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I've just received my brand new "urban" bicycle, one that comes with pre-mounted, full length aluminium fenders/mudguards. Fender from underneath, showing bracket attached to right side of fork Fender with bracket from above

However, on the front wheel there is no clearing at the back end of the fenders, and the fender catch on the tire while rolling, and the bicycle is not usable until that it adjusted.

I'm addressing this problem with those I've bought it from, but that is a online shop outside of the country I live in, so I can't just take it back. [UPDATE: The shop will cover costs (up to a limit) at a local repair shop to fix it, hurrah!]

The fender is in its highest position, so it cannot be moved any higher above the wheel. The fender is aluminium, which is a hard material, but very difficult to bend. Fender profile

What is your advice to me? How should I go about to get proper clearance between the fenders and the tire?

Here is a pic I found on the web of the bike, hopefully giving some overview of the front wheel and fenders: Ghost Square Urban X9

I do not have that many good ideas, but here are my thoughts:

  • bending the fenders - but I am afraid that I might break them. Also that might not give me enough clearance
  • bending the bracket that attaches to the frame. That is even thicker aluminium.
  • putting it into a local repair shop
  • buy a new set of tires that just have a smaller circumference

Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

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  • Welcome to Bicycles @Nils. We recommend that new members take the tour to make best use of the site. Fenders/mudguards can be fiddly to adjust, so I suggest that you include a photo in your post to help us help you.
    – andy256
    Sep 21, 2016 at 6:47
  • You've found one of the downsides of buying online. After-sales support from a local shop is superior. I suspect the guard has been bent a little during shipping or perhaps your assembly? One or two clear photos will clarify the problem and can be edited into your answer using the edit link below the tags. Please do this and we can be of more assistance.
    – Criggie
    Sep 21, 2016 at 8:58
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    A picture would help -- you may have to take off and put back on the fenders.
    – Batman
    Sep 21, 2016 at 10:12
  • There are many different ways that a fender might attach, and several possible reasons for your clearance problem. We need pictures. Sep 21, 2016 at 12:09
  • although your pictures have great exposure and the metal tones are nice - they are pretty pictures - I can't make out what the fenders actually look like! So a bit difficult to know what to do! Hope you get it sorted out
    – Vorsprung
    Sep 26, 2016 at 13:26

2 Answers 2

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Front Fenders typically mount using a mounting bracket at the fork crown and a couple supporting members from the fender to the fork legs themselves. Since you are dealing with a bike that was presumably designed to utilize the fenders you have, I would suggest that if the rear of the fender is rubbing, detach the supporting members attached to the fork legs (one on each side) re-position the fork crown bracket such that the rear does not rub... (note it is not too uncommon to have to bend the bracket a bit to get the positioning you need) Then re-connect the lower supporting members.

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  • They are only attached directly to the crown of the fork. There are no supporting members. I guess the bracket needs a little bending, really... Sep 26, 2016 at 12:34
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    It looks like you have screws on both sides of the interior of the fork. Before bending, remove the wheel loosen the screws and adjust the fender mount, retighten, and install the wheel to see if the rubbing has stopped. It may take a couple iterations to get it just right.
    – dafew
    Sep 26, 2016 at 12:57
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This topic is old but I just had this same problem when building a 95% finished bike from costco. The front fender was hitting the bike wheel and I couldn't install the wheel properly without bending the fender or something else drastic.

After some googling and saw an article on common bike assembly problems...when turns out that the front fork was installed backwards in the factory! Check if your brake pads are in the front or back of the fork. It should be in front. (Also check to see some of the pictures that your bike has from the box or whatnot -- mine all showed that it was in the front but my bike came with it in the back...even though the damn stickers POINTED the wrong direction.).

So I had to remove the fork and reinsert it in the correct position, being careful to also realign the lines for the brakes. Wheel now goes on without a problem and no fender scraping wheel.

Maybe this'll help someone else's half-finished bike from online/big box stores.

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  • This is a disc-braked bike so, in this case, the brake should be behind the fork. Jun 16, 2019 at 23:32

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