Finally admitted to myself that I wouldn't be racing 'cross this year, despite having built a bike specifically to race this fall; seven day work/school weeks suck. So I threw some fenders on the 'cross bike to get some commuter miles out of it (although it has been doing about half of the commutes this semester already, just on dry days only).

T'was a chore to fit fenders around 40mm tires, but I got it to work and rode happily and speedily through the wet yesterday. Unfortunately there is so little clearance between the tires and the fenders (like micrometers, seriously) that just leaning against the bike rack knocked fender far enough out of whack to squeak squeak squeak all the way home.

Spent half an hour last night convincing the fender and tire to play nice, and rode in silent this morning through some gorgeous sunshine. But after class it was the same as yesterday, squeak squeak squeak all the way home. I almost want the ice to get here faster (there's been some on the bridges in the morning, but not enough for studs) just so that I can switch to my winter tires (38c Nokian Hakkas), which provide more clearance than the summer tires (38c Marathons).

Bike noise sucks. Anyone want to trade some 38c Marathons for 35c's?