Crud Catcher Road Racer MK2 Fender Set

I like commuting on my carbon bike in the spring but missed having fenders.

These are an excellent design and work perfectly.

Give yourself a couple of hours to install them, and watch the tips and tricks on the Crud Catcher website.

In stock at BikeTires Direct at a better price than most other sources.

These fenders requires 5mm of space between your tires and frame to fit (see their website about fit). So if your road bike has super tight clearance, these might not fit you. Also, fitting them on 700x25c tires might be more difficult, but I only used them on 23's. If they do fit, they provide fantastic coverage. Especially in MK2 they have extended the coverage of the rear fender to cover the seat tube and the crank, and have extensions to cover the back of the rear wheel better, so your buddies on a rainy group ride won't complain about you spraying water in their face.

The whole thing is really light and made of plasticfiberglass. It also hugs the tires pretty tight, so I don't even bother removing them for rides in normal weather.

As long as you follow their installation instructions, you won't have any rattles and they stayed centered pretty easily. Make sure the screws are as tight as you can do by hand, but no tighter. I had a screw fell off during the middle of a ride on the rear fender support because I didn't tighten it enough. Fortunately I was able to simply let the support dangle away from the wheels and finish the ride. The rear fenders didn't rub the wheels even with one support missing, which speaks about their stability I think. The package ships with a few spare screws. Didn't have any problems ever since.

All in all, as good as fenders get for a road bike.

These fenders are far better than the Planet bike fenders I had used previously on my Litespeed Ghisallo. They encompass of more of the wheels circumference and prevent sand and road crud from filling up your brakes and derailleur. They do take some time to install and I had to install and remove my rear wheel countless times to get them installed in addition to snipping off several centimeters of the bottom leading edge of the rear fender. As well as using a heat gun to mold the arch to a more uniform radius.

I would like to comment on other reviews before me in a general way. Many reviewers sentiments of installation noted these were more difficult than they initially believed it would be. In response to that, the difficulty encountered installing these fenders are likely directly related to your ability and tools.

Loosening hardware was also noted as a problem. The manufacturer includes double sided taped to secure the only jointed section in these fenders that along with the screw and nut will hold very securely. If transverse movement (the 2 pieces are allowed to slide relative to each other) of the bolted sections of this fender is allowed no matter you tighten the hardware it will not prevent it from loosening. Over tightening hardware in an attempt to secure it more firmly is never a good idea. All that prevents a nut and bolt from loosening is the stretch of the bolt (its stored energy) over tightening can cause plastic deformation (no pun intended) and subsequent hardware failure.

As far as the material being too, frail! The idea that it cant be abused and survive being a manufacturer defect is misinformed the material chosen to make the fenders needs to stop road debris and rain from getting on you and your bike, period. It might be nice that you could have a material that also has high tensile strength though not actually necessary. It like saying, wrenches make poor hammers!

To reviewers who give a negative review because these fenders would not fit their brand of bike tell us your make and model you own so others who own that brand wont make the mistake.

Unlike others I don't see the difficulty in mountingdismounting these fenders. You have to know if they fit your frame first, however. They will not fit my Bianchi but they fit my Trek and Orbea. All 3 bikes are the same advertized frame size. Bianchi doesn't have fork clearance. Seem to be made for the Trek.

After over-the-winter-storage the brushes were coming loose. Removed them and remounted them using double sided tape.

Have never had the nuts get loose, but I check my tire pressure and condition before each ride - check the fender nuts too.

I am now definitely drier in the wet. Am I wrong to think these are a good looking set of fenders? Fenders for a road bike - who would have thought it? Crud Catcher did! Thanks.

Giant OCR with 25mm tires.

I had the original version on the bike for a year, then installed the new version. No clearance problems. The new version has really great protection for the front derailleur and the longer fender tails make a noticeable difference.

I removed the fenders for summer. Just put them back on this week. I left the tabs on the frame to make it easier to reinstall. I found that the biggest setup hassle was figuring out the best attachment points to the frame and fork. Watch the videos on the Crud website a few times and don't be in a hurry to install. I took the wheels and chain off and put the bike on a stand to make the job a lot easier.

Once the finders are mounted correctly they work great. Once in a while I need to make a slight adjustment to the alignment of the attachment tabs, but this is just pushing and pulling on them a bit to get the fenders back in alignment. I used the Planet Bike half-fenders for a couple of years. They were a much bigger hassle to set up and keep in alignment and they didn't work nearly as well in the rain.

The fenders are somewhat fragile. If you need to take the bike into the shop after installing the fenders, my advice is to remove the tails from both fenders. Bike shops, even the ones that sell these fenders, just aren't used to dealing with them. My bike shop broke off a tail and one of the guys at work had a similar experience. The material is polypropylene, not polycarbonate, so the fenders aren't real sturdy. I dropped the bike, nearly standing still, and the impact broke the fenders at the point where the stays attach. That's why I now have the new version. But this is the best fender set I've seen for a carbon frame bike.

These are a great full coverage fender. Many road bike fenders dont cover enough of the rear tire to prevent spraying the riders behind you, these fenders DO. These fenders work great, but do take some time and patiencecare to properly setup. Make sure you watch this video before you install them httpyoutu.bexrB6DRk2cwE . Once installed be careful not to bump the fenders as they easily get out of alignment. If you do bump them, its a bit of an art to re-align, but not a difficult task.

These fenders are on my commute bike. Set-up is solid, no chatter while riding, no slippage. Excellent coverage, water has nowhere to go but down. Extra material on front derrailleur side a good feature as well.

These are perfect. I have no idea what the other reviewers are talking about having a hard time installing them. I have barely 5mm clearance front and rear and I had the fenders installed with no rubbing in less than 30 mins. I took them out today and tried to abuse them, taking no caution on the rough terrain. They held strong no problems no movement whatsoever. It was mostly dry today, but last night after a fresh rain I ripped up and down my street about 10 times in my city clothes, they did the job perfectly, not one drop of water on me, and it kept my front derailleur and crank area nice and clean. Way better than the half fenders from SKS or whatever. Not only do they do the job, they look pretty dang sweet as well you can barely tell they are on there.

I'm actually excited to ride this winter, for the first time ever. Get these if you have the room, also if you have smaller stays in the rear twist the o-rings 2-3 times, it will keep them from shifting around on the back end.

I'm ok with the fact that I need to re-ajust my fenders regularly. They are small, light and they protect very well on rainy days. If you don't mind the extra 15 seconds to stop the rubbing noise once in a while. I like them!

Install is a snap. Read the instructions and install takes 30 minutes - max. Does not work well with 700x28c or large 25c tires. If you are using a wide rim the fenders may rub - I have a powertap wheel with a HED oversized 700c rim - no go. These are small issues (for me), as this is just on a winter bike anyways...My only real complaint is with the thumb screws - don't overtighten or they will break off at the head.

I almost gave them three starts, but then I decided that's just because although we need them around here (Seattle) and they're helpful, they're always annoying one way or another, which is just my bias against all fenders. These work better than raceblades because of the fuller coverage. The fit is tight and although they don't rub, when my tires pick up schmutz, they rub for a few seconds until all the sand, etc comes off. Fenders in general are a little spendy and these are on par-ish. Ideal world is a rainbike with clearance for real fenders, but this comes in a strong second.

Nice to have full coverage on a road bike with tight clearances and no fender mounts. They'll keep the guy riding behind you dry and they look good too.

Installation is a complex process but not impossible. The zip ties are not the most elegant solution to the installation.

Because of the tight clearances you hear rubbing noises from the small centering brushes on the fenders. A pain to take on and off.

Reccomended for people that ride year round in the rain on tight clearance bikes.

While I didn't find the installation all the difficult, fundamentally these fenders' problem is they are brittle and weak. On day two, something, I'm not sure what, shattered the rear fender. While I don't know what it was, I know it was quick, ugly, and left little trace beyond the shards of former rear fender. Anything can break, but this was a poor performance.

While the idea behind these fenders is a good one, the execution just isn't there.

The Crud Catcher fenders are worlds apart from anything else out there. They will fit your tight-clearance road bike, and if you use all the fitted extensions, provide as much coverage as literally any other fender out there. They are pretty easy to install, and you can get multiple seasons out of them. Also super-light.

Downsides The biggest one is noise. Because the fit is unavoidably tight, you will get some tire rub from time to time (especially riding through, say, fir needles or other debris on the road). You'll just have to get used to it, knowing that it is only cosmetic (not wearing down a tire or anything). I bet they clog up super-fast in wet snow or sticky mud (haven't done the mud, but got some accumulation in a bit of snow recently). They are not the toughest, because they have to be flexible for small adjustments in radius (for fit), but you should get two seasons out of them. You will probably need to run medium-to-small tires (I do fine with 23mm tires on my Madone, but I doubt I could make 25mm ones work).

In the end, these are a hugely effective solution to a tough problem (keeping clean on a tight-clearance bike). I'm loving staying clean and dry on my best road bike through a Portland winter.

I put a set of these on my Cannondale CAAD8 last year- they kept me relatively splash free even in torrential downpours. Just ordered a set for my wife's brand new Madone. They can be a pain to install, but once they are on and set, they work great.

I upgraded my original pair to the latest version which has longer front and rear guards for the back fender as well as some new adhesive tape to keep the mounting screws in place. Minimal amount of fine-tuning necessary. I suggest removing the fenders from the packaging and letting them lie on a flat surface for a day or so before mounting. This should eliminate any warps from shipment.

These fenders I used for my winter single speed. Easy installation, great adjustability, light weight and even look good. Overall these fenders are better than expected.

The fenders fit so closely to the tire that they don't look clunky, they attach without the need of fork or seat stay eyelets, they're light and inexpensive. Since the mounting system employs a brush arrangement to keep the fenders from rubbing, they wipe the black gunk that collects on the rim from wet break pads. Lastly and most important they work flawlessly.

I've used the 1st generation of these for the past year (1st generation had shorter rear fender) and had great results. Installation was easy, easy adjustment and complete splash protection. Just remember they are best for rain conditions and not for heavy mud or snow usage.

I have but zero tolerance under brakes but these still fit. Nice design. But first time I pulled the bike onto back wheel in process of turning it over to work on chain, the back piece breaks off. Just be careful.

I like the look of these a lot so even though they seem a bit expensive I was pretty happy with the purchase.

They've been on my bike since the fall, (it's now spring) and when I was putting my bike away today I noticed the front fender was shattered. It's never been struck or damaged so I have to conclude regular riding vibration caused it to fail. Pretty disapointing.