Wings for a fat bike: what are, how to choose and install?

The main purpose of a fat bike is to ride through mud, puddles and snow. And because of the wide tires with a developed tread, the rider gets much more dirt than when riding a mountain bike. Therefore, wings on a fat bike are an important necessity.

When selling fat bikes are rarely equipped with mud flaps. For the right choice of this necessary accessory, you should familiarize yourself with the different types of wings. Below are their main differences.

• Material - Mud flaps are plastic and metal. Plastic have less weight, but also less strength. Steel wings are stronger, but they are heavy, can rattle when riding and are subject to corrosion. Aluminum lacks these shortcomings, they are lighter, but much more expensive and rarely found in stores. The best option is metal-plastic, they are lightweight, durable, have an acceptable cost and, as a result, are very popular.

• The size - there are full-sized and shortened. The former are better for protecting you and your bike from dirt, the latter are lighter in weight and easier to install.

• Installation method. Shortened wings due to the simplicity of their installation are often called quick-change. Full-size mud flaps - stationary.

Steel wings can be chosen with a limited budget. In all other cases, it is desirable to give preference to plastic or metal-plastic.

When choosing, be sure to consider the operating conditions of the bike. For frequent trips through mud, snow or in bad weather, full-size mud flaps should be selected. To move on heavy off-road, they must be durable, since contact with bushes and other obstacles is possible.

Anyway the mudguard should be slightly wider than the wheel. General advice on selection - Look at how dirty your clothes are after riding.

When buying a set of wings with them comes fasteners, which will deprive you of installation problems. To install full-sized mudguards, there must be special holes or eyes on the frame and fork. If they are, there will be no problems. If they are not, you will have to use home-made clamps that can be cut from soft sheet metal - tin is good. In the absence of fasteners, shortened wings are usually used.

The quick-change wing is fixed with a screw and nut to the gorilla (jumper between the feathers of the fork) or into the steering glass. In the latter case, a special sleeve is attached to the mudguard, which is then inserted into the hole between the feathers of the fork and wedged with a screw. For mounting in this way, you must remove the front wheel.

It should be noted that fastening is obtained by cantilever, and it is difficult to achieve the required stiffness on 26-inch wheels. In this regard, the mudguard is made shortened, and often an additional protective screen is placed on the lower tube of the frame using clamps. Clamps must be rubber, since plastic can damage the paint.

The stationary wing at the upper point is fixed in the same way, and at the bottom - with a special wire bracket. On the one hand, the bracket is fixed on the wing, on the other - on the wheel hub or in the eyelets on the fork.

The rear quick-change wing is fixed to the seat post with a clamp or eccentric clamp. Sometimes there is an additional mount on the jumper connecting the rear feathers of the frame.

The stationary mudguard is mounted on the jumpers of the rear triangle and with the help of a bracket to the eyes on the frame. These actions are carried out using screws.

In any case, you need to trace so that there is no contact between the wheels and the mudguards. There should also be a gap of 1-2 cm between the wheel and the wing. It is necessary so that the adhering dirt does not rub against the wing.