Fenders: What's going on here?

[Veloo]

You have a bit more coverage than I do on my 26X2" tires with Planet Bike fenders. The toes of my shoes and my drivetrain still get some splash. As long as my back, butt and most of me stays clean then I'm good.

[unterhausen]

I think your fenders aren't quite wide enough for those tires. Not that you can do anything about that, but if they were wider you would have better coverage.

[HTupolev]

Fenders aren't for keeping you dry, they're for minimizing road spray. If you cycle in wet weather, you're going to get wet, whether it falls from the sky or sweats from your body.

Anyway, the biggest problem that stands out is that your front fender doesn't come down low enough. You should probably add a mudflap: the VO leather ones that have been shown offer good coverage, although they're heavy and expensive. You can make your own out of thin pieces of plastic or whatever if you want.

But your bike doesn't look all that dirty anyway, for having not been cleaned after a wet ride.

[jambee]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I'll try mudflaps first. It might really be worth going back to my Rene Herse 42mm tires to see how much spray I get.

Will 3mm more fenders (65mm SIM Works) offer more coverage?

[spoonrobot]

Wider tires spray water in a v-shaped wake directly from the tire much more than narrower tires. Fender width doesn't help above a certain speed or water depth.

My 650bx47 front tire throws significantly more water on my feet and drivetrain (even with full coverage and flap) than 700cx25 and even 700cx38 with same ratio width fender and flap coverage. Couple this with the wind blowing droplets sideways and capillary action - even fendered bikes get wet and dirty. You can stay completely dry like you read about in the magazines by riding extremely slowly, or riding in the kind of misty rain that doesn't produce puddles.

Here's an action pic (you can also see the dam created by my lazy flap install):



Ameliorating actions seem to be:

• Adjust expectations
• Add a proper mud-flap

[jet sanchez]

Cool colour, full pic of the bike please!

[11.4]

Really needs a complement of corrections:

1. Size tires down and go for less tread.
2. Size the fenders up farther -- you want a fender at least 50% wider than the tire. A 42 mm fender with a 28 mm tire gives pretty exhaustive protection from splatter, as a case in point.
3. Front and rear, you want mudflaps that drop to within an inch or so of the ground. There's enough room under your front fender to throw water and grit all day long at your feet and the front chainring.
4. I'd suggest getting Buddyflaps. Not only are they cheaper, they work better, don't sail in the wind, and they don't induce vibrations in the fenders that cause them to crack.
5. Consider this: Fenders aren't going to be much use and may pose a risk in real off-road conditions. So if you're really on roads gnarly enough to need 50 mm tires, you could ditch the fenders. The grit on your bike looks more like basic paved-road grit, in which case you'd be a LOT faster and happier with a 35-38 mm tire instead.

[Blue Jays]

Concur that fenders work best with thinner pavement-specific tires.
My customized (extra welded reinforcement) Berthoud SS fenders are securely and permanently mounted on one of my sleek roadbikes.

Using fenders on a bicycle equipped with 50mm+ tires indicates to me the fenders would spend their lifetime getting twisted, torqued, rattled, and making lots of noise prior to them just getting broken from rough use.

[spoonrobot]

Fenders get stiffer as they get wider. 3 points of contact at front and rear is another way to stiffen them up but not required from what I've seen of the 63mm VO model. I do lots of rough gravel on my 52mm VO Zepps and they've been completely silent, for two seasons now.

Here's an example descent, I probably see a couple miles of this a few times a ride - in addition to more sedate gravel. For the curious this is near Treat Mountain Road in West Georgia.


Aluminum fenders are very durable if installed with minimal stress. Shaping is a prerequisite of long life.

Here's an addendum to my earlier post that took me a bit to find, it shows the spray zone from short fenders: https://www.renehersecycles.com/why-...es-any-longer/

[jambee]

Great comments everyone, thanks.

A few points:

1. Aluminum fenders are super strong. I never had any problems with riding off-road with my setup.

2. I do recall getting much less sprayed when I was using the Rene Herse 42mm tires. Honestly, I'd go back in a heartbeat, but would like Jan to start making them in black in standard casing.

3. The bike spends most of its life on roads. I don't "need" 50mm tires on it, but I do like the comfort they offer.

4. It seems that there is strong consensus here that mudflaps are the way to start and then I can make a decision on tires.

Thanks for the pointer to Jan's blog. It's actually one of the inspirations to the "everything" bike. With a dynamo hub, mudguards, and low trail, this ride is for sure my go to in any condition.

From the ride to the in-laws yesterday:

[Davist]

Be careful riding fenders in true off road conditions (sticks) even with quick release front tabs, have seen wrecks caused by them. For road, the front fender keeps you dry, the rear is for your buddies, as above, the longer the flap on the front wheel the better and sizing up fender/narrower tire is a good idea if practical.

[p nut]

In addition to what’s been said, get some shoe covers. That would at least keep your feet dry.

[jambee]

After adding a mudflap to the front fenders and riding through the rain, I am more than happy to report that the drive train is clean as a bell.

Thanks for the tips here. I may still put a wider fender, but feel that it is worth waiting for the 74mm fenders that SIM Works will release soon.