Lmao I know it doesn't make any sense but the fenders are really annoying me
Same here. This is not a trail bike but the fender concept comes from my take on how to deal with the same issue, and now I just do it with all bikes regardless of their duty cycle.
First of all, forget about removing the rack. The easier it is to remove, the easier it is to knock out of place. Racks that clamp to the seatpost never seem to stay perfectly in place and you will deal with thread galling as you screw and unscrew the attachment bracket - even if you upgrade the bolt to stainless or similar (you won't be able to upgrade the threaded bolt hole).
Next, rethink how you do fenders. Think only about creating a splash guard that keeps water spray off of your body from the various trajectories that will arise from normal runs thru water and mud. You do not need close-coverage urban fenders to accomplish this. You need a dam of sorts.
This one works although, as a new bike build, its not quite finished yet. The bit of aluminum deck keeps water spray from coming up and forward from 9 o'clock upward a bit. The fender handles the rest of the spray coming up off the top, as well as the spray coming off the tire as it travels downward (I need to extend it a couple of inches on both sides).
The rack deck is broadened with a cut bit of flexible plastic (flexible cutting board sold on Amazon). You could do the job of the alloy bar by just extending that plastic a few inches off the back but I also use that bobtail as a place to stick a big piece of prismatic red street sign tape to help me not get flattened by overtaking traffic. You can see how I extended that rear mudguard with white Gorilla tape. That is a Mucky Nuts Fat Face Fender, reversed and used on the rear instead of the front. Mucky Nuts sells the white ones for a steep discount on clearance at their site. I usually paint them black but since this bike was white...
A short front wheel mudguard coupled to a body fender on the downtube will keep water and mud off of you completely. Again maybe extend that mudguard front and rear with a bit of gorilla tape.
End result is complete water protection for the rider - from wheelspray at least - without the rattle of fenders or the grinding of rocks and mud inside of them.
