Mountain Biking - Mountain Bike Fenders? ? ? ?

Greetings to the list,

I do downhill and X-Country riding on a Specialized Big Hit/Enduro Comp with White Brothers DH-2.0 forks. I run a 26" front tire and a 24" on the back. With winter coming up, I have been researching fenders to keep the mud, snow, etc. down to a minimum. I've checked out quite a number of websites that carry a variety of fenders (If that's what you want to call them). First of all, they all look like they would fall off in the first mile and they also don't look like they would provide much in the way of keeping anything from flying in your face or backside. Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed in the Mountain Bike industry for not manufacturing fenders that don't appear to work very well. Lets just say that nothing looks big or wide enough to do any good. I'm not overly worried about adding a little extra weight to have the added protection I'm looking for. . .

I'm interested in everyone's comments. Also, if anyone can direct me to manufacturers/suppliers that I don't know about in hopes to find what I would consider adequate fenders to equip my bike I would appreciate it very much!

Thank you for your time in this matter,


Randwulf

The best I've identified for the front is the SKS Shockboard. It's not super wide, and the mounting plug shoved in the underside of the steerer tube makes for a somewhat flimsey mount, but it's done the trick adequately for a few seasons.

Rear fenders are tough. There was a company here near San Francisco calling themselves Mud Machine, and making some very decent, sturdy rear fenders. Unfortuantely, they require rear brake posts to mount on (part of what makes them so sturdy). Unfortunatelier, I think they're out of business. Too bad, but I gots mine.

I've also go a seat post mount SKS something or other for the rear, which although not as rugged as the Mud Machine, does OK if I don't bang it into anything.
http://www.booboodog.net/images/bbsh(2).jpg

I use the Topeak DeFender kit (front and back) and find them to work well. The rear fender attaches to the seatpost.
http://topeak.com/products/fender_001.html

Pics from the Topeak site.
http://topeak.com/products/images/DeFenderRXFX.jpg
http://topeak.com/images/images_products/fenders/fender_inset.gif