I was at REI yesterday and talking to one of the sales guys about fenders. He showed me the SKSMud-X (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...w_bottom_links) they were selling for $4.93. I figured it was worth a try for $5. It's raining today so I went out for a test ride. It's not going to block anything from my feet but seems to work fine for keeping stuff off off my body. There's got to be a reason I don't find others talking about these as an alternative to front fenders. What am I missing?

dry feet are fairly important to me. That being said, I thought it looked like a nice solution for my kid's bikes.

If they worked really well they wouldn't still make full fenders!

I've seen these from Planet Bike:

https://ecom1.planetbike.com/7003.html

However, I think that fenders are a worthwhile investment.

I use something similar on my MTB commuter (front and back) and they are working alright for me, given the following:

- I switch between knobbies and Marathons depending on season/conditions and don't want anything that is based on tire width;

- I ride through loads of mud, and occasionally snow, and I like something that is easily unclipped and washed;

- I wear a backpack which keeps splatter off my back and is fairly easy to wipe down.

If you are always riding on pavement and not going through mud or snow, I would recommend full fenders as they do work better.

I use something very similar on my folding bike. But instead of buying it from Amazon I cut up an old 1 liter soda bottle and strapped it to the downtube. The main advantage is that the surface facing the tire is fully concave and therefore the spray bouncing off of it is directed down and inward instead of outward as it would be upon hitting the convex surface of the downtube. The SKS product looks like it has a surface that's partly concave and partly convex so I wouldn't expect it to work as well as my soda bottle remnant (which also has the advantage that the cost was just the loss of the 10 cent deposit).

My makeshift front fender does help keep my feet a little drier but not as effectively as a full fender would. OTOH, a full fender makes the bike harder to pack into my suitcase for air travel.

wear hip waders.. problem solved.

will that protect the drivetrain?

Somebody gave me one of those and I had it on my bike for a while, but I eventually came to the conclusion that it was a useless piece of junk and threw it away. I recently installed proper fenders and am glad I did.

There are many versions of this kind of fender. They aren't meant to act as anything other than a guard to keep stuff from flying up under your chin in sloppy conditions. They are aimed, primarily, at the mountain bike market because full fenders don't work for off-road riding.

That said, nothing that attaches to the bike will keep your feet dry in rain. The rain that falls is going to make your feet wet so you should have other methods of keeping your feet dry like shoe covers or waterproof shoes.

Lots of free Coroplast, Wednesday , after the US election campaign lawn signs
are discarded.

that and Zipties..

I think the Mud-X thing is a joke. It may keep the bottom of the water bottle clean but that's about it. I recently found these new 29er
fenders on the SKS website and got some through a dealer in England. They're too tight for 52mm tires on my bike but anything smaller will fit.



Marc

They're not an alternative - they're just a different STYLE of front fender, and one that gives less protection than a full front fender. The advantage they have is that they're easy to put on and take off for people that only need ocassional protection and usually drive wet roads AFTER a rain, rather than DURING a heavy rainstorm.

A lot of commuter types are full-fender types. I've often thought about running a downtube mudguard but never got around to it. I wear actual boots in the winter to keep feet warm and dry but some of the face splash @ higher speeds would be nice to block. I never realized they were only 5 bucks. That means I can equip all 3 of my all-year riders with 'em for less than $20.

+1 to all of this.
Full coverage fenders will keep the majority of the road wetness off of your feet, but shoe covers are the only way to ensure dry feet in rainy conditions.

Full fenders with as long a tail as possible offer the best protection for you and your bike... after riding through 8km of the sloppiest and wettest weather yesterday there was nary a speck of crud on my shell pants and my boots were clean.

It also keeps the bike and drive train much cleaner and a cleaner drive is a more efficient drive.

Or waterproof shoes / boots.

Right, you are, sir.

This is my setup. Add rain pants when it really comes down. Goretex and Insulight in them boots = toasty toes all winter long.

Well folks, thanks for all the input. Good thing no one feels strongly about this. For what it's worth, below 50 I wear shoe covers all the time 'cause my toes get cold. For $5 it was worth the experiment and I'm gonna leave it on because, well just because. My son (who's a bike only guy) commented that I better not ride into any stiff winds or I might take off. I think he was telling me it looks stupid. And Lester thanks for the pic of your legs, just what I wanted to see before tomorrow's ride to work!!

Up here I need waterproof boots with a -40 rating and a tread that will stick like glue to ice... also carry waterproof and windproof shell pants so could go fenderless save for the fact I like my bike to stay nearly as clean as I am.

what are those boots?

Dry feet.