Velo Orange 45mm Hammered Fenders on the Casseroll

Now that I've ridden with what resembles SKS fenders for a week or so, my Velo Orange fenders arrived. I still haven't been able to find internet-verifiable proof that anyone is running Schwalbe Marathon winter 700x35c tires on a pre-2011 Casseroll, let alone with fenders. Let the project begin.

First, I needed to find a better brake solution. The medium-reach brakes that come stock on the Casseroll were not quite wide enough to really run a 45mm fender with 35c studded tires. My wife's bike (parked for the winter), has Tektro 556's (or Rivendell Silvers), to adapt a 27"-wheeled frame to 700c wheels. They are much wider (allowing for fender clearance), but would they work on a 700c frame w/ 700c wheels? That's part of the project below. On to the fender install.

The VO fenders are definitely more rounded, better following the profile of the tire tread. 

Profile comparison.

For the rear fender, I needed to trim around the mount to allow space for the chainstays. Markings for said trimming below:

Marks to trim front of rear fender.

After trimmage.

I tried the daruma mount setup under the fork crown, but the tolerance is so small that the nut on the underside of the daruma would rub into the tire. That, and the crown has too much material on the inside to fit a daruma and Sheldon fender nut (or any recessed brake nut for that matter). Daruma aborted and L-bracket engaged.

Tried the daruma.

I drilled the holes for the L-bracket. I had to mount the screws with the head on the underside of the fender, with the nut and excess screw length on top. Again, tire clearance is at a premium with this setup. The larger hole here is pre-drilled for the daruma setup. I lined that hole up with the fork crown, and set up the L-bracket accordingly for hole drilling.

Holes drilled for L-bracket.

Once installed, front and rear, careful tweaking and adjusting was absolutely necessary to eliminate rubbage. Heres a shot of the rear fender stay. The fender stays have subtle markings, so centering the stay in the daruma mount is simplified.

Rear strut mount. Centered & leathered.

These fenders have incredible coverage. The mudflap rides about 1/2" off the ground (it would probably touch the ground if it were new and rigid).

The mudflap rides about 1/2" off the road.

Heres a closeup of the front tire clearance off the front of the fender. The fender covers more tire out away from the front of the bike. Hopefully this helps control some of the snow spray I've been experiencing with the relatively short SKS setup.

Pretty tight clearance.

At the back fender bridge, I refashioned the SKS bracket instead of using the one provided by VO. It was smaller and easier to work with. Notice the long-reach brake with the cartridges slid all the way up. It doesn't look the best, but it works great. The braking power is actually better.

The Tektro 556 and fender bridge.

Here's a detail of the front brake, fork crown, L-bracket area. Notice the mounting technique for the L-bracket. Again, the long-reach Tektros featured here.

Front brake and fork mount detail.

The front mount on the rear fender needed to be spaced back a bit. In the absence of cork, I used the extra leather washers I ordered. It worked out nice to get the fender line correct.

View downward.

Had to space this quite a bit.

The hardware for these fenders has a really nice finish, and holds the stays securely in place.

Clean hardware finish.

Front fender line shot with light.

I'll get some full-body shots in the next day or two.