Originally Posted by
hamr26
I have an '07 Hardrock sport/disc
and started riding neighborhood trails and collected a lot (to me) of mud & sm. rocks on the top of the BB and generally all arround the front derailleur. I clean it off after the ride, but is this worth trying to prevent? I looked at fenders and THE brand fenders look nice and really like the ones from Crud, but it seems only a full length fender will protect this portion of the bike. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I may experiment with some sort of partial fender in time.
Dave
I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you are going to be riding in lots of rain (hurricane, monsoon, etc.) or in freezing temperatures and rain, you might want to do something but the front derailer can take a lot of gunk and still continue to function. Rinse it off when you get home or, if it's particularly gunky, squirt it with a water bottle (or spit a mouth full of water from your Camelbak on it
). Otherwise just ride.
A fender, on the other hand, can cause more problems than it solves. At that tight junction, a fender will pack with all kinds of stuff and make riding more difficult...especially if you are riding in thick mud and muck.