Winter Cycling - Fenders suck

I put fenders on my trek soho and everytime I turn my feet get tangled up in the mud guard on them. They are planet add ons. I had to take them off.

Put on some proper full length one such as SKS chromoplastic, with proper stays. They dont shift except in an emergency and you dont get tangled in them.

In other words, your post title should have been, "Clip-on Fenders Suck"

My first fenders were clip-ons. I gave them away and got decent full-length ones and have been happy ever since.

they didn't clip on. They bolted on and even got in the way of the front sprocket when I went from one ring to the other. I have seen them on lots of bikes here but they didn't work on mine.

you can trim, bend and drill them you know.

Toe overlap is easy to get used to. Just takes a couple hours.

My full-length fenders created more problems than they solved.

Tow clearance on trackstands being the most instantly annoying, but also meaning I can't pop the wheels off and put the bike in the trunk of the car, and the inability to roll the bike on the back wheel through confined spaces when storing it at work.

They sure didn't keep my feet totally dry.. at speed the air flowing through the fender would push a bit the water around the sides onto my feet.

And it's kind of a moot point with a steady stream of cars and trucks spraying me as they pass anyways. Waterproof footwear and clip-on fenders to keep the road spray restricted to the bottom half of the bike have none of these constraints.

I've got full length fenders on virtually all my bikes - other than my MTB and my Pugsley [I'll be trying to make some fenders out of coroplast for that bike]....I love 'em and wouldn't ride a bike in the rain/slush without fenders. I've never had them give me any trouble at all. I tend to use the SKS cromoplast fenders or the Planet Bike Cascadias.

I <3 bicycle fenders. :love:

They make my rides all happy!

Interfering with chainring? Did you put a 700c fender on a 26" bike or something? They're supposed to be CLOSE to the wheel.

Interfering with chainring? Did you put a 700c fender on a 26" bike or something? They're supposed to be CLOSE to the wheel.

they come in various widths. bike frames also come in a variety of geometries and some have tighter clearances than others.

The best thing about fenders is that they protect your drive train when it's craptastic...

I have no idea how you're fenders are interfering with your chainring, I'm looking at a photo of a Soho right now (with fenders installed) and you should have at least half a foot of space. I could see it interfering with pedalling (fyi, my road bike has this problem w/o fenders) but not your chainring. Me thinks you're exagerrating or your steering tube on your fork is severly bent. Here's the photo:
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/urban/soho/soho/

edit: I should add that you can adjust how much they clear the tire by loosening the bolts on the fender stays, it may be that you are not aware of this.

Try fenders on a fixed gear bike with preexisting toe overlap. My turns are very wide and sometimes involve clipping out.

You should be fine if you give it a chance and also adjust them properly.

If they're interfering with your shifts you do have some serious overlap problems. My foot will hit my mud flap on tight turns if I'm not careful.

I also found that fenders aren't "all that" in terms of keeping water off my feet. In early spring or during a thaw there can be lots of standing water around. When I'm riding through that at speed or with a headwind, water splashes around the sides of the mud flap and gets my feet wet anyway. The studded tires I ride in the winter also have significant tread which throw water back in a V pattern. The mud guard will not block that completely and my feet can get soaked pretty quickly.

My feet often catch more road water in conditions like that than they do during summer rains on my road bike with no fenders. My summer bike has slicks which don't kick up as much water and the roads drain better than they do in the winter because the sewer grates aren't clogged with ice and snow.

I cut the mudflaps off my Freddy Fender Hardcores with a miter saw. I love having a bike set up with full fenders but it doesn't rain enough here to justify having mudflaps. It can't hurt the aerodynamics either. Toe overlap problems are now restricted solely to attempted track stands at traffic lights when I'm riding my full fendered foul weather tourer commuter.

In other words, your post title should have been, "Clip-on Fenders Suck"

My first fenders were clip-ons. I gave them away and got decent full-length ones and have been happy ever since.

I'm starting to get that idea. I have the Planet Bike SpeedEZ. Only the front is tool-less and it doesn't align properly. I might be going the "full" route as well.

Though, my fender and tire experience has led me to believe an "extreme road condition" bike. A monstercross already fitted with fenders and fat tires. I think the Salsa Fargo would do the trick.

Has anyone tried the Velo Orange fenders (http://www.velo-orange.com/fenders.html)? I wonder how these would stand up, compared to SKS or Planet Bike fenders. There's one on sale for $38, which seems pretty reasonable for a metal fender.

I took a hack saw to my front fender. Plastic. Looks like the A-team built my bike. Awesome effect! Ba Barackus!

I've never found fenders I like. The clip ons have always been terrible. My current fenders have been trimmed on the front for toe overlap and trimmed on the back so I can wheel the bike down my apartment stairs. Every once and awhile some piece of city garbage gets stuck in there and makes a flat. 7 patches on one tube and counting...

I can only assume folks with problems like the OP are riding teeny bikes. What size frame are we talking about here? Even so, I can't imagine a properly mounted fender causing problems like these. I'd like to see pictures.

If you are having serious fender interference problems, take it to your LBS and have them check the mounting.

And to the poster who prefers waterproof gear to fenders, I have to respectfully disagree. Waterproof clothing still gets wet, even if the water stays on the outside, and when wet it will dissipate heat at a much higher rate. Minimizing wetness on your body is key to comfort. Even on a rainy day, full coverage fenders will help you stay dryer, cleaner and warmer. (Race fenders don't do diddly squat.)

A lot of people don't like fenders because they're ugly, clunky-looking, cumbersome, heavy, whatever, but whatever their shortcomings, they do work. An hour ride in New England snow-melt and slush will make a believer out of anyone.

BL

Make your own fenders out of your old tires! Snow and ice falls of and they last, ron.

That's just clever enough to work. How do you mount it and make it rigid enough?

And to the poster who prefers waterproof gear to fenders, I have to respectfully disagree. Waterproof clothing still gets wet, even if the water stays on the outside, and when wet it will dissipate heat at a much higher rate. Minimizing wetness on your body is key to comfort. Even on a rainy day, full coverage fenders will help you stay dryer, cleaner and warmer. (Race fenders don't do diddly squat.)

Alright. I'm not suggesting people shun full-length fenders as a rule. There widespread use speaks for itself.

But they were a weak addition to my particular setup, as it turned out.



BTW that tire fender is pretty slick.

That's just clever enough to work. How do you mount it and make it rigid enough?

++

That's just clever enough to work. How do you mount it and make it rigid enough?

I used wire but you can zip-tye the wire bead of the tire to your stays and rack. When you cut the wire bead the tire opens up and holds its own shape but will stay flexable, just a bit to let snow and ice fall off.



A beer bottle took the life from this tire but now I will never have to buy a fender again, ha ha!

F-ing genious !

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Ok. maybe I didn't state what I meant properly. When I pedal and try to turn my feet hit the fenders. This sucks. How do you attach the fenders made from the old tires.

use shorter cranks?

I <3 bicycle fenders. :love:

They make my rides all happy!

Talk about appropriate usernames.... :lol:

I run Planet Bike Hardcore ATB fenders and love them to death. Without them, riding all winter would have been way messier than it was. I have zero complaints and have never hit my toes on them.

fenders rock!

SKS Raceblades. I run these on my commuter as full fenders will not fit (tight frame clearances). Not as good as full fenders, but for what they are/do they're great.

Ok. maybe I didn't state what I meant properly. When I pedal and try to turn my feet hit the fenders. This sucks. How do you attach the fenders made from the old tires.

In the pictures I used old spokes to hold the shape but you can zip-tye them to your stays and rack in the back and to your rack, fork and you will need a bracket for the front. Hit it with your foot all day long if you want. It is a tire so they wont crack and snow/ice just falls right off!