How do you choose fenders?

[ANAO]

I've had the clip on one's on my road bikes before but am going to be building up an uber-'muter and am wondering exactly what to look for.

Do I get what I pay for?
Is $50 a reasonable expectation to pay?
Are there different metals to consider?
I once saw some brooks mud flaps - do those fit all the fenders?

The bike will be a cross/tourer so I anticipate having mounts to attach the fenders to.

Thanks!

[dustyrider]

How I handled fenders was to move to a place with an average annual precipitation of 9.42 inches. :)
I'm sure a pacific north western expert will chime in!

[ripvanrando]

SKS lasted 1.5 seasons before cracking to pieces. I would not recommend them. Plus they drip and drizzle water onto your feet with the way the stay attaches to the fender.

Velo Orange aluminum seem better ($67) but unless your fork has the threaded mounting nut under the fork crown, they rattle as they only have one stay and a single point to mount. Everyone says they rattle. Mind did rattle..... I put some latex rubber from an old tube between the crown and fender to fix this design short coming that Velo Orange sees as my lack of a properly designed bike when in reality who has that little nut on their bike? They are ok overall especially considering the reasonable price. The single attachment is a problem from a fatigue consideration and noise, but I only have one season on them to know if they will last. They keep you dry. They are not too hard to install but the directions are miserable.

Honjo or Berthoud are probably the best fenders but they are more like $150. One is aluminum and one is stainless steel if I not mistaken. If money were no object or if fenders were more important to me, I'd have pounded Honjos but the VO are almost good enough.

[Lewis Moon]

Move to Arizona.

[dem]

Two others I'm considering:
http://handsomecycles.com/products/black-fenders
http://www.portlandfendercompany.com/fenders/

Also handy to extend full coverage fenders for real rain riding:
http://www.buddyflaps.com/collection.htm

I've been running the same plastic Planetbike fenders with buddyflaps bolted on for 10+ years. The plastic bridge broke once and they sent me a replacement for $5.

But metal does look classier I think. :)

[charliedid]

I've had the clip on one's on my road bikes before but am going to be building up an uber-'muter and am wondering exactly what to look for.

Do I get what I pay for?
Is $50 a reasonable expectation to pay?
Are there different metals to consider?
I once saw some brooks mud flaps - do those fit all the fenders?

The bike will be a cross/tourer so I anticipate having mounts to attach the fenders to.

Thanks!

These are awful hard to beat unless you are after something kinda pretty. http://ecom1.planetbike.com/ALX700Medium.html

[Kirk007]

metal Portland fenders. Honjos, Berthoud etc are pretty but in my experience they are somewhat fragile and easily bent particularly if you have any toe overlap. SKS and Planet Bike plastic with metal cores are very durable and work well. The Portland fenders are simply nicer. They are stiff, they are quiet, they attach easily. I use the wider ones. The narrow ones are really narrow and probably work well for the race bike running 23s but beyond that ....

I think with fenders you do get what you pay for, just be sure what your priority is - looks, function, easy on and off etc, etc.

[JAGI410]

Cascadias are pretty great. SKS Chromplastics are pretty nice too. I don't care for the SKS Commuter. Velo Orange are fine, but install isn't always fun.

[rando]

Just put massively long ground scraping mudflaps on whatever and ride to effing work and back. If something breaks use a better solution.

Metal fenders are annoyingly loud at all speeds and on every surface. I've put SKS longboards through more abuse than most people can hand out. After some snotnosed hs kid dropkicked the rear one in half I clamped it together and kept riding with them for the last two years and going. Everyone on the internet is an expert. Do what works best for you. Find what works best for you. Ride your damn bike and worry about fopping less. In this direction lies the path to happiness.

[icepick_trotsky]

The velo orange ones are nice, but install was an exercise in learning new swear words.

[pdmtong]

Plastic is fine for me since we aren't dealing with temperature here

headlands, planet bike good enough

buddy flaps are essential
http://www.buddyflaps.com/fancy.htm

I have trucker girl
http://www.buddyflaps.com/img/mudflapgirl.jpg

[bironi]

PNW rider here. Sounds like you have the clearance and attachment spots on your frame. Go with what gives good coverage and is durable. Berthoud would be my choice. I also have a pair of PDW fenders. I needed ones that would fit a race bike with tight clearances. They work - barely. They could be longer in key areas to give better coverage.

[estilley]

I run the small PDW ones on my single speed commuter. With 25c gatorskins clearance is TIGHT. Like so tight as in if I get a rear flat I have to take the fender off...only happened last year once with daily commuting.

Going to get the larger ones for my Mr. Pink build once that gets going.

Plastic might work but metal is cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ripvanrando]

Somewhere in one of the articles Jan also mentions how plastic fenders break. The front half of mine broke clean off when hitting a bump and I'm lucky it did not jam into the spokes. The portion from the bottom stay attachment to the mud guard also broke off. It was not cold on those days....maybe 35-40F. They were mounted without stress. I do ride a lot, so, it is probably my problem.

In reality Honjos and Berthoud are too expensive because you need a bike built to properly accept them. I have tried to figure out a way to install an eyebolt or maybe a star fangled nut on the underside of the fork crown but have not come up with a solution.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/category/components/fenders/

[oldpotatoe]

Somewhere in one of the articles Jan also mentions how plastic fenders break. The front half of mine broke clean off when hitting a bump and I'm lucky it did not jam into the spokes. The portion from the bottom stay attachment to the mud guard also broke off. It was not cold on those days....maybe 35-40F. They were mounted without stress. I do ride a lot, so, it is probably my problem.

In reality Honjos and Berthoud are too expensive because you need a bike built to properly accept them. I have tried to figure out a way to install an eyebolt or maybe a star fangled nut on the underside of the fork crown but have not come up with a solution.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/category/components/fenders/

These for 1 inch are hard to find but 'out there'/ I have done this, SFN under crown for the attach point.

Also this thing but I bet you have already seen it. Uses the front brake bolt, needs 2 holes in fork crown.

http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/vo-fork-crown-eye-bolt-for-fenders-and-racks-fork-crown-daruma.html

[chiasticon]

I run the Portland Design Works full metal fenders. the small ones that are meant for road bikes with 23mm wide tires. except I modified them a bit to work on a cross bike and I run them with 25mm tires through the winter. no issues. they've been super solid and they offer great coverage. if your bike has mounts, you likely won't need to modify them at all. my bike had no mounts so I had to get creative.

[commonguy001]

I have the Velo Orange Aluminium fenders on my commuter and the coverage is really good. Not silent but not super noisy IMO.

I've also run the Handsome Cycles Mud Butlers and while I don't have them on a bike right now really like these fenders. Really good stuff at a good price but only available in 700c and two widths (35mm and 45mm). The do come in three colors, the set I have is black and look great and don't make any noise.

[ColonelJLloyd]

I've had a half dozen of my own bikes outfitted with Honjo and/or Velo Orange fenders. I much prefer aluminum fenders. None of my setups made a peep. None. It all comes down to the knowledge, care and tools needed to do a good fender installation.

I've never commuted on a bike where lots of portage or storage or the like is necessary. This can dent and ding and throw any fender out of alignment, so YMMV.

[fiamme red]

I use SKS Longflaps on my commuter. I'm really happy with them. They take a lot of abuse, since the bike gets locked up every day.

I have Berthoud stainless steel fenders on my Romulus. They're more expensive than SKS, but cheaper than Honjos, and more durable. They look and work great.