I installed these fenders less than 48-hours before departing for an extended bike camping trip along the Erie Canal in upstate NY. The forecast called for rain and boy am I glad I got these installed. Did a great job keeping the rain and mud from spraying all over me, my bike and my gear. I probably over-torqued a few of these bolts out of fear of stuff falling apart mid-ride but everything stayed assembled, nothing came loose and I love these fenders on this bike. [Note, if you want to see my 30-day review of the Midnight Special, head over to my family/special needs travel site, AllTogetherOutThere.]

There were a few things not covered in the instruction manual from Velo Orange that I’ve noted below

Finished Product

Go to the hardware store and buy the bolt/nut/washer combo that you’ll need to go through the hole on your front fork as if you were mounting brakes on the center of the fork. You will not be able to install fenders without this bolt and it is not included with the fenders:

I happened to have the correct length bolt and a suitable lock nut in my box of miscellany.

Preventing Front brake interference

The only other non-standard step on the front fender, you’ll need to use some washers to prevent the fender stays from interfering with your brakes.

Here’s another view

And yet another view of the washers necessary to keep stay from interfering with front brakes. I got mine far enough out that there is no vibration/rubbing as I like a quiet ride.

Rear Fender

Fender stay should go towards bottom of mounting point on dropout

Again, fender stay going towards bottom of mounting point on dropout

You’ll need to drill the hole for this screw but once the front and rear of fender are roughly in place, it’s easy to figure out where to put the hole

The 5mm Allen bolt holding the fender stay in place on the drivetrain side was extending too far into the hole on the dropout and interfering with the chain on the smallest cog, a couple of washers solved that problem

I used a leather washer and spare nut to build out some distance from this mounting point. Helped to keep things looking round

Took a while and multiple cuts with my harbor freight mini-hacksaw (which kept falling apart) to get the fenders this round. Having a bike work stand helped as did putting the bike upside down on it’s handlebar/saddle to get a road-side view of the alignment