Originally Posted by
pdlamb
I thought that for a while, until I got caught in the rain on my "dry bike." Short shower and perhaps 5-10 miles on wet roads, and the chain looked worse than the rain bike's chain after a solid week of commuting (80-100 miles). I was convinced after that: fenders are the way to go.
It may all be relative, my bike usually comes home cleaner if it is actively raining. I sometimes use a mud guard on the lower frame tube and an "ass saver" shoved in the seat back but not all the time.