Yet Another Fender Update

Another fender post?

So soon?

You my recall in the previous post that I mentioned cracking a modified PDW fender, and trying out a hybrid set up using a narrower fender on the front. While that setup was OK, a fender that properly wraps around the tire will always work better than one that doesn't, and I found myself longing for the coverage of the original wider fender. So one day, as I was riding along and my shoes were being splattered with mud flung from the sides of my skinny front fender, I started to think about cutting the old fender up and just using the back part.

A little background:

My Seven Cycles Axiom (a configuration that is now comes with RedSky decals) sports a Seven 5E Medium Reach Fork, designed to take a 700X28mm tire with a fender.  No amount of manipulation has persuaded it to take a larger tire with a fender - Believe me! I have tried (bigly™). The reality is the fork blades are just too close together.

This tight clearance at the fork crown makes it challenging to use wider fenders. With a fender made from a flexible material, like the SKS chromoplast models, I've been able to squeeze the fender enough to fit through the fork blades. I did this on my fixie with 700X28mm tires.

But squeezing is not really an option with rigid metal fenders, like the PDWs.

When I first installed a set of Full Metal Fenders from Portland Design Works, I filed away the sides where the fender passes through the fork. This did at least enable me to the use the wider City model fenders. This worked well for a couple of years, but recently when working on the bike, I noticed a crack forming in the fender. The City model has a couple of slots cut in the sides to allow securing with zip ties, should you not chose to mount them directly on the brake. These slots, combined with my cutaway sides may have led to the crack and impending failure.

So, since it was cracked anyway, I took a hacksaw to the fender and cut off the front part (including the cracked section) and then drilled some new holes for the crown mount.

I used a Sheldon Nut so I could bolt the fender onto the back of the fork. These are recessed brake nuts, but with an extended threaded section to allow repeated mounting/removal of fenders without mucking with brakes. They also move the mounting point behind the fork (or brake bridge), so I wouldn't have any issues with forcing a too wide fender through a too narrow fork.

But pictures are worth thousands of words.

But there is more to the story.

2017 Fender Update

If you've ever ridden with me on wet roads, you are acutely aware of my feelings about fenders (or "mudguards," as my editor calls them). My rants about lack-of-fender spray are pretty unambiguous. Apparently, there are one or two non-political topics about which I can get quite animated. For example, one could easily substitute "flashing tailights" with "lack of fenders" from a previous rant and get the point.

If you are one of those folks who refuses to even try fenders because you think they look dorky, let me show you how dorky you look with a muddy stripe up your backside. (Sorry John!)

Photo by Natalia Boltukhova
www.pedalpowerphotography.com
www.tinyrussianstudio.com

And if you go on a group ride on wet roads without fenders and spray crap in the face of your friends, you really aren't much of a friend, now are you? If you say you don't need fenders because you never ride in the rain, I will point out that roads are likely wet long after the rain (or snow) has stopped falling from the sky. Around here, in the winter and early spring, roads are often a wet sloppy mess on bright sunny days thanks to the melting of snowbanks that line the roads. In more rural areas, there may be other stuff on the roads that you'd really prefer not to have sprayed on you or your water bottle either!

But if you still refuse to even consider fenders, be on your way now. Or as Scottish comedian Billy Connolly might say, just go away, exclamation mark!

Otherwise...

What's a Good Bike for Brevets?

Ask n different people and you will get n different (and most likely contradictory) opinions for what defines a good brevet bike. Do a simple google search and you will find loads of articles on precisely this topic. (It may be how you found this one!) So since there is already so much information out there, why am I bothering to add to the noise with this post?  Partly because I get asked the question so frequently, and partly because my definition is in many ways counter to the standard dogma.

Here's the Reader's Digest condensed version...

A good brevet bike is one you use on a brevet with little or no hassle or pain.

This means the bike is:

• reliable and comfortable
• has enough storage capacity that you can carry what you need for the distance and conditions (including clothes and tools) and/or store what you no longer need. 
• and since the longer brevets require lights and usually involve sustained night riding, a bike used for longer brevets should have reliable long-lasting lights. 

New Fender Day

Last year our friend, @the_wilcox (who recently moved out to Portland, possibly in an attempt to get even more use out of his fenders), showed off his beautiful Full Metal Fenders from Portland Design Works and raved about how well they worked. I must admit to admiring their looks, with the simple elegant stays and lovely anodized finish. But more than the aesthetics was the fact that they worked so well and held up to abuse over the long term, unlike many of the lightweight metal fenders we've tried over the years. Fear Rothar has cracked or broken pretty much every type of lightweight metal fender out there (Honjo, Berthoud, Velo Orange), to the extent that I've now bribed the folks at Harris Cyclery to stop ordering new ones for him to break.. the bank!

Mudguards - Indoor Festive 500 2013

Why am I writing about mudguards when I am riding inside?

The last time I did any real exercise indoors was over 20 years ago. After I moved from North Carolina to Boston, I was certain that I would never be able to ride outside in the winter here, so I acquired what at the time was a very expensive indoor trainer, a Schwinn Velodyne. It was outrageously expensive for my income at the time, so I left the price tag hanging on it just to encourage me to use the blasted thing! The velodyne was a magnetic resistance trainer controlled by an on-board computer. It was actually quite a nice trainer and I must say much simpler to set up than the devices I've been looking into recently. I recall it had a few modes, including a target heart rate, intervals and courses. The computer controlled the resistance, and varied it to simulate up and downhills on a route, or to keep a heart rate steady or for intervals. The display wasn't fancy, but it didn't need to be. One could select the mode and get basic feedback. I didn't need to see a video of the route I was riding, or super details of the terrain. None of that really replicates riding outdoors, so I might as well enjoy a nice action movie instead!

Mud in yer eye!

A combination of too much work and fine weather have kept me away from the (non-work) computer this week. However, last weekend's weather led me to write the following:

The unusually mild and dry winter we have experienced in New England this year was book-ended (although it may be a little early to use that term yet!) by snow storms in October and on Leap Year Day. The latter was followed by a day of rain and, for some reason, that seemed to suggest a spin on dirt roads to your truly. The idea must have had some merit, as David Lafferty was happy to accompany me into southern New Hampshire. Perhaps, though, he was just trying to maximise culture shock, as he and wife Emily were planning to fly to Mallorca the following weekend. Have fun, you two!

But I digress, we tried to establish the theme of our ride early on.

Fender Update - SKS Raceblade Long

[Look here for our newest post on fenders]  


Last week in my Fender post, I mentioned that I had some of the new SKS Raceblade long fenders on order. (I have updated that post now with this information).

They arrived over the weekend,  and I eagerly opened the box and tried to mount them on the bike that currently sports the original raceblades.  But I found several limitations, the primary one being a max tire width of 23mm. I had missed this detail before I ordered them. 

Not the longs!

Fenders

[Check here for our newest post on fenders]


Mo Bruno Roy looks great all the time, but she really carries off the muddy look with style and grace!

Photo by Matt Roy

I can't say the same for me!

And while it may be fun for an hour, I bet it would get a bit uncomfortable on an all day ride. And it might not be such a good idea to show up to work this way, or to try and get a seat at any coffee shop other than Ride Studio Cafe. Even there, you might be offered a big bucket of water and a towel at the door!