Rear fender extend below chainstays?

[Marcus Helman]

The question is really, how far below the chainstays should the forward edge of the rear fender go?

I don't know if it makes a difference, but the fenders in question will be Honjos, and the wheels will be 650B with 42mm tires.

What is the collective opinion on mudflaps?

Needed at all?

Front only?

Material?

Thanks,

Marcus Helman

[Dan Rearden]

If your riding in a group, a rear mudflap is very much appreciated by the person behind you and your feet will thank you for a front one.

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[Eric Norris]

In my experience, it’s unusual to see the leading edge of the rear fender extend below the stays. Using my Alex Singer as a guide (they know what they’re doing at the Singer shop), the fender should stop at the stays. 

Perhaps extending the fender beyond the stays might make it harder to remove the rear wheel, especially with horizontal dropouts?

Regarding a rear mud flap: YES! You install a rear flap as a courtesy to the riders behind you.

--Eric Norris
campyo...@me.com
www.campyonly.com
campyonlyguy.blogspot.com

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[Bill Bryant]

A flap is not needed at all on the back fender for you, but will be definitely appreciated by those sitting in your draft, and even off to the side (depending on the wind direction) during or just after a heavy rain storm.

Not much to be gained by having the front edge of the rear fender extend below the chain stays, and, depending on your type of rear dropouts and chain stay length, the lack of this extension will help a little with rear wheel removal/installation for a puncture.

A front fender flap will be appreciated a lot by you to help keep your feet dry and much of the drivetrain too. They can catch some wind, though. I think they are worth it and have one on my bike most of the year, but notice a slight improvement in summer when the front flap is taken off.  

[FWIW, there are fenders on my bike year-round, but the flaps are more seasonal (at least here in our coastal California's climate.) Lois, OTOH, likes to only use fenders if the rain is heavy; she says they catch wind. With her extensive randonneuring and winter riding experience, I'm not going to argue the point. Then again, we get most of our rain from November through March, so riding without fenders the rest of the year usually works out. Riders in different regions with different climates will have their own feelings about fenders. I just hate being caught in rain without them and am willing to use them when it is dry. Doesn't bother me a bit, but YMMV.]

Sometimes I use a black rubber/plasticky carpet runner material from the hardware store and my own mud flaps. Works fine, easy to work with, is inexpensive, and weighs less than leather. I attach them with small zip-ties after drilling a small hole on either side of the fender-- easy-peasy. I also have a few NOS Bluemels white vinyl flaps from the 1970s that are still in use by Lois and myself on some other bikes. They are my favorites but obviously pretty hard to find, but they are the size and shape I like best and cut the carpet runner to mimmic the Bluemels items. IMHO, flap material doesn't matter too much, so long as it is flexy, but not too flexy. Something pliable is good; stiff is not. 

Something reflective is highly recommended too. RUSA, SIR, SFR have had some nice reflective mud flaps made for their clubs that I have seen at various events, and online in the RUSA store. Having driven nighttime sag on some brevets, just having them as reflective devices for motorists to see at night seems like a good idea, rain or not.

Bill "Fenders R Us" Bryant 

RUSA #7

Santa Cruz Randonneurs

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[eme...@gmail.com]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned how important it is to have Yosemite Sam displayed on your rear mud flap. 

www.amazon.com/Yosemite-Sam-Back-Easy-Guard/dp/B0002NIJPI

Regards,

MF in SF 

[Eric Norris]

If I didn’t have the RUSA logo, I’d go with Mud Flap Girl.

--Eric Norris
campyo...@me.com
www.campyonly.com
campyonlyguy.blogspot.com

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[Dan Blumenfeld]

My favorite mud flap girl: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/eddb/

On Tue, Aug 9, 2016 at 2:31 PM, Eric Norris <campyo...@me.com> wrote:

If I didn’t have the RUSA logo, I’d go with Mud Flap Girl.

--Eric Norris
campyo...@me.com
www.campyonly.com
campyonlyguy.blogspot.com

On Aug 9, 2016, at 11:29 AM, eme...@gmail.com wrote:

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned how important it is to have Yosemite Sam displayed on your rear mud flap. 

www.amazon.com/Yosemite-Sam-Back-Easy-Guard/dp/B0002NIJPI

Regards,

MF in SF 

On Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 8:24:39 AM UTC-7, Marcus Helman wrote:

The question is really, how far below the chainstays should the forward edge of the rear fender go?

I don't know if it makes a difference, but the fenders in question will be Honjos, and the wheels will be 650B with 42mm tires.

What is the collective opinion on mudflaps?

Needed at all?

Front only?

Material?

Thanks,

Marcus Helman

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[Ken Freeman]

First, I'd rather havePantani on there than Yosemite Sam!

Marcus, my Terraferma has vertical dropouts with a slight forward slant, and this makes the installation and removal of a puffed-up Hetre a chore.  Imitating some rando bike or other I drilled my genders for an underhang about 2".  This required me to mostly deflate the tire for every removal.  The problem went away when I re-drilled them to be near even with the chainstay bottom.  Even better would have been to make them even with the chainstay bridge!  Live and learn!  Might want to email Mike T about that.

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[roadijeff]

Fenders?  What is this "fenders" thing you speak of?

[Eric Keller]

I like to have fenders, even mid-summer showers can be remarkably
cold. However, fenders are not critical for me except when it's cold.
And they can cause mechanical problems. I would definitely take the
fenders below the mounting bolt hole at least 1 cm or so. You
generally have to do some crimping to clear the stays, so taking them
further down doesn't make sense.

I usually find myself riding with people with no fenders. Is it
horrible to say that I don't feel compelled to have a rear mudflap on
my bikes? I suppose this is different in rainy locales, but it seems
to me that the majority of randos don't use fenders.

I once ordered a set of Berthoud fenders and a mudflap through my bike
shop who, in turn, got them from Peter White. He was very insistent
that they order a second mudflap for the rear fender. I didn't mind,
but I didn't put it on.
Eric "mind the spray" Keller
Boalsburg Pennsylvania

[CJ Arayata]

I got a set of fluted Honjo H-47s, (covering Compass 38mm) and for whatever reason, they are MUCH longer than most other Honjos I have seen around on the internet/IRL.

Apologies for the crappy picture, but you can see that I tried to even out the bottom edges of the rear fender to be level. The greater-than-180-degree coverage made the installation process much more tedious.

As for mudflaps, a front one for sure; your feet will thank you. For rear, probably. Material is based on how blingy you want to get/the aesthetic you are going for. Leather ones are usually shorter, but plastic ones (like the RUSA ones made by Rainy Day Biking) have more length, and are reflective!

[NickBull]

Well, I guess that I hadn't realized before that a disadvantage of fenders is that they give others a window into your soul; front flap only means you don't care about anyone but yourself; rear flap means you care about others.

[RipVan Rando]

Fenders go on my bike in late November and come off around Tax time.  Too wet, too cold, and too many stupid bottom bracket designs these days to not have them on the bike, which reminds me that a PF bottom bracket needs new bearings on one of my bikes owing to spray off the front tire but it was almost time to replace anyway.

For mudflaps I took the old plastic mud guards from the plastic fenders that lasted 2 seasons before breaking in various places.  These old plastic mud guards with appropriate stainless hardware keep spray off me, the bike, and anyone wishing to take my wheel.  I was surprised when my SKS fenders literally snapped in two.  Yes, they were mounted without tension.  I think they just fatigued.  The mudguards on them are perfect salvage parts for real aluminum fenders but they are also available for about $6.  I actually had to trim the SKS mudflaps because they were too long on my fancy new aluminum fenders.  Your HonJo fenders seem be low enough as to not need mudflaps. 

From my somewhat limited sample size many Randos' rear mudflaps do not extend low enough (if they have them)  in the rear to keep road spray off fellow companions but then again, the style of riding may not require such considerations meaning we often ride in loose groups or side by side rather than in tight pacelines.  If I get caught in the rain during summer months, I won't join a pace line but if someone wishes to take my wheel, this is kinda their choice....?  In certain climates (cold and wet) mudguards should be almost obligatory for pace line work.  I don't mind wet feet.  Muddy road spray on the face?  Not so much.

[Randon Nerd]

On Wednesday, August 24, 2016, RipVan Rando <ripva...@gmail.com> wrote:

...but if someone wishes to take my wheel, this is kinda their choice....? 

This, of course assumes that someone can even CATCH, let alone TAKE your wheel. :-)

...not that I haven't tried.

'Wheelsucker Willie'

[RipVan Rando]

I would like to have a bike with fenders on it all the time.  Maybe one of them with smaller 650 wheels and really wide tires.   Steel frame.  Leather mud flaps.  I just went thru old campy NR and C record stuff in the attic.  Surprising how much that old junk is selling for.....maybe enough to have a dedicated, comfy rando bike.  

The fender kinda needs to go below the chain stay a bit to keep those silly new bottom brackets dry.  Heck, drips from the water bottle can offend the sensibility of a Trek BB90. Things were easy back in the day......square spindel and the only choice practically was English or Italian.  Throw a Phill BB in there and you are done....forever. 

When I have properly fitted fenders and mudguards, my chain, pedals, and BB need less maintenance.  I just ride thru really wet roads and look to see that the junk is not coming up onto the bike or me. I do strive for even spacing between fender and tire and that is the only aesthetic part for me.   I suppose BQ has a more definitive say on the matter as I'm a bit of Newbie to them although I love them in cold wet weather.