I fitted 60-559 Big Apples to my Wisper 905 a couple of years ago and the improvement was huge, so much so that I wanted them on my 906 as soon as I needed to replace the original tyres. Unfortunately an untimely puncture and lack of available inner tubes at the unplanned Halfords stop meant my next set of tyres were Marathon Plus, I didn't mind this as I wanted to try them at some point. They lasted well but I was never that happy with them, not having punctures was good but it's not everything.
The tyres fitted the 905 rather well, they looked the part and cleared all the fittings. The 906 looked just as generous around the wheels so I decided to order the 60-622 and take a chance.
With hindsight it probably wasn't the best choice, the mudguards and the frame clearances are both a bit less generous than with the 905. Never mind, I'm glad I did it now, now it's almost finished.
Firstly they were a bit of a pain to fit on the rims, they flapped around like sails until air was in them, then I noticed the back wheel rubbed on the mudguard at the top. I’ve got a Topeak 700C luggage rack (another emergency purchase so I could get home), I moved that up to the original rack fitting point so it was up much higher than it was meant to be. That lifted the mudguard up to the right height but the tyre was rubbing at the front, after removing the mudguard completely I found there was about 1mm clearance between the tyre and the frame. Time for the mudguard to go. L
It’s possible with an extra chain link I could move the wheel further back in the horizontal track fork ends (Note: I think the 2012 906s don't have these), that’s something I’ll try when I buy a new chain. I suspect though I won’t be able to use the rear guard again. Luckily I have an unused MTB in the back of the shed and I used the mudguard from that, it’s not good enough on it’s own and I’ve used some Duck tape as well. I have an image of a better solution involving drainpipe but that’s another future project.
The front was harder, again the mudguard wouldn’t fit but there aren’t many fixing points and not much in the way of off the shelf 29er suspension mudguards that would fit. From what I could see the choice was none due to the minimal clearance between the tyre and the fork brace that runs over it. In the end I had to modify the existing mudguard quite a lot, now it only just rubs and I’m happy with it for now.
Now you’ve read the exciting monologue here are some pics:
The tyres fitted the 905 rather well, they looked the part and cleared all the fittings. The 906 looked just as generous around the wheels so I decided to order the 60-622 and take a chance.
With hindsight it probably wasn't the best choice, the mudguards and the frame clearances are both a bit less generous than with the 905. Never mind, I'm glad I did it now, now it's almost finished.
Firstly they were a bit of a pain to fit on the rims, they flapped around like sails until air was in them, then I noticed the back wheel rubbed on the mudguard at the top. I’ve got a Topeak 700C luggage rack (another emergency purchase so I could get home), I moved that up to the original rack fitting point so it was up much higher than it was meant to be. That lifted the mudguard up to the right height but the tyre was rubbing at the front, after removing the mudguard completely I found there was about 1mm clearance between the tyre and the frame. Time for the mudguard to go. L
It’s possible with an extra chain link I could move the wheel further back in the horizontal track fork ends (Note: I think the 2012 906s don't have these), that’s something I’ll try when I buy a new chain. I suspect though I won’t be able to use the rear guard again. Luckily I have an unused MTB in the back of the shed and I used the mudguard from that, it’s not good enough on it’s own and I’ve used some Duck tape as well. I have an image of a better solution involving drainpipe but that’s another future project.
The front was harder, again the mudguard wouldn’t fit but there aren’t many fixing points and not much in the way of off the shelf 29er suspension mudguards that would fit. From what I could see the choice was none due to the minimal clearance between the tyre and the fork brace that runs over it. In the end I had to modify the existing mudguard quite a lot, now it only just rubs and I’m happy with it for now.
Now you’ve read the exciting monologue here are some pics:
