chas58

I tend to race and train with at least a rear fender (I ride more than just gravel). Makes my bike stand out in a crowd, that is for sure. Here is an interesting article indicating that fenders are not a handicap, and should probably be on more bikes. I certainly find them useful on my gravel bike, and wonder why I see so few bikes with them?

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/...slow-you-down/

HTupolev

I do. I love fenders.



One big reason to not use fenders for gravel riding is that they can clog up in mucky conditions. Whether that's an issue depends on the gravel riding; Heine notes in his article that he wouldn't necessarily recommend fenders in circumstances that call for knobbies.

And to be fair, "they don't slow you down" is a bit of a matter of perspective. If they require a careful fit and a downward extension off the front to neutralize the aerodynamics, then it seems likely that most people's fender setups have a subtle net negative effect on the system's aerodynamics. And even if the aerodynamics are neutral, adding a pound to the bike will increase your gravitational drag by around half a percent (that could slow an hour-long climb by 10-20 seconds!).

Traditionalism.

Minimalism.

Lots of people refuse to ride in wet weather anyway.

Bikes not being designed to conveniently fit fenders.

Bad experiences with sloppy bodges on bikes that aren't designed to fit fenders.

Nausea in response to the aesthetics of fenders that are designed for bikes that aren't designed to fit fenders.

Unhappiness with incomplete coverage even when fenders are set up correctly. Most full-length fenders do not protect your feet or drivetrain well from front-wheel spray, and many don't do a very good job protecting the person behind you from back-wheel spray.

mstateglfr 

For me-
- my platform rack doesnt secure well with fendered bikes.
- i dont ride enough in the rain to need them then.

I have some fenders hanging in the garage if i ever again feel the need to use them.
If i commuted by bike i would use fenders.
If i were going to tour for a week or more, so rain was likely, i would use fenders.

Spoonrobot 

I use fenders on my main bike, it's an allroad bike that I ride recreationally all over and ride in the rain or on wet roads anywhere from 25-100 hours a year. I do not ride nearly are hard or fast on my own as when I am in an event.

For my gravel race bikes I do not use fenders, I don't think the potential safety issues are worth the additional coverage. I hate riding in the wet w/o fenders when I'm just riding on my own but during events it's not something that seems to bother me.

Most bikes don't wear fenders because most people do not ride when it's raining, threatening to rain or has recently rained. Also stuff like worrying about 20 seconds over an hour long climb

jitteringjr

1. I can run larger tires without them.
2. It doesn't rain that much in Colorado to make the expense worth it.
3. I think they are ugly.

#3 is the dominant reason but if I lived somewhere really rainy like the UK or Seattle I would probably buy some.

fietsbob

Why do you assume we don't

VBQ is a magazine costing as much as a book per issue, and also advertising, for his Compass brand products..

Koyote

I've read that piece by Jan Heine, and it is pretty short on real data. Just a lot of his conclusions and an implicit "Hey, trust me, we tested this."

Heine is great about publishing conclusions that support the products he sells -- and he sells some very expensive fenders.

I'm not stating that he's wrong...Just that I'm not convinced.

PS: I do run fenders on my commuter bike. Wouldn't think of commuting w/out 'em. Don't run them on my road bikes b/c I don't like riding in the rain anyway.

robert schlatte

Fenders help keep water and road grime off me and my bike even when just riding on wet roads. I have both metal and plastic and if installed correctly they don't rattle of rub the tires. Personally, I like the looks of a classic steel road bikes with fenders so all is good.

Unkle Rico

I just have an ass-saver on my bike, works good enough!

Jakedatc

+1 Ass saver.. can use it on road, CX/gravel or mtn bike . I have a front mud guard on the mtn bike too

thehammerdog

Oh but I do

Metieval

I do and I don't.

I love riding rain, but I seriously hate road grime. Mainly because too many people don't give a care about spilling stuff. Oil diesel, fuel, fertilizer, round up, they stop and piss, animal haulers piss and put dung all over the roads, Farmers spread manure and leave it all up and down the roads. I've seen people randomly stop and fling empty their 20 oz empty mtndew bottle of chew spit all over the road. around here you'll even find wadded up diapers all along the ditch.

America the next Haiti in the making! People suck!

JonathanGennick 

I hate fenders....and I love fenders. That about sums them up for me

I do run them on my commuter bikes.

Craptacular8

I run fenders on my allroad bike that I tend to choose when roads are wet, or rain is predicted during an event, and it is my tour bike. I'd agree with Jan, I don' think the sks plastic full coverage fenders I have mounted on that bike tend to slow it down in any appreciable way to me, plus, it just completes the look on that particular bike.

I use an ass saver on my other bikes, and I will throw on one of the SKS down tube mtb "fenders" when the gravel I'm riding is going to be extra sticky/messy, but I don't leave it mounted all the time, as it seems to act as some kind of huge "sail" when I heading into the wind? I'd like to say it's all in my head, but son of a gun, it really seems to add some drag in a 20+ mph headwind that is unfortunately, all too common on many of my gravel rides. Fortunately, that "fender" is all of 10 seconds to put on/take off, so no big deal to attach when needed.

Metieval

my gravel turned into a commuter on 28's
I half way expected the fenders to slow it down the way people talk. Maybe it's all in my head, but I swear that sometimes I think it is faster with fenders, Like less drag.



regardless, the change is negligible.
I bought Raceblades for the single speed. as the single speed would be the bike that I ride the first rain day/melt day after salt goes down. I've yet to use the race blades though.

IronM

I've thought of putting fenders on my gravel bike, but I've heard that lodged rocks can lead to wrecks. I haven't found potential gains worth the risk finding out whether that's true or not

alex jb

All year round fenders for me on my commute/gravel bike, wouldn’t bother with my skinny tyre bike though, 700x23 doesn’t pick up as much water and that bike doesn’t intentionally go out in the rain.

fietsbob

The bikes I have that dont have mudguards * are a long ways from the front door , in storage, and rarely get used,

where the ones with mudguards , are the ones seeing frequent use..

* A road bike & a CX style bike..

RidingMatthew

my commuting cyclocross/ commuter bike has fenders and I love them. I can not imagine riding day in and day out with out them.

mack_turtle

central Texas is pretty f-ing dry most of the time. if it's raining, you wait a day and ride when it stops. when I really want to ride and it's wet, I put a Mucky Nuts beaver tail flap on the back of my saddle. if I ride my bike to work, I would use on those rare days when i have to worry about the wet.

RJM

I used full fenders on my Rivendell until something lodged in there and destroyed the front fender on a rails to trails ride. I just yanked them off and haven't used fenders on a gravel bike since. I have to admit it was pretty annoying getting leaves and sticks caught in between the fender and the tire, which happened often.

On the mountain bike I have a Mucky Nutz mudguard on the front just to keep spray away from my face. It works pretty well and stuff rarely gets jammed in there.