Mudguards for a 2020 Cannondale Synapse

[ian in lancs]

Has anyone fitted or able to recommend mudguards to a 2020 Cannondale Synapse? It has eyelets on the inside of the fork legs and the back of the fork crown and at the back eyelets on the inside of the seat stays and the rear of the bottom bracket. Both front and rear, therefore, have decent 3-point fixings. I can't find mudguards to fit that arrangement. Any ideas?

ETA Pics






Thanks!

Edited by ian in lancs on Sunday 11th October 08:44

[leyorkie]

I’ve just bought some Bluemels / SKS for my Synapse but not fitted yet. The fixings look the same as yours but as I’m on discs I need a bridge for the rear
They came with lots of fixing options including spacers to fit the front and bolts of various lengths up to 50mm to allow fixing to clear disc brakes at the rear. I don’t know if they are standard though.
Think you need to visit a retail outfit to look at the fittings supplied.

[ian in lancs]

Thanks for that. I'm on discs too. I saw the SKS ones but not keen on fiddling to fit approach. Its interesting that Cannondale make a big deal of the mounting eyelets but don't make anything to fit.

[leyorkie]

The spacers are black plastic about 4mm thick so I think one would clear the forks.
Don’t think anything special at the back but they do say you can use upto 4 but I think that would be extreme

[Harpoon]

I've got a 2018 disc Synapse which I've had mudguards on. Don't think the frame has changed design since. Will find them in the garage when I'm home tomorrow to check the brand.

[pavlovs-dog]

If the price doesn't put you off... go for the Portland Design Works Full Metal 'fenders'
They are fantastic - definitely worth the money and should fit fine.

[Harpoon]

I've got the Widgets (in reflective silver) for my Synapse:

https://velobrands.co.uk/widget-mudguards/

From memory they fitted well (once you've got the stays cut to length etc) but I've got a dedicated winter hack bike now so they don't see much use at the moment.

[Theoldfm]

I’ve fitted them on mine and they are great! I took them off for the summer and have just refitted - which took about 5 minutes this time.

Edited by Theoldfm on Wednesday 14th October 07:14

[Theoldfm]

I had to order some m3 stainless screws and put a slight bend in the mudguard stays to fit.

[ian in lancs]

Brilliant, thanks!

[leyorkie]

Theoldfm said:

I had to order some m3 stainless screws and put a slight bend in the mudguard stays to fit.

What width are those? I’ve got 45mm to cover a 32mm tyre have not got round to fitting yet as I’m away from home.

[Theoldfm]

leyorkie said:

What width are those? I’ve got 45mm to cover a 32mm tyre have not got round to fitting yet as I’m away from home.

Hi, they are SKS mudguards and measure 35mm wide. I am running a 28mm tyre. If the guards were any wider then you may struggle to fit through the forks and stays.

I hope this helps!

[leyorkie]

I’m hoping that mine will fit it’s the e version and has a lot of clearance 32 mm tyres are standard.
Obviously that’s why you had to kink the stays.

[Theoldfm]

leyorkie said:

I’m hoping that mine will fit it’s the e version and has a lot of clearance 32 mm tyres are standard.
Obviously that’s why you had to kink the stays.

Because the mudguard fixing is behind the fork crown not in front, I needed to kink the stays to correct the angle the stays meet the mudguard - you will see what I mean when you fit yours.

Plus I think they look cool!

[ian in lancs]

Update! And ‘learnings’

First off I needed a seat stay bridge as there isn’t one on a carbon disc synapse. Eventually found one in stock - £15 for a bit of plastic….

I ordered SKS Bluemels Mudguard Set, Matt Black, 35 mm, 28 Inch (for 32mm GP5000 tyres). I spent ages trying, to no avail, to stop the guards rubbing. Set returned and £35 refunded.

I bought some Bontrager mudguards; ‘NCS Fender’ for £40. The fasteners didn’t have the right dias/lengths for the Synapse so a trip to B&Q to be ripped off to the tune of £21 for 3mm, 4mm and 6mm allen bolts. I gave up explaining loctite to 3 assistants...

These mudguards went straight on and much easier to stop the rubbing. All good!

However, my shoes foul the mudguard. Particularly the rubber mudflap. Not so good. The 175 cranks, size 9’s leave about 10mm clearance – not enough for a front mudguard! The options were return the lot, remove the front mudguard or cut the front mudguard short. I went for the last option and chopped about 6” off. Not quite what I wanted but solved the problem.

£76 FFS!

Edited by ian in lancs on Saturday 14th November 19:11

[Juffled]

Toe overlap is just a result of realistic bike sizing and the type of bike the general public should ride as a collective (shorter top tube/reach than pros), obviously there will be some outliers. I'm short, all my frames have toe overlap, does it actually matter and impact me when I ride, no, its highly unlikely you are turning your road bike front wheel beyond your pedal stroke at any speed that isn't below about 5mph, if your doing it while pedalling at speed then your doing it wrong/its basically impossible as that's not how road bikes turn.

Obviously adding overshoes and mudguards doesn't help the simple dimensions of the whole thing but its not something you can fix without going for a more stretched out frame with a really short stem, which will then make the handling more twitchy/direct like a mountain bike (small movements have a large effect).

If you want a fix then try shorter cranks, its unlikely you should be on 175mm cranks anyway, having said that 5mm is unlikely to make a difference really.

Anyone who says its bad frame design etc is incorrect (Source: Me, I design bikes, some of you even ride them).

Edited by Juffled on Sunday 15th November 09:28

[ian in lancs]

Juffled said:

Toe overlap is just a result of realistic bike sizing and the type of bike the general public should ride as a collective (shorter top tube/reach than pros), obviously there will be some outliers. I'm short, all my frames have toe overlap, does it actually matter and impact me when I ride, no, its highly unlikely you are turning your road bike front wheel beyond your pedal stroke at any speed that isn't below about 5mph, if your doing it while pedalling at speed then your doing it wrong/its basically impossible as that's not how road bikes turn.

Obviously adding overshoes and mudguards doesn't help the simple dimensions of the whole thing but its not something you can fix without going for a more stretched out frame with a really short stem, which will then make the handling more twitchy/direct like a mountain bike (small movements have a large effect).

If you want a fix then try shorter cranks, its unlikely you should be on 175mm cranks anyway, having said that 5mm is unlikely to make a difference really.

Anyone who says its bad frame design etc is incorrect (Source: Me, I design bikes, some of you even ride them).

Edited by Juffled on Sunday 15th November 09:28

I'm 185.5cm with a saddle height of 81cm on a 58cm bike. All my road/mountain bikes have 175mm cranks and I agree that for general road riding overlap might not be an issue except for the get you out of trouble manoeuvres or zig-zagging on a climb. However, I'd rather risk wet feet (that can be waterproofed) than unnecessary fouling of feet and shorts!

Edited by ian in lancs on Sunday 15th November 13:11

[leyorkie]

Fitted mine this week no issues with clearance took some bending to get good fit as the front mounting is up inside the forks but looks ok. No issues with fouling feet. Just need to get riding but I’m full lockdown due to returning from France. ☹️

[pete]

I second the point about toe overlap not being important in the real world. My winter bike is the hand built 531c frame that I bought as a 17 year old in 1990. It has 74 degree parallel geometry and a crazily short wheelbase, as was the vogue back then, so now it’s fitted with full length SKS guards (that it was never designed with clearance for) there’s a lot of toe overlap.

The only time I need to think about it is when I’m turning very sharp corners, and it’s become second nature not to pedal while manoeuvring at low speed. At normal riding speeds the front wheel doesn’t turn enough to hit my size 9s.

I certainly wouldn’t worry about it if you’re only fitting mudguards for the winter.

[ian in lancs]

If that works for you fair enough!

I've cut it anyway so they'll be no issues with overlap.