Mud Flap
 

i was at the LBS today looking for a new Mud Flap for my commuter bike. The clerk showed me the "perfect" (He thought.) for my bike. A Velo Orange Mud Flap for $ 30.00! OUCH!!! Got to be something better out there, right? I have a Planet Bike Alum. set but the M.F. is very short. I would like to get something a bit longer but not very expensive. Any ideas?

I don’t think 30 is that bad.
I don’t think you’ll find for much cheaper.

I cut my own from a sheet of 1/16" rubber. :thumb:

I was/am thinking on getting some leather scraps and cut it out

Hardware store rubber sheet material is cheap and easy to work with. Depending on your local market, you might have a few choices in thickness. Too thin and the flap will flutter in the wind providing little protection. A step up would be thin conveyor belt. Conveyor belt has a fabric layer which provides structure while retaining flexibility. If you wanna go fancy and don’t mind ongoing maintenance, leather is a great choice. Find your local Tandy Leather (or similar) and dig through the scrap bin.

One thing I insist on for any flap I will put on (especially in front) is that it crush without damage when I wheel the bike off the sidewalk (often with loaded panniers). And it better crush, not destroy the fender.) Haven't gone to leather and I like the conveyor belt idea. What I've used with success is thin architect's film. I cut two layers, tape them together with good packing tape around the edges. Stiff enough to stay in place for deep puddles but crushes easily and with very little damage when I drop the loaded bike on them. Sadly, my stash (rescued from the trash of the neighboring architectural firm 20+ years ago) is running out. Folks here in Portland are fond of using cut down waterbottles for flaps but I wonder if my fenders could handle my "drops" with a flap that stiff.

I recall something about cutting up a detergent jug

I went to a local saddlery (equestrian) and bought some thick leather remnants and cut my own mudflaps out of them. Attached with stainless hardware, they have lasted for years, ridden in rain, snow, salt, & slush

Call me lazy, but I just paid the bucks and bought some Planet Bike Cascadia Fenders, and called it good. My only complaint about them was that the leading edge of the front fender didn't wrap around far enough to stop water slinging forward off the tire and going onto me during strong headwinds on rainy days.

I cut mine from a 5 liter motor oil jug. They come in black! Dark brown would be nice just don't know where to get one.

By a rubber kitchen mat and cut out your own

I cut up and old $5 yoga mat from the thrift store. I've also cut up a rubber floor mat from the dollar store. In both cases I used small nylon bolts to secure them to the fender.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cd6d611fbc.jpg

I made 2 from an old rubber car mat, O cost, 10 minutes work.

Buy a foot and cut your own or 3.

​​​​​​https://www.lowes.com/pd/Apache-Mill...oot/1000043655

do you own a old bike tire? because they mudflap fine.

Back when I lived in PA's Dutch country, everyone made their Mud Flaps out of some wild stuff. I think I'd see it all until I saw one guy use part of a truck's Mud Flap. (You know the big ones off a rig.) Cut down it was still big and heavy. I wonder what they use overseas? Almost all bikes have Mud Flaps on them. Can anyone post pictures of them?:popcorn

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...21d3306e5d.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3f9d1239f3.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3c3d7db910.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9323d3d34b.jpg

Walmart mouse pad
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7f61e169f2.jpg
but even the best mudflap won't protect me from everything, like side spray
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b7eee2138d.jpg
& this old favorite photo of my road bike. even if it had a fender & the logest mudflap, it would not have helped in this situation
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...af263e5625.png

I also don't think $30 is that much.

You didn't tell us if you want front and rear or just rear fender.

You also didn't tell us you already have fenders, and all you want is to extend the end of your current rear fender with something like that Rubber Mud Flap from VO. There are all sorts of ways you can do that cheaply, you cut up a milk bottle and attach it to the end of the fender. Just get creative if $30 is too much.

If by some chance your confused, which I doubt it, but if you are, and what you want is an actual fender and not an extender, then consider a product called the Ass Savers, they're around $20, they also make a mud guard if making one yourself doesn't appeal to you, it's called the Ass Savers Muddler, they're $10 less than the one your bike shop showed you.

i have a Planet Bike fender. (The one that starts with a "C", whichever that is.) I need one for the front.

A lot of front fenders have disappointing coverage. Some folks will use another rear fender in front, modified as necessary for mounting, to get better coverage.

Here's the current mud flap extension on my Serfas front fender. Just cable ties through holes to attach it. It could be longer still, but I had this piece leftover from another bike, and it is much better than nothing. :)
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...659f6be79a.jpg

I initially tried making these mud flaps out of an automotive inner tube, but they were too flappy, and could sometimes get sucked into the fender if the wind was blowing the wrong way. 1/16" sheet is just right.

Stiff enough to stay in place at 20 MPH, but flexy enough to absorb a curb hit without damage. That's difficult.

I had an old bike where the mudflap could slide up and down the fender. That worked.

On my old touring bike I used SKS full fenders with a mud flap, they worked good except they constantly needed to be adjusted, which was difficult to do. So, when I got my new touring bike, I decided to try something not so full and went with Topeak Defender IGlow (not sure what the IGlow means since nothing glows on it), they keep just as much water off as the full fenders did. I did cut a piece of black Gorilla tape about 6 inches long, I then put about an inch of it on the back top side of the rear fender, folded it so there was about an inch on the underside of the back of the rear fender, then pressed the tape together so they stuck together...that was my mud flap, and it's lasted for 3 years so far with no signs that it needs to be replaced. That tape only added about 2 inches to the rear of the back fender, not sure if it's doing much though, maybe? Someone could make that tape mud flap longer, but I wanted it a bit stiff, I had I gone with a 12 inch piece instead it may have flapped around? Anyway, with a lesser length fender I get just as good coverage as I did with the full-length fender, nothing gets wet from road spray, not even the pannier bags. While the fenders still go out of adjustment after miles of banging down rough roads, it's a lot easier to readjust the fenders since Topeak uses a quick open lever that allows the plastic rods to move, then lock the levers down once you're done, and I'm only dealing with one set of rods instead of two like the SKS, and the SKS required tools to adjust the rods I don't need tools with the Topeaks.

For that reason that I discovered that I don't believe full coverage fenders are necessary, at least in my experience.

One of things on my new touring bike is that the bike came with 45mm tires, the Topeak fenders barely cleared the tires by about 24th of an inch on the sides and about 1/8th of an inch on the top of the tread of the tire, so if the fenders went out of adjustment just a tiny bit, either by road vibration of something being picked up by the tires, I had to correct the alignment; now that I have gone to 38mm tires I doubt I will have to adjust the fenders nearly as much if ever unless something gets picked up by a tire and hits the fender knocking it out of adjustment, I haven't used the bike since I got the tires this year to know for sure but just by looking at it I have about 1/4 inch clearance now on the side and about 1/2 of an inch between the fender and the tread.

The Topeaks also don't make nearly as much noise if any vs the SKS fenders, those SKS fenders were noisy. And since the Topeaks are not full size, do not use steel bracing, they're lighter in weight.

Full coverage rear fender isn't for you, it's for the people riding behind you. Not typically a concern commuting. On group rides in the PNW, it might determine whether you're welcome in the group.

Full coverage front fender is for your feet and drivetrain. I consider that important on my commuter, but YMMV.

I don't ride with a group that's for sure, if I did, I would just make my tape flap longer, but I haven't noticed road spray spewing out behind me at least high enough to hit a ride, but again I can extend the tape flap. But this is for certain, neither my feet nor my drivetrain is getting wet from road spray.