Wish you were a customer...

My winter bike sees some of the crappiest weather known to man with water, snow, and a lot of sand and salt that gets laid down in the winter... the chain has 7000 km on it and I cannot measure any wear and the bike stays remarkably clean in the sloppiest weather, as do I. Most of the crud it wears in the winter comes from the spray off of cars and trucks and very little comes off the wheel on to the frame.



I see other folks roll into the shop with poor or no fenders and their bikes are often packed with road crud and they make awful grinding noises as all that sand and grit gets worked into the drive train.

We are having a little commuter race tomorrow which is a regular event during our bike month... if the forecast is for dry weather I will go fender-less and if it calls for rain will take my fendered urban assault vehicle which used to be my winter bike for many seasons but it is hard to tell.

What's that about?

Not that I am disagreeing, but I find your comment interesting (perhaps you haven't been in the surrounding area which has some of the most-established and nicest biking tours in Europe)?

To be honest, I may pick up some fenders in a few months. I actually am not sure what I do with the bike yet. I know that I only want one bike (space concerns) and I'd like to commute with it year-round. I'm not sure if I want a rack or whatnot yet, as I currently ride with a rucksack. It's a work-in-progress and I'd like to keep it kinda cheap, so we'll see how it develops. I'm sure that as soon as it starts raining heavily, I'll be here asking about fenders.

As far as being a customer, do you own/manage a shop?

Yes, but is that a medium gray schnautzer and a small black one?

I commute on strictly road bikes. Vintage bikes too. Just like I like my sport-cars and motorcycles, no frills, just cool looking and go.

Fenders easily added double the miles I put on in a year. I only worry about heavy downpours before work. I've ridden home from work in a steady down pour and loved it.

Just gave up on putting fenders on my hardtail, but its a learning process for me and what I want from a bike to commute with.
Next bike will be a hybrid with eyelets front and back.
( did put some nice chrome full fenders on my Caliente since they came with front eyelets and the Varsity of the same year didn't have them.
Doesn't make it any less dangerous bike, just looks nice as I go down with my pant leg caught in that spinning chain...)

Yes, meet the big guy Crash and his sister Sadee. Fenders are nice for them when they're in the trailer.

1. Use of fenders may force you to go with a narrower tire than you otherwise would.

2. Could create problems with toe overlap

3. If clearance is tight, could have occasional issues with tire rub

4. Less convenient access to rear tire for inspection

5. Getting a stick or other hunk of debris caught between tire and fender could ruin your day

6. Aesthetics is in the eye of the beholder. Some bikes look good with them, others not as much.


If I commuted in my work clothes, I'd probably have them on all year just in case. As it is, I change when I get to work so getting wet isn't a big deal. My road tires don't kick up that much spray anyway and most of it ends up on my waterproof backpack or my feet. In warm weather I don't really care.

I also don't have a dedicated commuter bike nor do I want one (not at this time anyway). I have a road bike and an offroad bike. So, I pull the fenders off in the summer.

For a lot of the year the positives of fenders outweigh the negatives but for me there are negatives.

Yes, I have fenders on my bike. They don't really fit though, and when I get a dedicated commuting bike I will probably take them off since I'll only be using my road bike for training and racing, and I don't care if I get utterly filthy while out playing.

From what little I know, diabetic urine will have some sugar in it, so it'll be that much less sterile...

Most of the time I do. I usually just ride my bike with fenders if it's the rainy season. Sometimes I wish that season were longer (fewer bikers hogging the lanes that way ).

I'm right on the Pacific, so mudguards are essential,
particularly as I pull out my Cycle Rain Cape, for
anything more than the misty-drizzle,
that overwhelms my WPB jacket's capabilities ..

I work with a frame builder and handle a good deal of the mechanical and wheel building work there and have my own second small shop where I handle the same type of work and am re-tooling my space to handle frame work as the main shop is quite a distance and it is not practical to take the many small repairs on a 100km round trip.

Have been involved with our local Bicycle Commuters's Society for 7 years, teach a good number of workshops on pretty much everything, and used to work for the organization as their shop coordinator and mechanic.

If I speak on things like the benefits of things like fenders it comes from a lot of experience with my own bicycles which see a lot of miles and from having to deal with bicycles that also see a lot of miles and a lot of neglect.

There was a time when fenders were pretty much standard on any bicycle that was not used for competitive purposes.

Nice looking ride - converting my Ogre to a single speed version of that. The orange is nice.

I just moved to Washington state and it's rained about 60% of the days I've been here so far, so I'm VERY glad I have fenders. I commute on a road bike with Crud Roadracer MKII fenders.

I do agree.

However, I'm riding a little to determine what I actually want out of the bike before totally building it up. I think the idea of fenders is a great idea, especially for conservation of the drive train components.

I was born in Germany, spent summers there in my childhood, went to school there, and worked there for a few years as an adult. It's a lovely country, and I'm still extremely fond of the place and its people, especially my relatives. Frankfurt, however, is not its garden spot. I see it more like the Houston of the country: economically important, but sort of gross.

Full fenders always.

I gotta agree (especially after living in TX for 7 years). I have no love lost for Houston/Dallas/San Antonio from me (Austin is interesting, but almost tries to hard to be different.) From what I hear, the quality of life here in Frankfurt much better than even 10 years ago (and light year above where it was 30 years ago). However, I think it really matters where you live in the city. Most parts are really 50s/60s plattenbau, however, some of the unbombed altbau is really nice. It also helps that all of the € really flow through the city (the new European Central Bank is nearly complete).

On the whole I find Germany quite interesting. It's ultra-developed, as in every m2 is totally used for farming, living space or free space. I find Frankfurt kind of interesting compared to Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Düsseldorf, all of which I find trying very hard to be trendy, but really failing compared to Copenhagen, Oslo or Stockholm (or larger cities such as Paris/London/Madrid/Rome). I find Berlin to be extremely nice, especially with it's very large size and diverse boroughs.

Personally, if I could pick any city in the German-speaking realm to live Vienna would be at the top of the list ... especially due to it's proximity to Budapest which I find quite stunning.

Also, is your signature a reference to chemistry/biochemistry? I've had a ton of proteins end up in the PPT, which can be quite maddening.

I live in the desert.

the Planet bike touring fenders are great. every day