squegeeboo

They're biking clothes, after sweating in them to/from work, I need to wash them anyways so it's no biggy if they get a bit dirty. As for me, I shower after the commute(both ways), so any grim on me is also washed right off.

If the OP wants fenders, go for them, but they aren't necessary gear in any way.

aMull

No they are not. I rather ride nude with fenders, than rain gear and no fenders. Rain gear only makes me sweat more anyway. Fenders also help during dry conditions, with things like dust, stones etc.

remsav

+1

I would rather have fenders to keep the dirt off my helmet/back/butt/bike more then the actual rain. With most raingear you'll get soaked by sweat anyways and you have to clean off the dirt/grime all over the backside without fenders.

Jarery

For the poster who said they were more important, they are more important. Your from toronto, your perspective is different. Try it on the west coast where it rains for 5 months straight. Spending a couple hours in the rain on a road ride where the temps are 1 degree above freezing, and its pouring rain, you dont give a crap about fenders because the rain is horizontal anyways.

I buy top end rain gear first because it means the difference between arriving at work alive or not. Fenders make the ride a bit cleaner and less annoying.

Just because you fail at finding rain gear that works, doesnt mean the rest of us failed also.

banerjek

My guess is that a bunch of us wear cold weather gear in the rain rather than rain specific gear. If you're out more than a certain amount of time, I think it's basically futile to try to stay dry. My strategy is to wear a rain jacket above and neoprene below. I get soaked, but I can stay out as long as I like.

I use fenders when it's wet. I find that if I don't, my back wheel throws mud over head and into my helmet where it seeps down my back. On the front, I find that even if you're wearing booties, your feet don't get quite as wet if you have fenders.

Booger1

I put Rain-x on my riding glasses(tinted and clear),it makes the water sheet off and you can see great.

remsav

I wonder if the stain-resistence nano tech on clothes will come to rain-gear. you know those commercials where you pour soda, wine all over your shirt, pants and it just rolls off. Now if it worked for both water and dirt I would get that.

DoB

I think almost everybody on this post gets an "F" for reading comprehension.

Lots of posts about fenders (I agree, they are great) and rain gear (useful in colder weather but just get wet when it's warm).

But so far as I can tell the OP does not ride on rainy days because he/she does not want to die. I can sympathize. My commute is all residential with a few 40 mph roads. For the most part I have no car issues and I feel pretty safe with one rear blinkie and one solid red on the back in the rain. I ride rain or snow.

I'm not sure I would feel safe on a narrow shoulder of a 55 mph highway in a downpour. There are many people who do not change their wipers yearly and who are gazing through streaky blurred windshieds in the rain. Add some oncoming headlights and spray from a truck ahead of the car and I don't really want to be on that road either.

scoatw

Fenders and Showers Pass Rainjacket for me. The jacket does minimal sweating in warm temps. I just open the vents when I get to warm. Do a 'search' for rain pants. I use Rainshield O2 performance rain pants. They work great in all temp ranges. On warm days I just roll them up to keep my shorts dry. A light pair of shoe covers keeps my feet totally dry. I used to take an extra pair of socks along to change at work. But with the Louis Garneau Stop-tech shoe covers solves that problem. During the Cold season I use all of that as my outer shell. Helmet cover takes care of the head. But wet hair is the least of my worries. I prefer dry clothes that I don't have to change once I get to work.

Jarery

Our reading comprehension gets an F for talking about raingear? I guess you missed this little tidbit in the original post

bobcrotch

What I don't understand is the people who can't grasp the concept of wanting to stay dry. I guess maybe the people who aren't worried about it have a great work environment where they can store their wet (sometimes stinky) clothes.

one_beatnik

OK, so you all shamed me to get out in the rain! Yesterday (a day off) I rode 30 miles, 78 degrees and half in the rain. Loved it! But back to the situation at hand. At 6:45 AM I "feel" like I need 18 blinking lights behind me in the rain because the sun isn't even over the horizon, cars aren't expecting to see a biker out there, the road is wet and ( I didn't think of this when I originally posted...or had forgotten about it until yesterday) the 3" shoulder is where all the water is gathering! Some great ideas about the gear, although I'm not sure I can fit fenders on my front wheel looking at it yesterday. Maybe I'm making excuses, but I think it's a psychological thing. I couldn't bring myself to head out this morning in the rain again either. Today it was also only 49 degrees. That's totally different than 78 yesterday.

Flame away all!