I have a really nice/great find Crates saddle from the mid 1980’s. The fenders are just too long for me and can’t go shorter. Is replacing fenders pretty easy? Where do you find them? Thanks!
Happy riding,
Jessie
You can whittle them down to fit you, or get some from most any saddler, that will make them to order.
Or contact Crates and ask for junior fenders.
Up here in the North, we call it “shaving the fender”. Like Bluey said, really easy to have done and not expensive!
Can anyone explain to me how to shave down the fender and still have it look decent?
Sincerely,
Person with ridiculously short legs 
[QUOTE=Texarkana;6451579]
Can anyone explain to me how to shave down the fender and still have it look decent?
Sincerely,
Person with ridiculously short legs ;)[/QUOTE]
I doubt that your legs are shorter than mine, with an inseam of 27".
Fenders are attached to the leather stirrup straps with either latigo lacing thru three holes or three brass tacks.
You can take them apart and cut the top of the fenders down to size, following the same narrowing pattern the original had and adding the same sized three holes on the now shorter neck of the fenders, so it fits as the old ones did.
Then lace or brad your now shorter fenders back to the leather strap.
Since the part you cut is under the housing, it won’t show.
[QUOTE=Bluey;6451600]
I doubt that your legs are shorter than mine, with an inseam of 27".
Fenders are attached to the leather stirrup straps with either latigo lacing thru three holes or three brass tacks.
You can take them apart and cut the top of the fenders down to size, following the same narrowing pattern the original had and adding the same sized three holes on the now shorter neck of the fenders, so it fits as the old ones did.
Then lace or brad your now shorter fenders back to the leather strap.
Since the part you cut is under the housing, it won’t show.:)[/QUOTE]
Ah, brilliant! Wish I had known this years ago!
I’ve had them shaved at the top for my daughter (she’s only 4’11" full grown) and you could never tell what had been done.
Thanks for all the help. I wonder if there is a youtube video demonstrating how to shave/whittle a fender.
Happy riding,
Jessie and the Stinky Pony aka Bosco
The saddle repair shop trimmed the fenders on my saddle. I am one of the height challenged folks too, at 5’2". I don’t recall it costing all that much, around $60 IIRC. I don’t think its a job that I would want to take on myself since leatherwork requires special tools, machines, etc. I’d look for a local saddle repair shop to do it.
