

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

This is my second set from SKS and I am very impressed with the P45's. I installed them on a Novara Big Buzz with hydraulic disc brakes. The install took me about 45 minutes but to a bike commuter who's about to gain absolute puddle protection, this is time well spent. The front through bolt was not long enough so I ended up using a shorter bolt (all parts were supplied in the kit) and snuck it in to the opening of the fork. This connection doesn't require to much force, just solid stay for rigidity - it worked fine. The plastic rod caps and adjustable squash nuts have been dramatically improved upon from the last set that I bought. This kit was mucho solid.

The fenders are wide and super rigid; no wobbling off to the side, they stay put even at speed and do not require later, constant adjustments (serious problem with previous model). This means I can wear nice pants and a collared shirt without being covered in mud/dirt/puddle water by the time I make it down town for dinner.

The front fender does not protect at speeds over 30mph as the centrifugal force holds water to the tire past the leading edge of the fender; meet blow back which is not your friend... Meh, it's not that big of a deal. When it's wet, I usually keep things slower so I don't get eaten by a bus anyways. I suggest wearing some rain gear if you're able to sustain that speed anyways, yeah? Good grief!

I'll be recommending these to anyone that needs fenders :-) Get a set, take your time putting them on - it's well worth the protection. Thanks for a great product SKS!

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

Some users have said these fenders can't be installed on bikes with disc brakes, but with some bending and twiddling they work just fine on my disc brake bike.

I had to cut the wire fender stays for the front fender, but the length was fine for the rear fender. To cut the front stays I used heavy duty, high-leverage wire cutters, then filed the ends smooth. I had to trim about 5/16" to get a good fit.

The rear fender fits fine under my Axiom Streamliner Disc rack, but it took some bending and adjusting of the fender stay. Had to drill a hole in the rear fender for a flush screw attachment because of the way my frame is designed, but it worked out. Also had to install a spacer and some extra washers here and there.

The black plastic parts that help secure the fender stays to the fender need to be properly installed - look carefully and get them on correctly!

Had no problems with the various screws but it all depends on your frame, type of brakes, and whether or not you have racks front and rear. No manufacturer can produce a fender that will install painlessly on any bike, but any manufacturer can put effort into creating good installation instructions. SKS has some work to do in that regard.

Overall, I'm happy. These are great fenders, very secure, well-made.

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

These were installed on a mountain-style bike as part of its conversion to a city bike for all weather use.

This fender set is generic enough to fit almost any 700C bike frame. My bike's front derailleur interfered with the rear fender, which required a stack of hardware store washers to space the fender out from the frame back there. Plus, I had to purchase two fasteners. One because there is no brake bolt to use for the front fender (cantilever brakes) and the hole there was tapped with a 6mm thread (5mm screws in the kit). The other screw was required because the supplied 25mm was too short and 40mm was too long, though it would have worked. (OK, they could supply a 30mm long screw in the kit. It was EXACTLY the right length and I wanted a nice, trim installation)

Some reviewers objected to the fact that the supports are all the same length and often need to be cut off. They also don't like the general mounting instructions. In response to point 1. I would point out that this fender set has to be generic enough to mount on bikes with vastly different frame configurations. The builders can't know where the bolt holes will be on a given bike. So they make the supports long enough to reach 99% of the anticipated locations. In response to point 2. I would say that anyone who works on their own bike would likely not need the instructions after going over them once and seeing the parts in the kit.

Here is how I installed the fenders:
1. took off the bike wheels
2. fit up the fenders hand tight, bending the supports to meet the fender brackets without springing around
3. took the obligatory trip to the hardware store for a couple of screws and spacer washers.
4. put the wheels back on.
5. adjusted the fenders for a nice, even fit.
6. marked the supports with a sharpy.
7. took off one side's supports at a time, trimmed with a hacksaw, filed the ends smooth, and replaced.
8. repeated support trim procedure on other side of bike.
9. reinstalled all components, adjusted, and snugged everything down.

The finished product looks and works great. All this was done in my livingroom while watching a football game - with a beer in my hand.

This is a very nice product. Just don't underestimate what it takes to install this type of thing.

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

Bought this product after researching reviews from many websites - supposed to be one of the best mudguards out there. Same comments as most others - installation is daunting. Instructions are minimal, vague and lose something in translation. Installation took me about 4 hours, no kidding. Proceed slowly, do a lot of loosening and re-tighteng to "tune" the fender for best fit. If you plan on installing these, know this in advance: you will need to cut the stays to fit your frame. It never says this anywhere in the instructions. I recommend bolting fenders to the frame w/o the plastic pieces inserted in the stay clips, so the stays can be pre-fitted "loose" in the clips before trying final fit. That will show you about how long to cut them. Then cut them down in SHORT increments until fit is good. I used a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel, then hand-filed a rounded edge on the cut. They slip into the plastic much easier that way. Bolt the stays to the braze-ons last, you'll need to take the stays in and out during fitting. I had to pull my rear wheel off to install bolts. Couple small complaints: [...]. Also, some of bolts appear to be galvanized and others are stainless. Really, everything was not stainless? After installing rear fender, Topeak SuperTourist DX rear rack interfered with upper fender stays. The rack stays pinch the fender stays pretty good. I expect that their rubbing together will cause some wear, but that's no big deal. The retaining bolts on the stays are very well made, with bolts and nuts finished with a smooth rounded edge. You'll need a #2 Phillips short driver, 8mm and 7mm wrenches. Looking forward to seeing how well they hold up.

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

These fenders look pretty good once you get them installed and I have no complaints about how they work once they are on the bike. The trouble was the instruction sheet is really bad and the 2 bolts that are suppose to hold on the front fenders are TOO SHORT! I'm guessing they changed the design of the plastic clips and made them thicker but forgot to increase the size of the bolts. I tried to use the included bolts but I started to strip the screw thread. Super Lame. They come with a couple longer bolts as well, but they are wayyy too long. I managed to find some bolts in my parts bin that fit but SKS really needs to fix this issue. Then they would get 5 stats, well only if they improved the instructions as well!

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

I purchased these for the express purpose of protecting myself and bicycle during inclement weather. They were a pain to install because the instructions were terrible. They did not fit in the front with the special clips until the rods were cut down in length, and to top it off, now my feet hit the back of the front fender even though they are on a BIG bicycle. Yes, I have size 15 shoes, and that I guess is my problem. Anyhow, I was overall disappointed with the end result.
One other thing...they were packed lousy and the back fender had small scratches due to the lousy packing. It would simply take a piece of paper in between the two fenders to keep that from happening but apparently SKS hasn't figured that out yet.

Comments about SKS P45 Fender Set:

I installed these fenders on my 2010 Novara Randonee. They look good and function well, but they were not fun to install. As others have said, the directions are vague and obviously a mediocre translation from German. There were no provisions for a couple of "exceptions" to the way my bike is set up, so I had to drill an extra hole in the rear fender and use zip ties when mounting the front. I also had to cut down the stays shorten them a bit. Once they were installed, they are fine, but installation might be daunting for anyone who doesn't have minimal mechanical skills and tools.