Fenders are for sissies, but they keep your back dry when the roadswet - Page 2

Frank Krygowski wrote:

>> I've broken 2 in 4 years, which is much worse than your experience.
>
> I'm curious - what brand are you using?

I can't recall. I went down and grabbed the broken-off end, and on the
mounting plate that connects to the rods that connect to the dropouts,
it says "Germany", if that helps. I have to say that the integrated
mudflaps were good, but the reliability and fussiness were not. My
commute is very short, though it does rain a fair amount here so I use
that bike often.

I found the adjustments of the stabilizing rods to be fussier than the
worst derailleur, and with the back fender breaking in half twice ---
meaning I have 1/4 of it left, it has not been a good buy.

I will probably replace them with something like the rubbery fenders on
my mountain/snow bike.

> The Planet Bike fenders on the rear of the Fridays end up inverted and
> partially supporting the bike in the "quick fold" mode, but they've
> stood up to even that just fine for at least a year now.

Well, maybe that is something to look into. As would be a Friday.
Having the experience of traveling with a full-size bike bos -- which
BTW British Air took for free, on top of an overly-full luggage
allowance -- a bike Friday looks like my next investment.

--

David L. Johnson

It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster.
--Greg LeMond

Peter Cole wrote:

> Given the trade-offs and the reality that most cyclists don't encounter
> or ride in real "fender weather", it doesn't surprise me that fenders
> are relatively rare. For all-weather commuting and touring, I think they
> are justified, but otherwise are of marginal utility.

I agree with that. That's why I have them on my commuting bikes. I
would put some on for long-distance solo touring, but haven't done that
in a while.


> As for the aesthetics of fenders, it still seems like anything that
> indicates utility cycling becomes associated with the "too poor to own a
> car" image.

That's not a problem for me. Hell, I'd like to get rid of my car; I
just spent 5 months without one. But it is convenient to have one in
the US.

--

David L. Johnson

It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster.
--Greg LeMond

On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:39:34 -0400, "David L. Johnson"
<david.johnson@lehigh.edu> wrote:
>I've broken 2 in 4 years, which is much worse than your experience.
>Most of my problems are on an old road bike -- lots of clearance for a
>road bike. The rear fender has broken from fatigue twice. I have the
>broken end jammed into the bracket, along with the other piece that was
>there originally, and it works pretty well now. But the fenders
>(plastic) flex quite a bit while riding, thus the fatigue. The mounting
>brackets, long steel bars that clamp to the dropout, are too weak to
>hold the fender still.
>
>These mounting brackets also go out of adjustment regularly, leading to
>the fender rubbing on the tire.

I mounted SKS (now Esge?) fenders with blue Loctite, and had to adjust
them maybe twice in 6 years. Biggest problems I had were trying to
get the things off when the frame broke.

New bike doesn't have a bridge near the bottom bracket, so I've had to
adjust the zip ties after only two years.

OK, so that's not quite zero maintenance, but I don't see it as
regular adjustment. I'm not quite sure why you have so many problems
with your fenders.

Pat

Email address works as is.

DennisTheBald wrote:

> Uh, how was the derailleur involved?

It wasn't. The sticks are apparently called "derailleur sticks" by
folks on the West Coast. I guess it's because they tend to get snarled
in derailleurs. In this case a stick got snarled in my front fork. It
was very weird. One second I was riding, the next second I heard my
helmet crunch on the pavement. It was that fast. I never let go of the
bars and my pedals didn't release. The first thing I thought of,
ironically, was all the helmet wars I've read in this group.

William Waller wrote:

>> Uh, how was the derailleur involved?

> It wasn't. The sticks are apparently called "derailleur sticks" by
> folks on the West Coast. I guess it's because they tend to get
> snarled in derailleurs. In this case a stick got snarled in my
> front fork. It was very weird. One second I was riding, the next
> second I heard my helmet crunch on the pavement. It was that fast.
> I never let go of the bars and my pedals didn't release. The first
> thing I thought of, ironically, was all the helmet wars I've read in
> this group.

Now I need to ask "How did the helmet get in the derailleur?" to be
consistent.

As I mentioned, a derailleur stick is a sturdy curved dried twig about
a foot long and 3/8" in diameter that flips up when ridden over. Our
redwood forests also have many "fishing poles", clean curved dead
branches with nothing but a bare shaft curved in a long arc about 8 to
12 feet long. When pointing toward an oncoming rider, they can engage
wheels and cause a crash. For this reason, publicly minded riders
take time to throw these fishing poles off the trail.

Those of us who have been riding the forests in the Santa Cruz
mountains from the days before MTB's have jargon that includes "snake
bites", "derailleur sticks", "fishing poles" and "endo drains" among
others.

Endo drains are cross ditches on trails that are about the radius of a
wheel and on a steep descent defy jumping over so they either cause an
endo or collapse the rear wheel. It's all been done. Johansen Road
ruined a frame for me and Gazos Creek Road gave a rear wheel an "M"
after jumping the front wheel over the drain for another rider.

Jobst Brandt