chaadster

Y'all,

I'll tell you what, I've looked all over for full coverage fenders, and outside of the Crud RoadRacer MkII, they all seem rather, um, "gumpy" to me. Not necessarily ugly, but kind of old style and/or just overwrought. Like, I don't get what the durability thing is about; why do they need stainless stays rather than lighter plastic, or even better, carbon fiber? And the mounting hardware, too; couldn't it be anodized aluminum rather than steel?

The genius of the Cruds is that they're stupid light, low profile, easy on/off, look modern, and are plenty durable, but they seem to be one-of-a-kind. I bought some SKS Longboards, but just didn't want to go through the hassle of fitting up those comparatively heavy and pedestrian looking things when the Cruds seem to do the job well enough.

I've run the RoadRacer MkIIs for a couple of seasons now, and they've been flawless. No rattling or falling apart or anything. Maybe I snug the plastic bolts on the stays-- without tools!-- periodically just to make sure the fender is sitting right, but rarely. So what am I missing with all the heavy-duty hardware and metal fender stuff? Am I riding fender time bombs?

So although my Kinesis has eyelets for fenders, I went with the tool-less, strap-on RoadRacers again...for now. I'm wanting to fit 28c tires with the new wheels, but the Cruds only fit 25s, so that's why I'm asking if there is a cool fender out there, one that can handle 28s. Even if I do 25s on a wide rim...probably won't fit.

Which are your preferred fenders and why? Should I accept overbuilt, excessively heavy fenders in exchange for...durability, I presume? What are my options?

Here's a pic of the Kinesis with the RoadRacers; you can see some airspace between fender and tire in the rear because of the high bridge and long reach brakes which make it seem as though clearance for bigger tires-- those are 26c GravelKings-- is there, but the problem is at the stays. That, and I feel kinda silly using O-ring bands to hold fenders on when there are eyelets. But damn, they look so much more contemporary and sporty than anything else I've found!

redlude97

crudracers suck. Period. SKS raceblade longs or PDW full metal fenders are where its at.

chaadster

Not stylish, old fashioned, those.

My Cruds don't suck. Maybe you used them wrong or installed them poorly? They're designed for sport bikes, not utility knockabouts.

redlude97

The problem with crudracers is that they actually don't keep your feet dry, or people behind you in a group

Marcus_Ti

Pretty simple.

Lighter plastic and carbon fiber, not stiff enough to keep the fender itself from flapping against wheels/tires. Even the SKS longboards might have metal stays, but because of the light gauge and plastic/aluminum fender itself the things flap around quite a bit.

Mounting hardware. YOU WANT IT TO LAST. Make it from aluminum and not steel and it'll metal fatigue and fail inside of a season. Fender brackets especially.



Yea the cruds sort of work....but there's a reason they're not full-coverage and they don't even have a mudflap, if they were the plastic would not be stiff enough to keep the fender from flapping against tires and wearing them out and making noise. Yea they sort of work and are better than nothing on bikes with no accomodations for real fenders, but as mentioned above they won't keep your feet dry or anyone pacelining you from getting a face full of much either.

chaadster

Yes, the front fender does not provide as complete shoe protection as some, but it isn't bad, in my experience. My club mates have told me they get no spray from my rear tire, and that's with the short tail pictured. I suspect that since the rear fender can be positioned a little differently on any given bike and certainly from one bike to the next, that just how far forward it is over the wheel makes a difference, too. Above, I positioned this one further forward than on my other bike, just to provide more coverage down to the bottom bracket.

In any case, the supplied long tail piece with the RoadRacers will definitely stop any rear spray should you choose to install it.

fietsbob

I think Bruce Gordon had some Carbon Fiber mud guards sold thru his shop wallet will be lighter too ..

chaadster

Well, durability and flapping have not been problems for me with the Cruds, which is what I said earlier, so I don't know how you missed it or simply don't account for it.

Durability is not the prime factor for me, and I have a very hard time understanding how aluminum could not be made to last. Did you do some testing or something which makes you believe alu brackets would fail inside a season, or is that just wild speculation?

As for carbon fiber not being stiff enough, well I think you're going to have a hard time convincing anyone of that. CF tube can be plenty stiff, it's just a question of design. Speaking of which, the carbon fiber mono stay of the Genetic MicroFender apparently does a fine job of keeping the blade in place:



I do categorize the Crud RoadRoacer MkIIs as full coverage, although they do not provide the best full coverage due to their narrow width and shallow cupping. They do also include a rigid front extension, perhaps not a 'flap' per se, but extend further down behind the front wheel than many.

I'll mention again, too, that the Cruds include a long tail piece which will certainly stop rooster-tailing.

chaadster

I don't see those listed anymore, fietsbob, but those Page 186 carbon bars are dope!!

79pmooney

Question for the OP. How long and how many miles have you been using your fenders? I ask because those of us who use fenders regularly find that nearly all fenders eventually break or the hardware fails, some fenders much faster than others. Aluminum brackets are for us red flags. They are going to fail. What other shortcuts did the manufacturer take? (The thinner steel ones fail also.)

Ben

ColaJacket

But I've always been told that CF is stiffer than other bike materials.

GH

chaadster

As I said above, I've used the Crud RoadRacers for 2 years, left on all the time. No idea of mileage, but it's a fall/winter/spring/rain bike that does not see a lot of use, but some dirt road riding. Cracked a short tail piece walking bike upright and snagging on ground, but no failures.

I also have what I think are 10 year old Planet Bike Hardcore fenders; I can't recall when I put them on anymore, but I think when I got the bike. It's my utility bike, so lots of use, lots of lockups, getting banged, hauling kids, etc. No failures.

I have 40 year old steel fenders on a '73 Schwinn which I've owned for about 15 years. Light use. No failures.

I owned probably three of pairs of Mt. Zefal fenders back in the late '80s through early '00s. One cracked around bracket rivets after many years of hard college campus use, and another cracked in an accident.

Oh, I ran Civia Hybrid fenders for awhile on one bike about four years ago, but their flat profile didn't provide the protection I wanted, and kinda looked funny to me, so they came off and were given away.

In all, I've had pretty good fender experience over the past 20-something years of commuting and utility use. No complaints about durability anywhere, really, although the old Zefal plastic clips were prone to cracking. Zip ties to replace the bolts in clips solved that issue.

I've never seen nor had aluminum brackets that I'm aware of, and never had a bracket fail.

EDIT: I forgot, my 5yr old Dahon folder has plastic fenders, metal core maybe, which have never failed despite being folded up and carted around the place. It's usually in my car trunk, getting jostled, but no fender failures there, either.

Marcus_Ti

A) $60 metal fenders that are durable as all get out and not too heavy.

II) $200 carbon fiber fenders that not only probably cannot be made to fit on your race bike...but are light and will probably break if your bike falls over.


Pick one. Sure you can make CF stiff, but not plastic...not cheaply enough that you'd be willing to spend money on it. There's a reason all carbon fiber handlebars and seatposts are $200 and up.

chaadster

Light metal fenders commonly weigh in the 450gm-500gm range and cost $70 (Berthoud), to $120 (PDW) and beyond ($168 Honjo hammered). None are likely to fit a race bike.

RRMk2s weigh 180gm and cost $40. They are the only full fenders likely to fit your race bike.

Choose one? Hahaha!

Now if I could find some of those carbon fiber fenders you're talking about, those might be interesting, but if they're like the old Berthoud ones, I'll pass. They were quite crude looking and still relied on old fashioned tech.

Some like the "bent coat hanger" look...not me.

Marcus_Ti

Velo Orange are $55USD shipped and are not coat hanger looking. The VOs use stays that are 5mm stock.

The fenders I jokingly talked about don't exist because no one will pay $200+USD for plastic fenders. Hell most people don't even have fenders, they just don't ride when it is wet out.

Silvercivic27

I don't think there's any easy way out, Chaad... Unless you have someone like Berk make you something custom out of carbon fiber...that would be bad a$$.

chaadster

Oooh, Berk Composites! You're a naughty man, Silvercivic27! My wife would kill me if she knew I was even thinking about it...but, yeah, that'd be BA for sure!

Silvercivic27

You said it right there...IF she knew...deceit is the basis of a healthy cycling relationship...and yes, I am definitely a bad influence!

chaadster

So I can count you in for a set?

Silvercivic27

If I had a frame like yours, I'd get a set for sure!

Bandera

Coming from using the classic British Blumel mudguards for decades my current choice for the winter/wet bike is PB Cascadias, a modern replacement.



Good coverage for rider/feet and following riders in a paceline (note the long mudflaps F/R), firm attachment on frame fittings and a slim profile for 28mm max.
They do what is required w/o unsightly chunkiness, zip-ties or rubber bands.

-Band.era

Marcus_Ti

I dig it. Love Sheldon Fender Nuts myself. VO 35mm polished fenders:

Seven VO'd - Album on Imgur

chaadster

I like Planet Bike fenders, and use Hardcores on another bike. Nice kit, but pedestrian in every sense. It's time for fender manufacturers to do better, IMO.

Bandera

They are just Mudguards, as long as they kept the by-product of horse drawn transport of one's back "back when" they did the job required.
It wasn't "Mud" at all......

Today: Same, same w/ toxic road-spooge, pesticides and worse.

Better? More "Performance" framesets w/ proper fender mounts.

-Bandera

chaadster

A '50s cruiser called, and they want their fenders back.

I'm teasing; they're not that bad, but odd is not out of the question, nor is incongruent or anachronistic.

I get what you were going for, but I think had you had better options, you'd have taken them. I mean, it's not that you can't imagine Ti brushed finish with sculpted carbon stays or something like that, right?

That's all I'm sayin'; I want some modern options that look like something more designed rather than cobbled together from WWII surplus. Every other piece and element of the bike has received that kind of attention, and it's queer that fenders really haven't (aside from Crud and the myriad partial fenders available, many of which seem to swing the pendulum to the other side: all styling, no substance).