Mickey2

I have full size fenders on both my bikes. I live in an area with rain all year round, dusty roads some places and I use my bikes for getting around as well as training. If I had a bike for training only I might omit the fenders, but when I wear my regular clothes I just can't have that stripe of dust or wet up my spine. The back fender protects the front derailleur from continuoulsy getting hit by a lot of sand and dirt, road salts in winter, it avoids problems later on. Like some of the pictures in this thread shows, it's all about getting the right fenders, it's not ideal for competition, but in some climates it offers quite a lot of advantages. They are not necessarily difficult to clean, you can get by with the garden hose most of the time, then a more thorough clean with saopy water now and then. They don't have to add much weight, those in plastic and aluminum weight the least, I've seen them made in carbon fiber. On my vintage Raleigh, (530 Reynolds tubing, heavy 3 speed hub), there's some type of painted steel, still a fairly light bike.

wolfchild

All of my bikes have fenders. Rain water is clean and I don't mind getting wet, but it's the road spray that I am trying to protect myself from.

Sixty Fiver

Needed them today...

Hisamatsu

If I was given the option of only one bike accessory it would be fenders. Must have accessory for any wet riding.

Wolf Dust

B b b b b baaad...

nuclear_biker

Fenders are great. I kept putting it off, finally caught up with me. My bike was totally brown from mud, I looked like I had explosivly pooped myself and somehow had gotten it all over my shirt too. I ordered them as soon as I got home from that ride. In addition to rain, they keep dirt and little rocks from getting thrown up at you/your drivetrain. When mounted right they look pretty good too. I leave them on year round.

Edit: Here's a pic

InTheRain

If it came down to a choice of riding in wet conditions or skipping it because I didn't have a bike with fenders, I wouldn't be able to call myself much of a bike commuter. October through May in the Puget Sound area are quite wet. Fenders make the ride in those conditions much more enjoyable than a sopping wet commute without them. They do wonders in saving the drivetrain. I would prefer to ride in dry conditions without fenders, however, living in the Northwest... I just have learned to adapt to the reality of the matter. I can ride my bike... or watch it rain from the car.

Sixty Fiver

With us having one of the driest summers I have ever seen the rain was more than welcome... it knocked the dust off the bike too.

hardboiled718

I like to keep my bike fairly minimal, so I just use clip on fenders when it's raining. When it rains I pretty much get completely wet anyway but the fender helps to keep all the oily road gunk off my back.

Phil_gretz

My utility and work bikes have fenders with mudflaps. My play and recreation bikes do not really have the clearance for adequate fenders anyway. I don't find that fenders add appreciable weight, but they do make maintenance and bike transport a bit more complicated. It's a small price to pay for the comfort of not having road muck, sticky stuff and all forms of 3rd world disease vectors sprayed up onto me and my bike.

tarwheel 

Two of my bikes have fenders, three do not. I usually commute on my bikes with fenders because rain is so unpredictable around here. However, if the forecast is calling for 10-20% chance of rain, I often ride one of my bikes without fenders. My two bikes with fenders are touring bikes, and fenders seem to fit with the look. They also have lots of clearance for fenders and larger tires. There is nothing more annoying than trying to fit fenders on a bike without proper mounts and little clearance, unless you enjoy the sound of tires rubbing on fenders.

edsta74

thats a nice looking bike!

jfowler85

Pee?

I enjoy commuting through the pee puddles with fenders, as it allows me to stay dry and thus ride...but then my propensity with fenders is to ride in the yuckier weather. Consequently, I have to clean the bike more, especially the chain, and that gets old.

Neddog

In the absence of a rack then yes always. But my preference is a rack that's solid and keeps the water from being flung onto my back. I don't use a front fender, but if I have cables running on the bottom of the frame as opposed to the top, then I use a deflector shield there. I don't bother otherwise. My summer bike runs a rack, my winter bike a fender (the winter bike is a more specialized fatter-tired ride which is not conducive to adding a rack). I tour and commute, so I generally need a rack.

mconlonx

Perma-mount VO aluminum full-fenders on my main commuter bike; clip on back fender for my lockup bike. It's not just about riding in the rain, it's also about riding after the rain, or spring rides on sunny days when the snow is melting. With the leather washers and suitable amounts of loctite, there is no rattle issues. The only time I worry about them is when I'm stuffing the bike into a car, and some racks are not so accommodating when it comes to rear full fenders. But for me, the pros definitely outweight the cons.

BobbyG

I commute. Two bikes with, one without. If the front doesn't come way down, it won;t keep your toes dry.

Neddog

This is very true. I'd rather go with no front fender than an inadequate front fender, as a front fender which is not long enough can actually dump the water right on your toes. XP I have a friend with a bike like that, lol.

alan s 

Except for the rear fender line, which is just plain bad.

spare_wheel

I hate fenders but they are a necessity here. I always have one bike without fenders (for the very rare sunny winter day) and the fenders come off all my commuters seasonally.

RidingMatthew

i have fenders on my commuter all the time. I like them and really dont see and weight/ speed issues, with pop up thunderstorms I like them a lot. Road bike and Mountain bike dont have fenders.

Sixty Fiver

I keep meaning to add a forward fender spacer but am not too OCD about this.

I should make a note.

bmthom.gis

As far as people concerned with cleaning the underside of fenders....a quick garden hose spray will do the trick. It's not going to end up in the bb or any part of your drivetrain. That takes a whole 10 seconds to do both fenders. If I happen to have a wheel off, I might grab a paper towel and do a quick wipe, but that is a rare occurrence. If you want to scrub it, that's just a little ridiculous in my book. Anyway, here are my two with fenders. I have another set of fenders just waiting to find a home that were taken off of my last commuter I recently sold.

These could use mudflaps which I will probably have to fabricate myself. Just haven't bothered doing it yet.


These are a lot less serious, but were free and I like the looks of them. Gone is the rack/bag replaced with just a messenger bag when riding this one. CUrrently down for maintenance (the derailleurs were both complete crap. Need a new cable for the RD as it was too chewed up to go back through the barrel adjuster


I forgot abou El Rust Bucket! Also currently down for maintenance due to a blown tube (and tire!) and not liking the state of the rim tape when I went to change out.


My old commuter, sold to a friend. Couldn't find any better pictures of this one...but it looked good with fenders

Buffalo Buff

Absolutely not. They're ugly as **** and I live in a very dry part of the world.

I have clip-on fenders if I need them, but I think I've only had to bust them out twice this year.

Sixty Fiver

Hideous fenders...



This dear old lady does not see rain on any regular basis but comes from an era when most non racing bikes were fitted with mudguards.

My vintage Raleigh with Bluemel fenders... it looks odd without them.

cwar

N + 1

My touring bike has fenders. I also use that bike for errands that require a pannier.

My commuter bike also has fenders on all the time. I use this bike for organized/charity rides (including centuries) if it's raining/wet.

Then I have a road bike that does not have fenders which I use for long rides in dry weather.