2017 Sam Hill fender recommendations

[John Bokman]

Rivsters:

I live in an area where I find fenders to be "a necessity". Thus, in order to maximize the volume of tire I can fit on my 2017 Sam, I'm looking for suggestions as to what fenders provide the most space between the seat stays, chainstays, fork, and crown.

Currently I am using the steel Berthoud fenders, at 50mm, which are lovely, hardwearing, quiet, have a good internal curve of the blade for water dispersal, and are generally great - once set up and mounted.

I am about maxed out in the frame with the 50s, but plastic fenders can be cut, or dremeled, to create that needed space at the chainstays, or between fork blades, with some creativity.

Reading a blurb  somewhere about Riv's recently  stocked SKS Bluemels which come in a 55mm variant as me rethinking fenders. I have been disappointed with SKS fenders in the past due to stays being insufficiently stiff for the length of the blades, and in the way that water collects on the hardware and ends up on the feet. However, the Bluemels look like the stays are now stainless steel, so should be stiffer than the Longboards they replaced. I might be willing to try those in order to get a fatter tire in the frame.

I'm riding 38mm tires at the moment under the 50mm fenders, and I'd call the fitment "perfect". But, but, but...can't I get a 42 or 44 in there, and still use a proper fender?

Can anyone out there offer any anecdotes? Anyone have the new Bluemels? Other brands, like Planet Bike and PDW, offer wider options, too.

John

Wettern Oregon

[Brian Turner]

The only thing I can add to this may be helpful to you - maybe not. I'm also using the 50mm Berthoud fenders on my 26" Toyo Atlantis. My tires are Naches Pass, which measure approx. 41mm on Atlas rims. I realize I probably wouldn't be able to fit tires any wider under there, but to me, the fit looks "perfect", and the coverage is great. The fenders shed water beautifully and work as intended.

Hope this helps!

Brian

Lexington KY

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/71625171-6a8c-46dd-aa5e-91d2ca00c965n%40googlegroups.com.

[john Bokman]

No doubt they are excellent fenders. I’ve used them for approximately 10 years now with no complaints. But my old bones want more rubber on the road! I suppose I’ll have to pony up and get another steed…

John

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/iU6_1tDPTq8/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAMKavSBea%2BPgRs_dgLxKN-najqMc-kL9qQsk_xXenXpJ4UuBWA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Brian Turner]

Before considering it a lost cause, if it were me, I’d probably try to fit 42s under the fenders. Depends on how the width of your rims affects the tire’s measurement. A true 42mm would probably be good to go because theoretically you would still have about 4mm of coverage on either side… and you may be able to flare the fenders out a bit by hand. My situation, is a bit more limited since there’s not as much of a selection of good tires in the size that seems to work best for me. If you’re running larger wheels, you should have more options.

Brian

Lexington KY

On Jul 2, 2026, at 12:58 PM, john Bokman <jpbc...@gmail.com> wrote:

No doubt they are excellent fenders. I’ve used them for approximately 10 years now with no complaints. But my old bones want more rubber on the road! I suppose I’ll have to pony up and get another steed…

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7F8B802D-1E04-43B6-85CF-FCC8027FE4C7%40gmail.com.

[john Bokman]

Yeah, I think I’m going to try some 42s. I have “plenty” of clearance with the 38s. I’d really like to keep the Berthouds on there all equal. They just plain work better for me than anything else I’ve used.

Thanks for the thoughts Brian.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/874A2611-45E5-4992-9FE1-54C313FB6B92%40gmail.com.

[Erik Wright]

I had some SKS fenders over 700x44 RH tires some years back on my 2014ish Hillborne.  Mounted to Velocity Atlas rims and I’m not sure if they were a true 44. It was definitely a tight fit, but the bike rolled. It was annoying to set up but I don’t recall having to do any modifications to the fenders. I’d guess they were a 50mm set, knowing the clearances on the bike.

Erik, Philly

[Steve]

Jim, I recently built up a 2025 51cm Hillborne. I'm running 42mm Gravel King slicks (measuring 41 mounted on Alex DM21s) under what were 700c Tanaka 58s. I re-radiused the fender to 650b which increased the width to 63mm.  Given the modified fenders clearance is a bit variable but ample at 12mm at the tightest spot. 

Hope this info is helpful.  (I have a couple pics posted on a thread I started a few days ago (Evolution of a Sam)

Steve in AVL

On Thursday, July 2, 2026 at 3:21:55 PM UTC-4 John Bokman wrote: