Touring - Regarding Fenders

Posted in A&S.

I always wondered when this would happen to someone.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=567995

The struts need to be CLOSE, then rounded and polished with something like a Dremel tool. There are lots of things on a bike to gouge a person. Fenders make sense for commuters, and blaming the fender for a cut is like blaming the pedals because it's harder to ride uphill.

Planet bike fenders come with rubber caps on the end of the fender struts. He lost his and didn't bother replacing them. Can't blame the fenders.

The same thing happened to a coworker of mine this weekend, although his cut was only 1 cm long.

Planet bike fenders come with rubber caps on the end of the fender struts. He lost his and didn't bother replacing them. Can't blame the fenders.

The same thing happened to a coworker of mine this weekend, although his cut was only 1 cm long.

I agree, you can't blame the fenders. Still, the way those things stick up at the end just always looked a little threatening and you see them that way on so many bikes.

Those plastic caps just do not stay on. Once the fenders are located correctly, trimming and grinding stays to fit is a 10-minute job.

Those plastic caps just do not stay on. Once the fenders are located correctly, trimming and grinding stays to fit is a 10-minute job.
Actually, the Planet Bike ones, which are rubber instead of hard plastic stay pretty well. I've had PB fenders on my MTB for over a year and still have all of them. The plastic ones on the fenders that were packaged with my new touring bike were already starting to go missing by the time I got the bike home.

I keep meaning to grind them, but when I go into the community shop where I volunteer I'm just too busy to work on my own bike...perhaps this incident will give me some motivation.

I've never tried it, but the MacGyver in me thinks those little rubber caps that adorn the ends of bungee hooks could be forced onto a fender stay for a quick fix.

You can secure a piece of leather or similar material around the end of the stay with a constrictor knot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constrictor_knot).


Or you can get a Chinese guy to craft dough sculptures around all your stays.
http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/BeijingInfo/NewsUpdate/BeijingNews/W020090326347594854577.jpg

Berthoud fenders eliminate the problem. Any adjustments take place at the attachment points at the fork and seat-stays. Looks a heck of a lot better too.

Actually, the Planet Bike ones, which are rubber instead of hard plastic stay pretty well. I've had PB fenders on my MTB for over a year and still have all of them. The plastic ones on the fenders that were packaged with my new touring bike were already starting to go missing by the time I got the bike home.
+1
They stay on pretty well and you could always carry a few spares if you were worried about it.

I guess I'm the exception. PB fender caps don't stay on our bikes, and while my partner still has hers, my fenders went when I sold a bike and good riddance for a few reasons, including the mounting system and my tendency to lose those caps. Should've contact cemented them on, I guess.

if it comes off and isn't supposed to, tape it or glue it in place. common sense?

cut the SS stay off right past the anchor bolt behind fender bracket - this precludes need for cap, looks neater, eliminates hazard