Advocacy & Safety - Eight stitches on Planet Bike fenders

Newbie commuter here and needing help. Have put in about 250 miles and am loving it. But...

Hopped forward during a sudden stop/emergency dismount. My leg came down and my Planet Bike fenders sliced off a four or so inch section of my leg starting just above my tube sock. Saw lots of blood and leg innards (fat tissue I guess). Went to the emergency room and let them put eight stitches into me. When I returned home, it was raining and dark. Went out on a ride anyway - painkillers were still effective and I wanted to get back up on the horse immediately. :)

Next day - trying to figure out exactly what happened. I think I sliced myself on a piece of metal -- one of the support brackets?? -- sticking out from either side of the Planet Bike fenders. Possibly on the fender itself, but it seems more likely it was on one of the support brackets.

Questions:

1 - I am thinking of removing the front fender so this does not happen again. It would be nice to keep the fender, but I'd rather get muddy than get more stitches. It occurs to me that maybe the support brackets are supposed to end in a rubber safety cover. I bought the bike new with fenders installed so I don't know if they are supposed to come with such things. Ideas on how to keep the fender but not see the doctor again?

2 - Noticing a bit of blood around the garage - guess I bled more than I realized. I think when I flipped my leg over the bike bag attached to the bike, I dribbled quite a bit then. I've wiped the known spots down with water -- should I do anything else to protect friends & family? Don't particularly want bugs or animals, either.

3 - Commute is 12 miles one-way. No commute today but would like to ride tomorrow. Issues with stitches & biking? Don't really want to wait for the stitches to come out to ride again... but not willing to bust out of the stitches, either. Thoughts?

Thanks for your help. Lurking has given me tons of ideas, hopefully I can generate some more here.

No advice on the fenders, but if you bust the stitches, it's relativley easy to just superglue the wound back shut.

I've had no stitches for many years thanks to krazy glue. I keep a tube of it in my bag, in case I do something stupider than usual.

Newbie commuter here and needing help. Have put in about 250 miles and am loving it. But...

Hopped forward during a sudden stop/emergency dismount. My leg came down and my Planet Bike fenders sliced off a four or so inch section of my leg starting just above my tube sock. Saw lots of blood and leg innards (fat tissue I guess). Went to the emergency room and let them put eight stitches into me. When I returned home, it was raining and dark. Went out on a ride anyway - painkillers were still effective and I wanted to get back up on the horse immediately. :)

Next day - trying to figure out exactly what happened. I think I sliced myself on a piece of metal -- one of the support brackets?? -- sticking out from either side of the Planet Bike fenders. Possibly on the fender itself, but it seems more likely it was on one of the support brackets.

A picture of what you are talking about might help.


Questions:

1 - I am thinking of removing the front fender so this does not happen again. It would be nice to keep the fender, but I'd rather get muddy than get more stitches. It occurs to me that maybe the support brackets are supposed to end in a rubber safety cover. I bought the bike new with fenders installed so I don't know if they are supposed to come with such things. Ideas on how to keep the fender but not see the doctor again?A little duct tape on exposed metal


2 - Noticing a bit of blood around the garage - guess I bled more than I realized. I think when I flipped my leg over the bike bag attached to the bike, I dribbled quite a bit then. I've wiped the known spots down with water -- should I do anything else to protect friends & family? Don't particularly want bugs or animals, either.Clean blood stained areas with bleach.


3 - Commute is 12 miles one-way. No commute today but would like to ride tomorrow. Issues with stitches & biking? Don't really want to wait for the stitches to come out to ride again... but not willing to bust out of the stitches, either. Thoughts?Follow your doctor's orders.


Thanks for your help. Lurking has given me tons of ideas, hopefully I can generate some more here.

I would guess you sliced your leg on one of the fender stays--those are the roughly 1/8" diameter round wires that run from the mounting point on the fork to your fender. Yes, they are supposed to have a safety cover. My Planet Bike fenders came with black rubber caps on the ends of the stays. Most of them are even still there--based on your story, I will make sure the ones most likely to cut me open are covered.

As the fenders stays are a one size fits all they often have too much exposed rod left... I cut these back enough to still leave adequate adjustment room (in case I swap to different sized tyres), file away any sharp edges, and cap them off.

A picture of what you are talking about might help.

Not sure if it's OK to post pics in threads, so here's some hyperlinks to save everyone's bandwidth.

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/855209/planetBikeFender/IMG_2809.JPG

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/855209/planetBikeFender/IMG_2810.JPG

http://files.getdropbox.com/u/855209/planetBikeFender/IMG_2811.JPG

The third one is a close-up on what I think was the problem part.

A little duct tape on exposed metal

Do you really think so? I just don't think that will be enough.


Clean blood stained areas with bleach.

Will do. Thank you for the suggestion.


Follow your doctor's orders.

Well, that's the thing... adrenaline is pumping, girly-man scared of a moderate amount of blood, and I just don't remember what the doc said because it was (for me) a new and higher-stress situation. Basically I think it was don't bike today and then it was up to me... probably depends on my pain threshold. But would like to hear your opinions before I do something really stupid.

No advice on the fenders, but if you bust the stitches, it's relativley easy to just superglue the wound back shut.

Superglue? As in the stuff they advertise on TV? Seriously? Or is that cyclist slang for some wondrous paste that makes all the boo-boos go away?

I would guess you sliced your leg on one of the fender stays--those are the roughly 1/8" diameter round wires that run from the mounting point on the fork to your fender. Yes, they are supposed to have a safety cover. My Planet Bike fenders came with black rubber caps on the ends of the stays. Most of them are even still there--based on your story, I will make sure the ones most likely to cut me open are covered.

That sounds intriguing. Ideas on where I can obtain spares? I suppose I ought to go to my LBS and ask if he has any spares, but if not I'd like to try some.

Hard to believe a little rubber stopper could make that much of a difference.

As the fenders stays are a one size fits all they often have too much exposed rod left... I cut these back enough to still leave adequate adjustment room (in case I swap to different sized tyres), file away any sharp edges, and cap them off.

What do you cut them with?

Superglue? As in the stuff they advertise on TV? Seriously? Or is that cyclist slang for some wondrous paste that makes all the boo-boos go away?

Just good old cyanoacrylate (krazy glue). It's also sold as "liquid bandaid" or somesuch (it's a few bucks more expensive). The only difference is that liquid bandaids are 2-octyl-cyanoacrylate, less of a skin irritant than the methyl- or ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate sold as krazy glue.

What do you cut them with?

Hacksaw... or my Dremel with a diamond cut off wheel.

Better quality fenders use better quality chromed steel which is rather hard.

Unfortunately, what has happened to you is, in my opinion, the worst part of planet bike and other models of fenders.

Gilles-Berthouds don't have that problem.

I would suggest learning and practicing “emergency stopping”. It will save you a lot of pain in the future and you will not have to worry about your fenders and other small items.

Lots of patronizing responses. Typical web bulletin board style. The edge of the stay is cut off with a press, and not with a saw or dremel during manufacture. It leaves quite a sharp edge as you have discovered. Some small rubber feet glued on the end will prevent cuts and also you may just want to file the ends into a rounded shape if you can't find anything else to put on the end. That is, after you trim them down with a hacksaw. Live and learn!

I think my local bike shop builder failed to install the rubber end caps on the front fender. I ordered $1 replacements (and some spares) here:

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/7006_7.html

For now I've wrapped the stay ends in electrical tape.

I would suggest learning and practicing “emergency stopping”. It will save you a lot of pain in the future and you will not have to worry about your fenders and other small items.

Will gladly learn emergency stopping techniques - got links? However, I don't see how that would have helped me here. Stopping was not a problem. Dismounting and scraping my shin against the uncapped fender stay caused the injury.

Hacksaw... or my Dremel with a diamond cut off wheel.

Thanks - may try that in combination with some ordered replacement parts.

Loosen the nuts holding the fender to the stays, slide the bottom of the fender out 3/4", and retighten the nuts. When my bike was new I had trouble catching my toes on those stays when doing slow manoeuvres, so I trimmed them down a bit, but I also learnt to keep my feet away from the front wheel when moving slowly. Thats a nice looking bike.

Best way:
1. get fender mounted and positioned till you're satisfied.
2. mark position of bolt at each stay with sharpee.
3. remove stay, cut off 2mm beyond bolt location - i cut mine by making initial crimp with lineman's plier, then bending back and forth, snaps right off at crimp - easier than hack saw or getting out the dremel and cleaning up the mess

this method places the sharp, dangerous cut edge of the stay behind the fender mount, so no stay "condoms" are needed, impossible to cut yourself, plus looks neater.

make sure this is where you want the fender mounted before cutting, since you'll no longer have any extra stay length to adjust radius outwards.

The little rubber caps are nothing more than vacuum caps for automobiles. Go to the auto parts store and buy a little pack of them for a couple of bucks and you'll have plenty for all kinds of things.

http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=DOR&MfrPartNumber=47389&CategoryCode=4016


I chopped the rods down to the end of the clamp on my Planet Bike fenders. Cuz I was afraid of that very thing happening.

Then I got tired of them entirely and took them off. I'm replacing them with Honjos. No shaking, no sharp bits poking out....but a lot more money.

The little rubber caps are nothing more than vacuum caps for automobiles. Go to the auto parts store and buy a little pack of them for a couple of bucks and you'll have plenty for all kinds of things.

http://shop.oreillyauto.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=DOR&MfrPartNumber=47389&CategoryCode=4016


Thanks for the tip. I purchased some over lunch and will try them when I get home.

Use some form of glue to hold the caps on, all of mine have disappeared after a month on several bikes.

Why did you use the fenders to cut yourself when you have chain rings available?

Will gladly learn emergency stopping techniques - got links? However, I don't see how that would have helped me here. Stopping was not a problem. Dismounting and scraping my shin against the uncapped fender stay caused the injury.As requested:
http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/chapter6a.htm

Your OP did make it sound like a combination emergency stop with some type quick dismount caused the problem.

As requested:
http://www.bikexprt.com/streetsmarts/usa/chapter6a.htm

Your OP did make it sound like a combination emergency stop with some type quick dismount caused the problem.

Thanks CB HI. You are right, it took me a while to figure out what exactly happened.

Why did you use the fenders to cut yourself when you have chain rings available?

I can't speak for the OP, but I use the chain rings to tattoo my legs, not cutting. ;-)

I can't speak for the OP, but I use the chain rings to tattoo my legs, not cutting. ;-)

Don't joke, I got myself a nice permanent tattoo cause of a chain ring. Bunch of grease got caught in the wound was impossible to clean out well, left me with a nice couple of stars.

Worst part of it, it wasn't even my bike, it wasn't even a bike I was riding. I just tripped over a disused Huffy.

Just good old cyanoacrylate (krazy glue). It's also sold as "liquid bandaid" or somesuch (it's a few bucks more expensive). The only difference is that liquid bandaids are 2-octyl-cyanoacrylate, less of a skin irritant than the methyl- or ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate sold as krazy glue.

This is my favorite first aid equipment! I keep matched sets of tubes of krazy glue and neosporin in my medicine cabinet, truck, garage, toolbox at work, and in my bike backpack.

My first aid procedure:
1.Get injured
2.Bleed
3.Pack wound with neosporin
4.Squeeze most of the neosporin out with a sort of pimple-squeezing technique
5.Wipe excess neosporin and blood from on and around the wound
6.Apply just enough krazy glue to hold the edges of the wound together in a few spots.
Leave unglued areas to allow for wound drainage and scab formation. This can be tricky
as the stuff will try to "wick" itself down into the wound. You don't want to fill the wound with superglue,
this will make it take forever to heal, just make a few glue "stiches" at the surface. Gluing the edges
of a bandaid bridging a wound works pretty good also, like industrial strength butterfly closures, suitable
for use in spots where bandaids pull off easily like fingers or knees.

I've used this procedure on deep cuts and puncture wounds that penetrated into the fatty inner layers
of flesh and never had any issues with infection or excessive scarring. I remember reading somewhere
that cyanoacrylates were developed during the vietnam war as an emergency battlfield wound closure,
or maybe they were just experimenting with the concept. It definitely works for me!

I also have a few of those involuntary grease-filed chainring calf tattoos, I tell folks it's a rite of passage
in my cycling tribe.