700wheel

Years ago when I lived in the UK I used fenders (mudguards) along with a cape and waterproof headwear for commuting and touring when it rained. Never had a problem getting wet. My bike was set up properly for attaching fenders.

Now I live in an area with very little rainfall so do not use them anymore.

79pmooney

Real fenders for real protection.

Ben

79pmooney

I have a pair of highly modified SKS fenders for my Ti Cycles fix gear with its 2" road drop; all of which gets used. (If I ride the big Portland West Hills in winter, I need both the 23t and the 12t. Well I don't need the 12 but after all that work to get up , I want it!)

The bike also has a lowish brake bridge and not much clearance when the wheel is slid all the way forward so running a fender under isn't an option. I cut the fender in front of the brake bridge and made a steel piece to go over and back. The usual. Then I cut the flanges in the rear portion up to the corners a couple of inches in front of the highest point and likewise a couple inches behind. Straightened the fender out a little and using epoxy resin and carbon fiber, glassed the inside to hold that shape.

I now have a fully rigid rear fender and I can slide the wheel anywhere in the dropout without touching it. (I do benefit from a vertical opening at the front of the dropout to pull the wheel; the slot is an on-its-front "L". Editorial - I have no clue why this shape isn't near universal for road fix gears. I "invented" it 6 years ago but I heard it was done probably 80 years ago and a Bay area builder was doing it in the late '90s. I saw one of his bikes with it last summer.)

Ben

Rollfast

You'll never get a seat in the restaurant, but without pants you'll probably interest the black and white cars with fancy lights and a hard plastic back seat.

emptym

This was a helpful thread. Thanks for it. Have been in the market for some new fenders and will probably go with SKS after what folks have said here.

rumrunn6

oh here's another benefit. if you're riding a shared path & a pedestrian cpl is walking the opposite direction the same time you on your bike reach a big puddle. instead of crashing into ea other as everyone avoids the puddle, you can just cruise thru it! :-)

ThermionicScott 

I feel like mudflaps don't get enough airtime in these fender discussions, but they really make or break the whole system, IMO. More of Jan's thoughts:

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/...es-any-longer/
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/...p-what-a-mess/

noglider 

OK, I'm convinced. I'll be installing one ASAP. Thanks!

Bryan88

Apologies if someone has bought this up already, but for me the biggest reason for a front fender is to stop the water coming off the front wheel being blown back into your face. I had never thought of that until the first time it happened to me.

Skipjacks

This.

If you ever run through a puddle on an otherwise dry day so you can see where the spray goes, it shoots straight up from the wheel to about face height. Then as you ride your face travels into the spot where the water spray is.

Even a short front fender that doesn't go far down the back of the front wheel eliminates this issue.

SHBR

There are advantages and disadvantages to fenders.

Off road, totally useless. IMO.

Paved roads, moderately useful, with a few caveats:

1. toe overlap, with big feet and large wheels.

2. sticks rocks and other random debris stuck in between the tire and the fender can range from annoying to tragic.

3. can complicate wheel removal, difficult to keep from rubbing when clearances are tight. (2mm or less)

That said, I'm quite fond of the stock fenders on my folding bike, never a rattle, no possibility of toe overlap, and its cheap plastic, most likely will self destruct if any debris gets stuck between the tire and the fender.

Best of all, they keep most of the crud off the cameras.

wphamilton

No reason to not have fenders on at least one bike, but a little over a week ago I had reason to question that. It was after one of our very rare snows, an inch or 1.5 inches on the ground, and around 18°. Maybe 15, I'm not certain but it was really cold. I didn't think that water could be a problem and I was happy to take out the bike with fenders. Maybe smug even, and maybe that was my downfall. Within 5 miles, both fenders had caked up with ice. Not just packed snow, but actual solid ice frozen inside the fenders and eventually acting as pretty effective brakes. There was a big ice fan at the bottom end, an ice version of a mud-flap.

I had to stop and chip it out with a pocket knife and cone wrench, twice. I don't know how people in cold climates put up with it. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong and need to figure it out before our next snow event (it could be years fortunately), but it left me questioning fenders in those conditions.

JonathanGennick 

Wow. Crazy. You must have just hit the wrong combination of conditions. I've been there with mud once, when I took an early spring ride on a gravel road where the snow had freshly melted and drainage design was poor. Had to stop a few times and clear mud using my fingers. Not fun. We gave up and turned around.

Skipjacks

Snow is different in colder climates. It's drier and doesn't bunch up as easily.

Even if it's 15 degrees outside it's still Georgia. The ground temperature isn't as cold and it's likely more humid. So the snow is wet and clumps together. (The wetness is a binding agent for snow) Once it's starts clumping together and sitting still off the road (meaning in your fender) it starts to freeze so you get ice blocks in your fender.

In a place like Maine the snow is more likely to be a dry powder because the ground has been frozen for weeks. It doesn't warm up when it hits the road. The dry powder kicks up into the fender just like it does in Georgia but it doesn't stick to anything. It just keeps blowing through. So it never bunched up. Maybe you get a little build up but not enough to jam the wheel. (Keep in mind this is generally speaking. There's always an exception. I'm sure there are plenty of people from the North East who've dealt with heavy wet snow screwing up their bike. I'm talking generally)

Here in Maryland we get both the cold dry snow and the wet warm snow. Depends on the winder. I'll take the dry stuff anytime. A foot of that is barely an issue. It's easy to shovel. It blows away on it's own. It's not hard to drive in. The heavy wet stuff will kill you. 6 inches of that stuff and the city is shut down, I end up with a back ache shoveling it, and it freezes when the sun goes down into a giant ice block anywhere you didn't clear it.

rumrunn6

had that happen to me last year. needed something long, skinny, firm but flexible to get it all out. nothing I was carrying at the time was quite good enough & I couldn't find a stick nearby that worked. thanks for the reminder to grab something for my next snowy ride. but of all the snowy rides I taken w fenders, this situation only happened once. was thinking something like a disposable drain hair cleaner stick would have worked well



for the most part it just sticks to the tires

work4bike

Laurel Falls on the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee.

Darth Lefty 

IME...

Even if there's no wet weather at all, it keeps your drivetrain clean longer.

I had fenders on my commuter bike one winter a few years ago, thinking I needed it to force riding opportunities during the wet season. They worked great BUT my shortest route has a mile section of fire road and there I sucked in a twig. The safety release worked as designed but the stays were bent and the fender was creased. I took them off when the season was over and have not had any since. My bike still gets dirty pretty quickly due to that stretch of fire road and I'm often reconsidering it. But I haven't gone back yet.

Rollfast

That is a snow cone factory just waiting for cherry syrup!

Mikier

One more thought regarding SKSs longs (which I love). The rear fender is designed for short wheelbase racing bikes where the rear tire almost touches the seat tube. The fender ends just past the brake bridge. This does allow a fairly steady spray onto the lower seat tube and onto your drive components ( FD, crank and chain). If you have a long wheelbase bike, you might consider traditional rear fenders which extend down to the BB. For my short wheelbase bikes though, they are the best compromise out there.
PS on a less serious note, no one has mentioned another important fender function. On my 'Keep Portland Biking Weird' bike, fenders gave me increased surface area to decorate
Michael

emptym

^Very interesting. THanks. I ordered the Commuter model, and it should go all the way down to the chain stays on my bike.

Mikier

Hmm... even with loads of fender clearance, packed snow is quite the challenge

rumrunn6

hahahaha well yeah when you decide to bring 1/2 the Earth's crust w you! wonder how it got past the tail end of that front fender w/o it folding up on you