by danabike » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:48 pm
Figured out the fender problem with mounting IRC NR77's. I ordered 2 of the NR 77 front tires, which were the same size as the stock rear, but larger than the stock front tire. I first made some extensions for the fender stays, but they were bulky and the hardware required put them too far away from the tire. It looked like crap and I was stuck. I ten considered making a fork bracket to mount at the base of the headtube under the fork, like a bicycle. Then I was looking in my shop loft and found some universal fender stays for 26" fat tire bicycle fenders. I believe the manufacturer is Wald. I used the old fender stays and a fender as a pattern to shape the top of the stays since they are not a straight arc. After a little bending by hand and with some pliers, the tops were shaped and fit nicely into the underside of the fender, without the little bend inward that the stock stays have. That little inward bend is what screws us on the use of the stock ones, so the bicycle stays provide an immediate 1/4" on each side simply by virtue of not having that second bend. I gave myself a little more extra clearance on the tire, and then lined up the stays to the same holes on the fork for the stock stays and cut the new ones to fit. I then took a hammer and and pounded the first inch of the cutoff end of the new stays flat on the anvil of my bench vise. Since the new stays are formed where they were cut off, there's a clear center line on the flattened blade end. Center punch the new hole location and drill it out. Voila! new stays that are almost indistinguishable from the stock ones! You can even use the mud flap! I attached everything with carefully measured stainless screws and nylon nuts. The rear tire I had no fit problems with and used all the stock stuff. Check it out!
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