I bought these fenders as a "daily special" probably two years ago from Bike Tires Direct - then let them sit in the box ever since after I realized (duh) how difficult, if not impossible, it would be to get them onto my (other) bike that has disk brakes that is nominally the "bad/rainy/wet weather bike." They were about 12 dollars so it didn't bother me that much to have bought them and not to use them . . . saving them for a rainy day. Ha ha.
Well actually not that funny since there were lots of rainy days but the fenders just stayed in the box, contributing nothing.
Cheap black fenders don't look that bad - from a distance
I decided I would see how they work in practice on this bike - it certainly was easy enough to install them. When it rains, these should keep the water from coming off the front tire in particular and bouncing off the downtube onto my shoes - also just keep the bicycle cleaner (hopefully - have to see).
Of course this means I'll ride this bike in some rain rather than the "dedicated" bad weather bike, but I am having various problems with the drive train and brakes on that bike so it can sit until (or if) I figure them out.
These are very lightweight, "polycarbonate" - that is plastic. They are adjustable in ways that mean you have to make sure the adjustment bolts are tight on a regular basis. Perhaps if I decide that I don't think fenders slow me down (which the randonneuring types would assure me they don't) I will buy some proper custom fit Velo Orange hammered fenders.
Although not prominent in this photo, another retrograde aspect of my winter rig that is shown here is my headlight - now I could buy a 200 lumen light with the battery built into the light unit for less than I paid for a 100 lumen unit with a rather large-ish battery that is separate and connects to the light with a cable. I think this unit is now three years old. Still, the battery holds a charge well, why should I replace it? Hmm.
We see from this 1892 book illustration that fenders are not an innovation
Hello, That is a gorgeous Bridgestone you have there. I have one myself and am shopping around for fenders. You wouldn't by chance know what size yours are?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/serfas-sfr-traditional-full-coverage-fenders-700c the size info is there
ReplyDeleteI bought these over a year ago as an impulse buy from biketiresdirect.com - they were half price and at 12.99 I wanted to try them on what was my wet weather bike (that has disk brakes). I guess it is possible to get fenders on a bike with disk brakes but I didn't succeed so I put them aside. Then I decided I would ride this Bridgestone in rainy weather and it was easy to get the fenders on it.
These are obviously not high end fenders so il'll see how they last. They fit well and I don't feel that they slow me down. If they fall apart then maybe I would replace with some from VeloOrange but for now these are good. I do like that they don't have any branding on them.