Wish you were a customer...

My winter bike sees some of the crappiest weather known to man with water, snow, and a lot of sand and salt that gets laid down in the winter... the chain has 7000 km on it and I cannot measure any wear and the bike stays remarkably clean in the sloppiest weather, as do I. Most of the crud it wears in the winter comes from the spray off of cars and trucks and very little comes off the wheel on to the frame.



I see other folks roll into the shop with poor or no fenders and their bikes are often packed with road crud and they make awful grinding noises as all that sand and grit gets worked into the drive train.

We are having a little commuter race tomorrow which is a regular event during our bike month... if the forecast is for dry weather I will go fender-less and if it calls for rain will take my fendered urban assault vehicle which used to be my winter bike for many seasons but it is hard to tell.