Fenders for Different Tire Sizes

Which fenders for which tire size?

Generally, fenders should be about 40% wider than your tires. This allows them to wrap around your tires without encroaching on the required clearances. This works well for tires up to 42 mm wide, which are best used with 58-60 mm-wide fenders.

However, you cannot scale up fenders indefinitely: Fenders wider than 60 mm do not work with “road” drivetrains, as the chain hits the fender in the smallest gears. For tires wider than 42 mm, stick with a 60 mm-wide fender. Choose a model that does not wrap around the tire very far, and mount it higher above the tire to provide the required clearance. You get a bit of “air” showing between tire and fender, but this “motocross” look is inevitable if you want to run ultra-wide tires with a road drivetrain. (Mountain bike cranks sit further outward and have room for wider fenders.)

Here is a list of Rene Herse tires and recommended fenders:

• 700C x 26 mm tires: H30 700C, 41 mm wide
• 700C x 28 mm tires: H30 700C, 41 mm wide
• 700C x 32 mm tires: H40 700C, 45 mm wide
• 700C x 35 mm tires: Rene Herse 700C, 50-51 mm wide H50 smooth or H47/H51 fluted
• 700C x 38 mm tires: Rene Herse 700C, 50-51 mm wide H50 smooth or H47/H51 fluted
• 700C x 44 mm tires: H80 700C, 62 mm wide

• 650B x 38 mm tires: H79 650B fluted, 59 mm wide
• 650B x 42 mm tires: H80 650B smooth, 62 mm wide or H79 650B fluted, 59 mm wide
• 650B x 48 mm tires: H98 650B, 75 mm wide (for MTB one One-By drivetrains); H80 650B XL, 62 mm wide (for Road drivetrains)
• 650B x 55 mm tires: H98 650B, 75 mm wide (for MTB one One-By drivetrains)

• 26″ x 1.8″ tires: H80 26″, 62 mm wide
• 26″ x 2.3″ tires: H98 26″, 75 mm wide (for MTB one One-By drivetrains); H80 650B smooth, 62 mm wide (for Road drivetrains)

For tires not listed above, we currently don’t offer fenders.

Rene Herse fenders include illustrated step-by-step installation instructions, including how to indent the fenders for fork crown and chainstays (don’t cut aluminum fenders!) and how to mount them free of stresses, so they will give decades of silent, trouble-free performance.

Will Rene Herse fenders fit on my bike? Click here to find out.