Now that is aesthetically ........................... unique!?!

I have the hammered aluminum fenders from Velo-Orange on a couple bikes. The hammered finish hides scratches better than a polished finish, and being metal, they don't shatter in cold weather like plastic fenders.



https://velo-orange.com/collections/fenders

Those purple rims...love that look!

Yes, the area of a fender is relatively small. I often wear a Showers Pass Jacket, but when it warms up, the jacket comes off and most jerseys are not as bright. And yes, you can add reflecting tape to fenders. I do, But it looks half-***ed on a custom road bike. A fender of yellow plastic would always look good and more important, always be there, regardless of whether the jacket was on my back or rolled up in a pocket. I see the yellow fender as a simple win-win. It looks good and it might just maybe make a real difference just once. So why not?

Ben

How cold does it get where you ride, that it shatters plastic? Do your car's grill, bumpers, and head- and tail-light lenses shatter too?

Is this just something you heard of second- or third-hand, or did it happen to you, personally? The reason I ask is that, in my whole 68 years, I've only had one experience of plastic shattering in the cold. That was the Blizzard of '78; it hit while we were on a grocery run and by the time we headed home, the road was drifted over and we had to hike the groceries most of a mile home. The plastic grocery sacks shattered; nothing else. We had to go back with a kids' wagon to retrieve some dropped items; there might have been other cold-related losses, but I don't recall.

High temperature the past couple days has been -5°F.

Yes. Otherwise, I wouldn't have mentioned it. My old ESGE fenders held up well in cold, but more modern ones from e.g. Planet Bike have failed. To their credit, they did replace the failed fender, with one that has two braces instead of one. That one has not yet failed.

Wow. I'm pretty surprised; it's rare to find bad plastics any more. They could have gotten a contaminated batch of resin, or maybe a mold operator botched the cycle time for a piece and ruined the cure.

The hammered aluminum looks really cool, in any case.

Bare aluminum works for me...

Really? Bare aluminum is messy, dirty, and corrodes easily. Yuck. Especially for foul-weather use, which is what fenders are for.

But maybe you mean clear anodized?

Velo Orange 45mm Facette. On my touring bike. The 'foul-weather bike' has SKS plastic fenders. I don't ride in the winter/roadsalt any more, so winter-time corrosion isn't an issue for me.

Those are pretty sweet. I think the snakeskin pattern is even better. Makes me wish I had a bike that would complement them.

I would bet those are not bare alu, but anodized.

I have a set of Velo Orange aluminium fenders which are not anodised. Just bare ally. Seems so, anyway - they polish up and it's very much a raw aluminium finish (they're the smooth ones, much as i'd like the hammered one).

I'm only using the rear one, for the solar powered recumbent trike, so being for sunny weather it's not an issue for me.

Okay. I’m surprised, as my experience with bare aluminum has not suggested that it’d make nice fenders, but I don’t know much about metal working and finishing.

Bare aluminum is okay as a fender material--the corrosion is self-limiting, to a point. More to the point though... It won't be corrosion that kills the fender. The drawback of metal fenders is them getting dented/dinged in a way that they can't be repaired from...plastic fenders are much more forgiving of that. Aluminum fenders, in particular, are difficult to pull dents from, since they would rather buckle/tear.

Long term metal fenders are typically steel (stainless, now, though Wald still makes chrome-plated ones) or brass, since they tolerate such repairs better.

At the end of the day, though, all fenders are consumable items. One day, they will crack around a mounting point, or buckle as debris is jammed beneath them, and you'll be shopping for new ones. It may take 10 years, but it will happen.

I emailed VO and got a quick reply from a guy named Igor that all of their aluminum fenders are anodized.

Sure, black fenders are ok, but everyone has them. (yawn) Frame colored fenders can give quite a striking look. These Planet Bike fenders were sprayed with Krylon Fusion paint for plastic.

One of the reasons I bought a new bike - a Boulder All Road rando - is just so I can always have fenders; my vintage Trek road bike (maximum tire width 25mm) has seriously limited fender options.

Also, while I like how good fenders keep you drier in the rain, what I really like is how they help keep the drivetrain cleaner; I don’t mind riding in rain, but I’m lazy and hate having to clean/relube chain/gears/sprockets to remove sand, grit and muck. Fenders make my bike maintenance much easier.

Finally, they’re useful even if you avoid the rain and ride after. Large puddles of water are nothin’.

Two different approaches and I like both but yours better.
It makes perfect sense and even if it didn't,
life is too short not to live it as we like.

about 8 years ago, I purchased a Waterford frame and wanted the Honjo zeppelin fenders painted the same "bamboo" color since I was going to have them both aftermarket pinstriped.

Waterford charged $300 to paint the fenders at the same time I ordered the frame.

Personally I like the black and neutral colors, but the yellow and orange fenders here are striking and attractive. THe closest I come to colored fenders is reflective tape on the rear.

A few years ago, I had Ed Litton paint a mixte frame I was building up for my wife. I had him paint the fenders and chain guard for it at the same time. I don't remember exactly what he charged me, but it wasn't much more than that ($500?) for the whole project including many modifications to the frame. He also restored a 1971ish Colnago Super frame for me (decals and all) for around $800.

I suppose that I might worry about the color of my fenders in a few years when I get everything else done that I worry about now. I might even have the fenders that are laying around mounted on the bike by then. When that's done I will probably be OK with the black that they are now.

I'd research polished aluminum fenders -- they are durable and add a touch of class. But they can be pricey, but probably not as pricey as getting fenders painted to match your bike. I'm not certain of the weight of aluminum vs plastic fenders, but you'd want to check that out if weight is a big deal for you.