How to stop foot clipping front mudguard

Question

My feet overlap the pedal and clip the front mudguard when I'm turning at a low speed because I have to turn the handlebars wider than normal.

My foot doesn't clip the wheel when the mudguard is not attached. Does anyone know if this is a common problem and what is done to solve it?

My thoughts are:

• Bend the excess metal rods around the outside of the mudguard to lessen the amount of excess rods that can be caught by my foot.
• Somehow rotate the mudguard anti-clockwise (as viewed standing from the right of the bike) to lower the excess rods and rubber flap and create more clearance.
• The mudguard is not suitable for my bike and I should get another set.

Answer 1

I have a very similar setup (SKS Chromoplastics), and can say the following:

1. I installed a suspension forks and then the former length of the metal wires bacame too long for the setup. I BENT them in a sharp turn to run parallel to the mudguard (of course it can be bent in any suitable direction, just NOT point straight back like yours). Haven't had any issue yet. I DIDN'T CUT them because there is always a possibility to use the mudguard in other bike with a larger wheel (I use 26in), or to put the rigid fork back. If that happens, I'd just unbend the wires again.
2. Rotating the mudguard backwards is always good. The more backwards, the less water flying below you. If you have clamped the little "L" shaped metal plate in front of the fork, you can change it to the back part of the fork. There are only two relative caveats:
   1. The front part of the mudguard might become too short, and some drops might start getting on your face at high speeds on rainy or wet days;
   2. If you go down some step or curb, you should take extra care not to hit the rear part of the fender against the obstacle.
3. Any mudguard like yours is suitable to the bike. Your main problem, as DanielRHicks correctly pointed, is that you should have got the wires short (either by cutting or by bending). Even then, it is acceptable to have a minimal toe overlap. Since you ride platform pedals, I would suggest you to watch yourself if you are pedalling with the foot too much forward ("arch pedaling"). Perhaps you might like to use straps or clipless pedals.

About using a flap, I am ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED that it is very very welcome and extremely useful. Some designs are more flexible, and that work better, but yours is fine, specially if you manage to get the whole mudguard lower than this. I use to say that I'd rather ride without all the rest of the mudguard than without the flap, because it is the actual responsible for a clean and long-lasting chain, and not-so-wet feet.

Hope this helps

Answer 2

I have Planet Bike Cascadia fenders and my shoes did clip the metal rods/wire fender supports after I had the fenders installed. This happens when I am making a tight turn while continuing to pedal. Simple solution for me was to cut the protruding rod/wires. Initially I tried to use a hacksaw but had little luck as the coating was hard and the saw just bounced around. I then tried using a pair of big pliers and that did the trick. I found that the wire only had hardened coating but once you pierced that it cut easily... a big set of pliers can easily do the job.