It's not nearly as nice as Jeff's beast but it's my baby. I have often been on the "why bother?" side of the fence on fenders. I'm hoping these get me to quit using my MTB for commuting as much in the rainy season, which means less bike commutes to the bus stop and more full commutes to work.

I know. NDS photo, no white garage door, not in 52x12, etc... Let the flogging begin.


Setup:
2006 Trek 1200
SKS Commuter Full Fenders with mudflaps (Black, 35mm)
Blackburn XR-1 Crossrack
DiNotte 200L-AA-S
NiteRider Evolution (upped to 15W/300 Lumens)
Trek Disco Tech on the rack (Mars 3.0 helmet mounted)
Headland CMT wedge
Cheap Shimano mountain SPD's
Trek Incite 11i 'meter
Bottle cages
New bar tape
SwissStop Green brakes
Shimano WH-R500 rear wheel (both wheels de-badged)
Bontrager Race-Lite HardCase tires

This bike has served me very well since May when I got it. I missed it quite a bit over the snowy months here in KC. I moved closer to work a while ago and the way I look at it the fenders are giving me one less condition (wet pavement, dry skies) to use as an excuse to ride 3 miles to the bus vs. 14 miles to work.

Not only a good commuter, but a good touring rig as well

Indeed. Those Twelve Hundreds actually have kinda-sorta touring geometry going on. All it needs is the crank to be up a smidge higher and longer chainstays and it's close to being an aluminum 520. It's a really comfy bike.

Looking at the radar this evening, it seems I might get to put the fenders through their paces in about 6 hours when I leave for work.

Looks good.

Why is the rack set that far back (sloping back)?

Glad to hear. I'm sure it makes your life a lot easier.

Heel strike every rotation with my current panniers (not shown because I wanted to show off the Fenders). This setup works well, but does look a little strange when there are no panniers on it.

That's a nice setup. I used the same fenders on my '07 Pilot. I have one too many zip ties on the rear fender for my tastes (the plastic clip that is supposed to go onto the brakebridge--I had to zip tie it rather ackwardly up around the seatpost tube instead).

While I stayed nice and dry yesterday, including my feet, I was amazed at what my chain picked up just the same.

I'm with you on the chain thing, I'm thinking about rigging up some sort of splash guard to mount under/front of the front rings, somehow attach it to the down tube.

That's probably where it's coming from, isn't it? On my old bike, at one point I looked down, and I think it was slash off the inside of the rear fender. I was going too fast yesterday to look down (darn new bike, it's fast!); but it makes sense that's mostly dry dirt being kicked up from the front wheel. That would be an interesting part to try to come up with--some sort of mini chain guard, just for that area.

Why the high seat and downcurving handlebars? Doesn't that force you into an uncomfortable, hunched-over position? Which is probably OK for racing, but for commuting I would think that a slightly lower, farther back set seat and backswept handlebars, giving you an upright position more like on a classic English bike would be far more comfortable.

I've put thousands of miles on this bike in its current configuration. It's quite comfortable, and hunched-over is a bit quicker than sitting upright when you're dealing with almost 30 miles of commuting per day. The way it's set up is working out very well for how I use it.

Everything is set up the way the bike shop configured it during the fitment process, so you can blame them for it, but you won't see me complaining about it at all. I love it!

Also, I posted my first impressions of the fenders on Commute By Bike this morning, after having some good standing water to test them with:

https://commutebybike.com/2008/03/18/...-full-fenders/

Also, for what it's worth, I have a mountain bike, an upright-seated hybrid and a relaxed-riding beach-cruiser at my disposal if I really, really felt like taking a more upright riding position.

If you're comfortable and happy with it, that's all that matters.

A lot of people prefer sitting upright but it's starts to get uncomfortable for me after awhile. Forget about cycling for a minute. If somebody is sitting in a stool or on a bench with no backrest, they'll often "hunch over" and place their elbows on a bar or table to help support their upper body. That's what you're doing on a bike with a more forward position. You're using your arms to help support your upper body. Many people prefer this for longer distances. The other often stated advantage to drop bars comfort wise is that they give you three hand positions with varying degrees of "hunched forwardness". This allows you to rest certain supporting muscles in your back and arms and lets you change the angle of your neck.

For me one of the most comfortable bars is a tri-bar. They take some getting used to and I wouldn't recommend them for commuting because steering is a little dicey, but I can ride a long way in that position.