Mr IGH

...and I'm always glad I hauled them around. Fenders, only use them rarely here in Longmont. Last Friday night I was enjoying dinner downtown when the rain came. My buddy was fenderless and paid for it. Me, mostly dry. People ask me why I have fenders in the desert, it's because it will rain, eventually....



even if it didn't rain:

cyccommute 

Your friend didn't melt on the way home did he (or she)? I assume they weren't made of sugar. Even if they got wet on the way home, they dried out eventually so no harm, no foul. And we are talking Colorado here. You could have waited 30 minutes (had another beer) and the rain would have quit and dried up by the time you left.

old's'cool

I don't mind getting wet that much, but I mind very much my lower rear of my bike, including the drivetrain, getting covered in dirty water, mud, and sand. Good fenders alleviate that by 95% or more. I'm with Mr. IGH, but having multiple bikes, I normally resort to the ones with fenders only when there is a significant chance of rain during my outing. If/when I'm reduced to only 1 available bike, needed for utility rides as well as pleasure, I would prefer that it have fenders.

e0richt

maybe his friend didn't melt but I would think that getting that skunk stripe is pretty uncomfortable...

bikemig 

So I totally dig the paint job on the bike (or are they just decals). And I love the 2d pic in the first post; I'll never think of rain in quite the same way . . .

Mark Stone

I rode in the Denver area for 4-1/2 years, mostly in Golden and Lakewood, and don't remember rain being a serious enough problem to invest in a set of fenders - Or maybe I just didn't mind getting soaked lol - Here in my new town El Paso it rains good once every 5 centuries or so

spare_wheel

i like rain but not skunk stripes.

cobrabyte

Fenders and a waterproof backpack make riding in the rain a welcome and fun experience for me. Especially in the heat of Florida summer. Cold rain, I'll wait it out.

Bandera

I ride a bike w/ fenders every Wednesday morning, although we are in a drought.
The HOA's landscaping sprinklers are programmed for Stage II watering restriction at 7:00AM.
Nothing like a predictable sluicing of grit, herbicide and dog-poop runoff to select mudguards for the morning ride........

-Bandera

fietsbob

the mudguard-less bikes rarely get ridden, here. the ones by the door are all weather..

noglider 

Right, having a choice of bikes, at least one with fenders and at least one without fenders, is a useful luxury.

cyccommute 

"Here" is the operative word. Where you live, you get around 125 days with sunshine per year while along the Front Range of Colorado, we get 250 days of sun per year. . I've been to your area in the middle of summer and it was just plain gloomy. You also get nearly 70 inches of rain per year. Your "dry" period (May through September) gets twice as much rain as the Denver area's annual rainfall.

If I had to deal with 70 inches of rain per year, I might feel differently about fenders but, here along the Front Range of Colorado, they just aren't all the necessary. Look at the title of the thread: " Around here, I only use them once in one hundred rides..." That is quite true and says it all. They are just dead, rattly weight for 99 out of 100 rides. I can wear a rain coat for the 10 to 20 minutes that I might need protection from the rain in that once out of 100 rides.

fietsbob

A friend's mother needed to drag around an Oxygen tank in Colorado , got rid of it moving to sealevel .

mgw4jc

No fenders for me. I just get wet, which is not very often even here in North Carolina. It rains, but not always during my commutes. Afternoon storms are usually done by 5pm or passing quickly enough I can wait / dodge with an alternate route.

As for the skunk stripe, the rear rack prevents that. I only have a seat tube mounted rear rack and my back will get wetter from falling rain or sweat than tire spray.

For me, the worse part of wet rides is the road grime that the front wheel kicks up and sprays onto my shins. Easy enough to wipe off once I get to my destination though.

trailmix

Around here we get 45-50 inches of rain evenly spread over the 4 seasons. Around here they come in handy.

cyccommute 

And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

spivonious

I have fenders and get wet when it rains. Fenders only prevent road water from coming back up onto your back and/or face, and from getting on to the drivetrain.

robert schlatte

Three of my four bikes have fenders. I am used to them and I don't really notice them when it's dry but when it rains which here is a fair amount, I am glad I have them.

trailmix

True, but if you ride immediately after a rain (which I frequently do) they are really nice. I commute on wet roads with no rain a couple of times a week unless it is unusually dry.

tarwheel 

I've got two bikes with fenders and three without them. I would rather ride fenderless, but for commuting I find them essential much of the time. On a recreational ride, you check the weather outside and the radar and you can avoid rain 99% of the time. For commuting, the weather might be fine in the morning but who knows whether a storm will pop up in the afternoon. Around here, afternoon thunderstorms are very common but essentially unpredictable. Even if you wait out a storm, which I try to do, the fenders keep the road spray from wet streets off your back and your drive train. This time of year, I commute on my fendered bikes most of the time. In other seasons, I ride my fenderless bikes as much as possible.

Bandera

If only it was just water.......

Mr IGH

Mine don't rattle, SKS and Planet Bike make excellent fenders that are low cost and easy to install. My fenders work perfectly when called on. And they add to the overall look of my bike, which is important to me.

I have permanently mounted dyno lights, always work, never need charging or fresh batteries, hardly needed them all summer, now they are essentail. Drum brakes give consistant braking no matter the weather, cool looking too. A 1973 Schwinn hand brazed frame, Brooks B72, old Weinmann brake levers, its all about looking good with perfect function.

I spent 20 hours on the frame's finish, built the wheels myself, re-aligned the rear droputs, fussed with the shift and brake cables endlessly until I got it right. When SA released the larger 90mm front hub with dyno I bought one right away, better braking, maybe, cooler looking, no question. This is the fourth iteration...Not everyone gets it, that's ok by me.

cyccommute 

I do put fenders on in the winter but, honestly, every fender I have used has rattled and buzzed (when the tire hits the fender) or clunked (when rocks hit the fender). They make loading bikes into a vehicle more difficult, they make standing a bike on the fork tips while changing a flat more difficult and, personally, I dislike they way they make a bike look. I don't find them all that useful...especially here in Colorado.

You like them. I don't. Different strokes.

I have no idea what this has to do with fenders.

Walter S

The time I like fenders the best is AFTER it rains. If you wait for it to pass over and then get out on a soaked road you can stay near bone dry with fenders. Without them you get covered in muddy grime.

cobrabyte

From a vanity standpoint, I think many bikes look great with fenders. Racing type bikes being the exception. I live where it rains. A lot. Fenders come in handy. We also have a dry season, and my bikes with fenders stay a lot less dusty than the ones without, so that's an added benefit.

Nice thing about bikes is when you buy them, you can add whatever doo-dads you want, and you don't have to justify it to anyone