Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
There is usually a fender solution for every bike... even race bikes with tight clearances can be fitted with fenders although these will not be nearly as good as full fenders.
The fenders on my long bike are what I consider to be ideal... even though I ride this bike in the winter and in all kinds of bad weather it stays very clean and it really reduces drive train wear.
Joe_Mo: One thing worth paying attention to on this bike is the mud flap on the front fender, - it drops down pretty close to the ground. To keep the drive train clean this is very important. Most of the front fenders I see on bikes don't drop down nearly far enough in the back.
As for whether front fenders are really necessary or not, IMHO they do more good than rear fenders. A rear fender helps keeps you clean, and in my case I don't really care since I change when I get to work anyway. The front fender keeps the bike cleaner.
That being said you don't absolutely
need fenders and I often wonder how much good a rear fender does the bike anyway. It seems that a rear fender would deflect a lot of junk back down on the wheel that would otherwise get thrown clear of the bike. I might be wrong on this one, but like I've said, it's something I've wondered about.
Generally I'd say though, the more wet, sandy, salty crap you ride through, the more helpful a front fender is.