Originally Posted by
Bachman
I have the same fenders on my bike. I use clipless pedals, and find that my toe rubs the tire even without the fenders, if the wheel is turned enough. I've already gotten accustomed to avoiding that by positioning the pedals closer to 12 & 6 o'clock in a turn so they aren't close to the wheel, so it's not really any worse with the fenders on. For me, it's not practical to pedal with the wheel turned that much anyway.
I had the problem with touching the tire on extreme turns before the fenders -- I certainly know what causes it, and to avoid pedaling when the turn is that sharp (though in really tight situations, I sometimes need to pedal to keep some momentum, or put a foot down). This happens when I have to use the pedestrian ramp from a bridge to the towpath, for example, which involves 180 degree turns in tight spaces. I haven't tried this since the fenders were installed, but I already know that it will cause a bit more trouble, because:
I made pretty solid contact with the fender stay on a 'regular' (i.e. 'not tight') turn -- this was the genesis of my inquiry. The situation was turning right from one street onto another -- a 90 degree change of direction, but done in a 'normal' arc. Admittedly, I was moving pretty slowly, so I may have tightened the line a bit more than I realized, but I wasn't doing anything I consider 'extreme'
Oh, and how important are the plastic end caps? The one on the stay I hit disappeared at that time and I couldn't locate it. I presume they are to keep me from drilling through my leg if I crash, right?