Touring - I gave up on the Bamboo...

...and I think this will work much better for a start.

65804

65805

65806

65807

I am riding up to Fredericks burg to camp for my next few days off. I will be clipping small panniers to this soon. I was wondering if anybody had any good ideas for cheap (free) fenders or if the ones I made from a bleach container will work to at least disperse water (I think I need to make my fender a bit longer) for the time being... All together I spent only $50 dollars for the whole transformation which was mostly the cost of the rack of course. Good investment I must say.

Blackburn EX-1 rack

Check this out for homemade fenders.
http://bikehacks.com/howto-make-your-own-fenders/

Yeah, bamboo is so hard to keep lit...

Since you seem to be a DIY kind of guy you may want to make your own panniers. These look cheap and waterproof.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=lt&doc_id=1841&v=1k

Check this out for homemade fenders.
http://bikehacks.com/howto-make-your-own-fenders/

I have seen those before and I am not very interested. Peterpan1 (I think I got his username right) has a bike with bamboo fenders so I am PMing him to see how he did that because bamboo is one of my favorite things to work with so ideally it will be on this bike wherever possible. Thanks for the tip though.

No PM yet. You can seen my fenders on page 16 of the sticky for loading touring bikes. I did cover the how they were made at the same time though that thread would have been the same time as I originally posted the fenders on page 13, that picture got dropped so I went to page 16.

Basically I started with some bamboo spit out the pieces from the "culm", and then steamed they using a regular kettle and a plastic pipe for the steamer. When the bamboo is steamed enough it will be very easy to bend, if it resists bending you need more heat or to move faster. I clamped it around a form, and when it dried, I contoured it more and then I fiberglassed the inside for very high protection. That probably isn't necesarry, but I have the stuff around. I painted the fenders with clear epoxy. If your bike spends a lot of time out of doors you should probably keep the epoxy well spar varnished. In some ways mounting is the most creative part and depending on the various issues can draw on a lot of skills. The basic approach I used was to canabalize materials from plastic fenders, thereby destroying the cheap value of the project, and that was only the begining. Having been through the process once, I would make the fittings another time, but it was faster and I was in a rush to get away. I;m a last minute guy and was working right up to departure time on both the fenders job, and the rack job last summer.

There was nothing really difficult about the project as long as you can source the bamboo. The stuff I used was large enough to yield about 4 fenders width, worth. I got it originally from a lumber yard for making bows.

One thing I learned was that the full curvature, and the full width of fenders isn't necesarry. The cross sectional curve just ruins aerodynamics, it doesn't protect you any more. On the other hand a purely flat fender is a bit ugly, ATMO. Bamboo is an ideal compromise, though I would like to make some fenders out of copper next.

No PM yet. You can seen my fenders on page 16 of the sticky for loading touring bikes. I did cover the how they were made at the same time though that thread would have been the same time as I originally posted the fenders on page 13, that picture got dropped so I went to page 16.

One thing I learned was that the full curvature, and the full width of fenders isn't necesarry. The cross sectional curve just ruins aerodynamics, it doesn't protect you any more. On the other hand a purely flat fender is a bit ugly, ATMO. Bamboo is an ideal compromise, though I would like to make some fenders out of copper next.

Yea sorry about that, I actually got caught up in an impulsive ride/RT before it gets dark here. I found a few puddles and my behind can vouch for the bleach container fenders. I am very pleased with my construction of the tool/dry goods bin I made already, I will go with some sort of rectangular storage bin pannier as previously suggested.

I was hoping you could suggest a bamboo source in my area, would it be at any lumber yard or should I find a specialty wood store? I got my bamboo used on the rack before this from a park near the area and there was nothing more than an inch and a half in diameter. I don't know how to cure the bamboo either.

To steam the bamboo could I get a pot going on the stove and funnel the steam into a tube with the bamboo in it? or would I need much more heat and steam? I agree that flat (cloroplast) fenders are very ugly and so are the fenders I made here. Copper would be very sexy, I collect and sell used scrap metals so I have grown a very strange attraction to copper. :p I saw an article someone wrote about making a small copper fender ( http://www.instructables.com/id/Copper-Bike-Fender/ )

...personally I dont like the design or the zip ties but I like the copper. When he turns the wheel the spray will not alway be caught by the fender. The fender must hug the wheel at all times, and it doesn't hurt to have a nice looking (non-skin-scratching) attachment to the bike. I am on a hunt for bamboo tomorrow and a very long bike ride but I look foreward to more feedback on my super budget tourer. Thanks everyone, I will calm down on my posts....

PVC plumbing pipe is very easy to bend using a heat gun. Here is a photo of PVC pipe bent round an old rim.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/rearfender.jpg
After you have it bent allow it to cool and then use a jig or band saw to cut the bent pipe into a fender shape like this.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/fender.jpg
PVC plumbing pipe was never designed for this purpose and can be quite fragile when cold. What you can do is use it as a form to make fiberglass fenders or if you have lots of money, carbon fiber fenders.

Re PVC pipe - could you score it before bending, or would it snap? (easier to cut straight than curved)