seinberg 

I recently got a Checkpoint SL7 as an all-arounder—some road riding, commuting ~20 mi/day, of course some gravel riding, and next spring my wife and I are going to bike pack the Empire Trail. Already picked up a Tailfin rack for weight and more importantly ride quality while commuting, and I’d like some easily-removable lightweight fenders for wet weather. Seems the SKS Speedrockers are my best bet? Am I being too much of a weight weenie to not want them permanently affixed to the bike? (I do have a heavier steel bike with fenders always on, but this bike is meant to be a faster/more fun bike to ride most of the time - have a nice road bike for long fast rides, and the steel Pinion drive 650b bike for really ugly weather, and the Checkpoint is meant to be the Goldilocks in between for most riding).

That was very wordy just to ask what fenders you recommend

Cheers!

Koyote

I googled the SKS Speedrockers, and I don't know why you would bother with them. To keep your feet and ankles (as well as the chainrings, BB, FD, pedals, and chain) clean, the front fender needs to come down much further toward the ground to block the spray from your front wheel. And that front fender is apparently in two pieces, with a big gap at the fork crown -- which will let spray into your headtube, where it will eventually foul your headset bearings. Those fenders will give you a little protection, but not much.

A really good set of fenders - like Rene Herse or Berthoud, or Velo Orange, if you want to spend a little less - won't weigh enough to slow you down, and will give good protection.

Whatever you get, make sure they have a safety release on the front fender, or that you mount them with ample clearance. When riding off-pavement, you don't want mud or other junk to get caught between the tire and fender - especially in front!

chaadster

seinberg what size rubber are you running?

If no wider than 38, Crud RoadRacer Mk3 fenders work great, and offer quite good coverage. I’ve used these and previous iterations of the RoadRacers for years, and they’re really handy for road riding. I’ve used them for gravel, but they fit really close on my Racelight 4S, and get unpleasantly noisy when it’s muddy. But for full coverage with easy on/off, RRs are very good.

https://www.crudproducts.com/roadracer-mk3/

If you’re running wider tires and/or just need minimal fenders to keep spray off your back and face, Ass Saver’s Fender Bendor rear and Mudder Mini front are super light, super easy to pull and stash, and do the job. For sport gravel rides, they’re great, but you’ll have to test fit that Fender Bendor to see how it plays with the Tailfin; I suppose it depends on the frame size somewhat, but dunno. On my T-Lab, it juts up high, but I’ve seen them fit lower on some bikes. Nice thing is that the Ass Savers are inexpensive, and maybe you end up with a couple of fender sets depending on the type of ride.

https://ass-savers.com/collections/all

Rolla

The SKS Longboards I've got on my gravel bike weigh next to nothing and offer actual coverage, unlike the temporary snap-ons. They're easy to install and easily removable when the wet season ends. Once the stays are set, re-installing next season takes only minutes.

chaadster

Longboards weigh like 689g (1.5lbs)...that’s a lot! “Next to nothing”-type weight would be Ass Saver’s Mudder Mini/Fender Bendor combo, which weighs 71g.

But yeah, every fender has its place. I run Planet Bike Hardcores on the Buzz, where they’ve been for a dozen years or more, and they mount up the same traditional way, bolted to the dropouts and bridge, as the Longboards, and I love ‘em. Those weigh 507g, by the way, but I wouldn’t recommend that type for frequent on/off. Seasonally, yeah, maybe, but there are definitely more convenient, lighter, and tool-less options.

How much coverage one needs depends on the use scenario. For example, foot protection from a long front fender is great if you commute in work clothes, but far less important for a sport ride, particularly with shoe covers.

mstateglfr 

If fenders dont keep spray from hitting my legs, feet, butt, and back- then whats the point in using them? They seem pretty worthless if water they dont block spray from hitting me.
Thats all I have to add.

Rolla

700 whole grams on a steel gravel bike with three water bottles, a tool wrap, and a handlebar bag?! Oh, the humanity! I'd rather ride dry than count grams.

Koyote

...And the extra coverage significantly reduces the amount of post-ride cleanup as well as drivetrain wear.

If your fenders don't come down to within about 5cm of the pavement, you don't know what you're missing.

chaadster

I know the Longboards are nice, but one should be able to appreciate that a quarter pound here and a quarter pound there, it all starts to add up to real weight which, at some point, makes a difference. Maybe it’s when you’re grinding uphill, or maybe it’s when you’re hefting your bike onto your bike rack. If you can get the same looks/durability/coverage for 200g less, why not?

I currently ride five different fenders on 5 different bikes, so I know well— better than most— what fenders are all about, and appreciate every pair I have because they’re well-suited to my needs.

Rolla

Holy crap, we're talking about fenders, for crying out loud; I think my legs can handle 200 grams on a climb. Longboards are widely available, inexpensive, quiet, and easy to set up, remove, and reinstall. But by all means, you do you.

chaadster

I was speaking to the OP’s request for lightweight, easily removable fenders...it appears that it is you who is doing their own thing with heavy, bolted-on fenders.

chaadster

Heavy fenders, tough talk. Hahahahahahaha!!

chaadster

Heavy fenders, tough talk v.2
BWAH-hahahahahahahahaaaaaa!!!

Rolla

Other people's children.

dwmckee

I'd provide teh samer advice but add in Planet Bike as a good option as well. The SpeedRockets just do not cover enough to be worth putting on...We put them in some bikes for customers and we find two things (1) they never take them off and (2) they do not really help except some light protection for damp spots remaining on the road a few hours after the storm has ended.

Koyote

So, OP is open to other options. And other options have been provided.

dwmckee knows what he is talking about. If the fenders leave the underside of the fork crown exposed, and don't come down to within about 5cm of the pavement, then they are just dead weight. So, what would you rather do: add about 250g of useless weight, or add 450g and actually have something that will keep you and your bike significantly cleaner?

I don't run fenders on my gravel race bike, because racing. But I have a second gravel bike with Rene Herse (actually, Honjo) fenders mounted, and that is the bike I take if it is wet (or might be wet) for pretty much any other ride.

Again, if you've never ridden with really good, full-coverage fenders, you really don't know what you are missing when riding in the slop.

hsuBM

^this

however, I’ve got the VO’s coming to replace my aluminum PB’s which have lost three rivets on the rear in under 2k miles.

I pretty quickly (under 500 miles) broke three Longboard fronts’ bottoms right below the lower stay and wound up screwing on a ~10” piece of 3/16” rubber flap to get back down to the ground.

I had had been planning on moving that long slab of rubber over to the PB’s due to them stopping ~5” above the ground, but they’re not long for this world anyway. They’re super lightweight despite being nearly full coverage. Probably too lightweight to expect much durability.

because I often get into 6” of snow I may mount the front VO cocked way forward and use all of the old rubber flap so as to minimize the risk of destroying the VO with the drag of wet Lake Effect but still keep my shins dry & clean-ish.

downtube42

I left one quick-removable in a trash can in France, after it vibrated itself loose and scrunched itself up. Another cracked somewhere in washington state and, lacking a trash can in the pristine wilderness, i folded it up and carried it the next 50 miles.

Sunday i rode 100k in the 45 degree rain. Between chaps, rain jacket, full fenders, and gloves, I was warm and relatively dry.

If the OP is open to full coverage bolt on fenders, and is actually going to ride on wet roads, that's what I'd recommend. Removal is a 15 minute job.

Still tweaking fit.

chaadster

The color matching looks sweet, and I’m sure the trucker mudflap makes you the best wheel on wet club rides. I’d turn around the rear seatstay bracket for the ultimate in tidy setup.

I run Crud RoadRacer Mk3 on my rain bike, and they have a longtail accessory for the rear which I install for club rides, but otherwise leave off because it doesn’t matter to me when I ride solo, and because it hangs low, I tend to snag it when when wheeling the bike around on the rear wheel. This is the short tail piece:



Kinesis Racelight 4S w/ Crud RoadRacer Mk3 fenders

That pic is from Christmas day ‘20, our first snowfall of the season, and I was out enjoying the powder, sending drifts all the way to Grandma’s house!

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention: 206g on the RoadRacers.

seinberg 

Holy cow, thanks for all the great feedback! I unintentionally ghosted after asking the question, mainly because I got the first response email and then kinda forgot about it until now. I get the Checkpoint back (currently having clear coat and power meter installed) on Friday so this will all get more real when I actually start commuting with it

So a bit more info: the tires are 40s, though I do have a pair of Gravel King 38s I might put on if I find I don't like the stock Bontrager GR1s. But it's safer to make sure the fenders cover at least 40s. I guess I'm not opposed to fenders if they take 15 min or less to put on or remove. I did pick up the SKS Speedrockers and used them in wet-ish snowy conditions briefly and they were fine -- mostly kept the bike clean. But I agree that in wetter conditions they're not going to be great (though I do tend to wear Shower's Pass shoe covers in wet commutes). I hadn't thought about the water in the fork, though, which is kinda making me rethink these.

Sounds like the shortlist is:
- Crud RoadRacer Mk3
- SKS Longboards
- anything else? (for the sake of inclusiveness, assume money is no object -- though of course that's going to play into it).

I think what I'm really looking for is the fender equivalent of a Tailfin rack

seinberg 

The current setup...from the snow ride last weekend.

Koyote

Water comes off the front tire at an angle of only a few degrees above the pavement -- in other words, right onto your feet (which you can protect) and also onto your chain, chainrings, fd, pedals, bottom bracket. The chain will carry this muck back onto your cassette and through your rd. And that water mixes with everything on the road -- dirt, leaked oil and coolant, etc. So, even though you can protect your feet, that muck will foul up and wear out your drivetrain a lot faster. If you're gonna run a short front fender like that, maybe try to rig up some sort of mudflap to stop that spray from making into to your bike.

seinberg 

Thanks, yeah, all makes sense. As I said, the Speedrockers aren't going to be great in really rainy conditions (in the really foulest of weather I'll actually ride the steel pinion/gate carbon drive bike that's ~indestructible). I guess I'm still on the fence as to whether I want ~permanent fenders, and am curious what lightweight options exist on that front. If there's something super light with great coverage I'll keep it on permanently to avoid the hassle of removal; if there's not really a lightweight option, I'll probably err on the side of keeping the speedrockers since they're easy to remove.

Koyote

You might be able to jerry-rig a flap for that front fender...People will make them out of various things, like cutting out of piece of a plastic milk jug. Then you can maybe lash it on with zip ties or something. Could give you best of both worlds.

chaadster

Ass Saver has the Toetector front mudflap extension which could be fitted to the SpeedRockers:

https://ass-savers.com/collections/a...egular-mudflap