I think I am WAY in the minority here. but I thought I would want/need fenders soon after I started commuting but I just haven't. Even riding in slop I just don't get a lot of road crap flying up onto me. My bike does get sloppy but mostly in areas the fenders wouldn't protect anyway, so I just never got them. Granted I'm in Austin where it doesn't rain a ton and it never snows or anything like that so the slop here is pretty minor compared to a lot of other places. just my 2 cents...