Commuting - Stories for fenderphiles

As I was biking to work this morning on nasty, slushy roads I was thinking about how much I love my fenders, and this came to mind...

I put fenders on my road bike during periods when I am using that particular bike for commuting. Naturally I just leave them on for weekend riding. Now, I don't normally encounter other cyclists on the road during the week, but on the weekends I commonly encounter weekend roadies who are amazed that I can keep pace with them, or go faster. My thinking is that the fenders must be fooling them into thinking that I'm slow or that my bike is sluggish or something. I occasionally get comments like, "man, nice pace on that thing!". This only happens when I have my fenders mounted..withouth the fenders I normally just get the normal "Hey" or ""Good Morning". Now, I understand that fenders are not necesarily fashionable, but I'm amazed that some weekend roadie types are surprised by someone with fenders going as fast or faster then they are, as if the fenders would really make that big of a difference. I like to think that having fenders increases the humiliation factor when I pass them.

Funny stuff. Fenders, a t-shirt, and regular pants get an even bigger reaction. Fat tires on a century, flat pedals, etc. All the flashy gear in the world can't make up for a inferior engine...

baker

Go on a few group rides, with the same group, and leave your panniers on each ride. All the weekend warrior roadies will raz you big time about your panniers every ride.

Then on a nice hard group ride when everyone stops for a 5 min stretch at the half way point, pull out a huge bowl of cut up strawberries, blueberries and a large angel food cake, and ask who wants some. Then refuse to give any to those who laughed at the panniers :)

Other configurations that amaze the unaware cyclists is passing uphill on a recumbent or a fixe gear.
Even though my recumbent is fairly light (<30lb) and efficient most cyclist have this idea that recumbents can't climb. Ofcourse due to my superior aerodynamics I pass the same riders even faster on the flats or down hill.
And whats this concept that fixies can't climb. My fixe is light with a very efficient drive train and I don't have the option of down shifting. I either climb fast or I walk.
I'm only a moderately fit cyclists so there are ofcourse many riders who just amaze me with how much quicker they are, but even those riders seem to have the same mistaken ideas.
Craig

Very funny. When I was young I used to smoke (quit before 30) but I rode my bike a lot including commuting to work so was in good shape. I was on a ride called the Windmill century near Solvang and lit up at a rest stop about halfway. You should have heard all the hushed wispers, it was so funny. I did a few centuries back in the day on a single speed 26" bmx\cruiser with fat tires, that was a whole lot of fun too. I don't think it was as hard as people might think, you just coast on the downhills, spin on the flats and stand up and pump hard at a slower cadence on the hills.

Around these parts people are pretty used to seeing a bike with fenders. I never underestimate someone on a bike with fenders. It means they ride year-round in all weather.

I get some odd looks on my single speed 80's Peugeot with fenders, huge platform pedals, and a milk crate on the back. To make the package complete, I ride with my full-face downhill helmet when it's cold. I wave and smile at the roadies. Some wave back. Some look away quickly, like I caught them staring. Since my top speed is limited by the lack of gears, I noticed no difference when I added the fenders.

Do you notice a speed diff with and without fenders, for same level of effort? How many MPH do you lose?

Do you notice a speed diff with and without fenders, for same level of effort? How many MPH do you lose?

Well, theoretically, I've got to be losing some speed due to the increased drag...but this difference isn't significant enough to effect the average speeds registering on my cyclocomputer everyday. So I imagine, for instance, the difference in terms of my commute time riding with and without fenders would be seconds rather than minutes. I use really skinny road fenders. Fat fenders made for hybrids or mountain bikes might put a bigger dent in your speed.

What time did you go to work, roads were frozen this morning.

"I use really skinny road fenders"
Which ones specifically?

Well, theoretically, I've got to be losing some speed due to the increased drag...but this difference isn't significant enough to effect the average speeds registering on my cyclocomputer everyday. So I imagine, for instance, the difference in terms of my commute time riding with and without fenders would be seconds rather than minutes. I use really skinny road fenders. Fat fenders made for hybrids or mountain bikes might put a bigger dent in your speed.

I am using fat fenders and don't really see a difference. I have noticed that if your fenders are black you get fewer style points deducted.

"I use really skinny road fenders"
Which ones specifically?


Planet Bike

Around these parts people are pretty used to seeing a bike with fenders. I never underestimate someone on a bike with fenders. It means they ride year-round in all weather.

Yup!

Very funny. When I was young I used to smoke (quit before 30) but I rode my bike a lot including commuting to work so was in good shape. I was on a ride called the Windmill century near Solvang and lit up at a rest stop about halfway. You should have heard all the hushed wispers, it was so funny. I did a few centuries back in the day on a single speed 26" bmx\cruiser with fat tires, that was a whole lot of fun too. I don't think it was as hard as people might think, you just coast on the downhills, spin on the flats and stand up and pump hard at a slower cadence on the hills.

Ha! I did the same thing. Years back I went on some organized ride from New York City to Montauk. A bit more than a century, actually. At some point, at a rest/refuel stop, I lit up a Marlboro. People sitting on the grass near me acted as if they'd just found out that I had the Ebola virus or something. One woman said "I can't be near this," with lots of affected coughing, and got up and moved far away, making her poor boyfriend/husband go with her. I'm no great athlete, although I was pretty strong back then, but I finished with the pack, on my old Raleigh Grand Prix, wearing cutoff jeans and a t-shirt.

For the record, I saw the error of my ways and quit smoking. I miss it, it's true, but I'm older now and don't think I'm immortal anymore.

Fenders, out of fashion?!?! Says who? The guy who's in lycra?!?!

:p

Then on a nice hard group ride when everyone stops for a 5 min stretch at the half way point, pull out a huge bowl of cut up strawberries, blueberries and a large angel food cake, and ask who wants some. Then refuse to give any to those who laughed at the panniers :)

I'm going to do this next ride. Not because I'm trying to torture anyone, but because it sounds so tasty!

Az

Umm, it's not always affected coughing. For some people the faintest hint of smoke is annoying. It has given my wife a nosebleed from just smelling it. We can also tell when someone is smoking as they drive past us.

I went for a ride last weekend on my cheap $70 3 year old winter beater. Camo pants, winter jacket, platform pants. Got a couple of strange looks from the roadies. Of course tht might have been because they were riding into the wind and I was going as fast as my legs could go in the opposite direction. :-D

I've learned never to judge by the looks of a cyclist. I've been surprised a number of times by guys in plain street clothes. I am regularly outfitted in jeans, 2 shirts, hiking boots and two panniers, and fenders. A funny story: I was once on a Sunday ride around town by myself and decided to go dumpster diving by a bike shop to see if I could find anything cool (didn't). I found some 8x12 fabric sample books that would be perfect for the type of quilting my wife does (she crazy quilts) and so I took as many as I could. I had no rack back then and the books all had ropes that they could be hung by, so I hung them on my handlebars like grocery bags and rode off for the 10 mile journey home. These things were *heavy*. On my way home I was doing about 16mph (on my mountain bike with slicks) and got passed by a roadie out for his Sunday ride. Oh, and I was in street clothes. He passed me at only 2-3mph faster, and looked over and said "Wow, you're keeping a really good pace!".

Never underestimate the fat guy in street clothes with stuff hanging off his handlebars! :D:D

I ride a very pretty, very vintage, very heavy Schwinn Suburban, with full fenders, chain-guard, rear rack, front basket, and a 5-speed drivetrain. Because I'm a tough and stubborn woman, I can flog the old Schwinn to a pretty respectable sprint when I need or want to. It rolls along pretty smartly on those tall 27" wheels, and I can ride in a skirt decently, with that step-thru frame and the fenders. In fact, I can wear pretty much whatever I like on that bike without ill effect.

If you really want to make people's heads spin, go on a group ride on a gas-pipe, while wearing a dress.

Last May, I brought my old Motobecane Grand Jubile along when we visited relatives in Tucson, Arizona. It has Stainless Steel Fenders and leather mud flaps. One morning ride I saw some roadies in my mirror. They slowly overtook me through rolling hills and eventually caught up when I had to wait at a red light. Somehow they knew I was from out of town.

Well, theoretically, I've got to be losing some speed due to the increased drag...but this difference isn't significant enough to effect the average speeds registering on my cyclocomputer everyday. So I imagine, for instance, the difference in terms of my commute time riding with and without fenders would be seconds rather than minutes. I use really skinny road fenders. Fat fenders made for hybrids or mountain bikes might put a bigger dent in your speed.
I am not so sure there is any net aerodynamic drag from fenders, unless maybe they are a lot wider than your tires. I have read speculation that they act as fairings and reduce the disturbance of the air flowing across the wheels and onto the rest of the bike (have you ever seen a streamliner with open wheels?).

Edit: After thinking about this a little, I think I remember a Bicycling magazine article a long time ago (like early '80s) in which Berto did some roll-out tests that indicated a marginal net aerodynamic improvement with fenders. But maybe I dreamed it.

There is a small weight penalty on climbs, of course.

For those of you who take off your fenders seasonally, it would be interesting to see a test on a steep downhill to see if you could see a top speed difference with and without.

My first bike tour was with 3 other cyclists who all laughed at my fenders. "They makey you slow!", they said. Quite easy to say as I was slower than the others (except I could ride more kilometres per day). However, on the 8th or 9th day of our trip we hit a section of fresh tar in a fast downhill. Let's say my clothes and my face were better looking than the other ones.

Eh, who cares if they make you slow or not. Ok, maybe a sizeable minority do, but for the average commuter/utility cyclist, it doesnt matter much that they get to thier destination 2 minutes later than a wet skunky lycra clad "cyclist".

Next time on your group ride with your fendered steed, look to see who is fighting to get on your fendered wheels! Sure keeps the spray down for those behind you.

I've got fenders on my trek, and I don't think they slow me down at all. When it rains, I find that the wet roads actually help me go faster than on dry roads. The fenders certainly help in those conditions...

I really can't imagine that the fenders would actually make you slow. They probably add about as much wind cross-section as a computer or slightly bigger pedals.

I was thinking they might actually help, if you're not running slicks. With treaded tires, the tops of the tires are cutting into the wind at twice your road speed. With fenders, it's possible that the tires will pull an air cushion with them under and along the fenders.

I'm sure there's no advantage for roadies, because one of the racing teams would probably have discovered it by now (unless they're forbidden in pro races).

But I would guess that they MIGHT, MAYBE add 10 seconds per hour to your time. I'll keep them and stay dry and clean, TYVM.

I Love My Fenders. Not because they keep me dry or let me sneak up on people... just because ever since I put them on a month ago, it's been dry as a bone.

Okay, so if everyone is so proud of their fenders, let's see some pics. What? Too ugly? Embarrassed? Get a load o' this: :D
http://i2.tinypic.com/qzn1ab.jpg

Okay, so if everyone is so proud of their fenders, let's see some pics. What? Too ugly? Embarrassed? Get a load o' this: :D
http://i2.tinypic.com/qzn1ab.jpg

See the FGG link in my sig. Fenders galore.

i suppose maybe fenders do slow you down, due to weight or wind resistance. But before I'd lose my fenders (in winter, i take them off in summer) I suppose I could offset the weight by taking a 1/2 full water bottle and the wind resistance by removing the visor on my helmet, or maybe cutting the rear pockets off of my cycling jersey.

if someone hassles you about your super-slow fenders say "well, you're right, it takes me an extra 10 seconds to get where I'm going. How long did it take you to clean all that crap off of your drive train?"

I guess i'm not really a weight weenie, or fashion weenie, or aero weenie. Sometimes I tell people "If I were in a hurry I wouldn't ride a bike." then follow with "Well, actually I would. I'd just ride it faster."

See the FGG link in my sig. Fenders galore.

You betcha! Looks like you found 'em on a '79 Chevy half-ton. Mine are off a '57 Ford. The flaps came off a Freightliner. :p