Road salt spray

Hi all... unfortunately my current set-up does not allow for me to install a full front fender. I do have a mud guard but my rain pants were covered in a spray of salty whiteness when I arrived this morning. How do you all stay road grime free on your commutes?

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Permalink Reply by Rusty Piton on January 28, 2009 at 7:31am
Unfortunately, full fenders are really the only way to go and even then I find my ankles soaked some days.
If you don't have the clearance or the eyelets for a full front you could try something like the RaceBlade clip on fender from SKS.


Permalink Reply by E A on January 28, 2009 at 7:35am
Thanks... and I think that will be the fix for another bike I have. But this ride is MTB. Is there a similar clip for wider tires?


Rusty Piton said:
Unfortunately, full fenders are really the only way to go and even then I find my ankles soaked some days.
If you don't have the clearance or the eyelets for a full front you could try something like the RaceBlade clip on fender from SKS.


Permalink Reply by Natalie on January 28, 2009 at 7:44am
Not exactly an answer to your question, but...I have full fenders on my commuter bike, and still this morning I was covered, arms and legs, with road spray. It was from the cars, not my bike. The only answer for me on days like today is a change of clothes. I was wearing tights and knickers made of water-resistant fabric, along with a "waterproof, breathable" shell from the North Face, so I was able to wipe everything down with damp paper towels. And I carry an Ortlieb Back Roller Classic, which is waterproof, so my work clothes stay dry.

Why can't your MTB accommodate full fenders? Because you've got knobbies on it?
Permalink Reply by E A on January 28, 2009 at 7:51am
Yep - knobbies. Trying it out this year.

Luckily I do wear rainpants, but it's still quite frustrating to arrive covered in grime. (the grime actually penetrated my old windpants, so I now wear the waterproof pants)


Natalie said:
Not exactly an answer to your question, but...I have full fenders on my commuter bike, and still this morning I was covered, arms and legs, with road spray. It was from the cars, not my bike. The only answer for me on days like today is a change of clothes. I was wearing tights and knickers made of water-resistant fabric, along with a "waterproof, breathable" shell from the North Face, so I was able to wipe everything down with damp paper towels. And I carry an Ortlieb Back Roller Classic, which is waterproof, so my work clothes stay dry.

Why can't your MTB accommodate full fenders? Because you've got knobbies on it?
Permalink Reply by terryg on January 28, 2009 at 8:30am
M.A.R.K., I'll go with "front forks" on an MTB as a reason that a reasonably traditional fender could be a challenge to make work.

I've got your typical SKS full fender setup, and I'm still grimy. (I promise that's not a personal hygiene thing ;) I've considered a mudflap, but never really got around to it for some reason. And yes to Natalie - a lot of my mess does come from auto spray.

Those clip-on SKS fenders look pretty cool, actually.

I guess it could be worse... it could be frozen solid.
Permalink Reply by Rusty Piton on January 28, 2009 at 8:47am
E A said:
Yep - knobbies. Trying it out this year.

Luckily I do wear rainpants, but it's still quite frustrating to arrive covered in grime. (the grime actually penetrated my old windpants, so I now wear the waterproof pants)


Natalie said:
I've got a big wide Planet bike MTB fender on my Xtracycle which has 26x2 slicks, but theres plenty of room for knobbies.
Observe:

/body>

edit: all that grime on the downtube is from before I installed the fender.
Permalink Reply by Natalie on January 28, 2009 at 8:47am
Frozen solid like my wheel be frozen to my fender when I get out this evening? That's always irritating and the only reason I don't like my fenders.

Terry, did you at least have your rain pants on over your jeans?

EA, any particular reason you're using knobbies? I've never found them to give me that much better traction in slush, and any added sense of security is more than offset by how slow they are.

terryg said:
M.A.R.K., I'll go with "front forks" on an MTB as a reason that a reasonably traditional fender could be a challenge to make work.

I've got your typical SKS full fender setup, and I'm still grimy. (I promise that's not a personal hygiene thing ;) I've considered a mudflap, but never really got around to it for some reason. And yes to Natalie - a lot of my mess does come from auto spray.

Those clip-on SKS fenders look pretty cool, actually.

I guess it could be worse... it could be frozen solid.
Permalink Reply by Natalie on January 28, 2009 at 8:48am
How is that light mounted? That's a great idea.

Ah, I really should get back to work, but I would so much rather talk bikes. Or be out riding mine.

Rusty Piton said:
E A said:
Yep - knobbies. Trying it out this year.

Luckily I do wear rainpants, but it's still quite frustrating to arrive covered in grime. (the grime actually penetrated my old windpants, so I now wear the waterproof pants)


Natalie said:
I've got a big wide Planet bike MTB fender on my Xtracycle which has 26x2 slicks, but theres plenty of room for knobbies.
Observe:

/body>
Permalink Reply by terryg on January 28, 2009 at 8:51am
Nat, I sure did wear my rainpants. There was this white stuff floating around and all over everything outside. I figured the streets would either be similar or swampy in a wintery way. I meant at least the streets weren't frozen; but yes, the frozen solid bike thing is a real drag. Wheels, ugh. Brakes? errr....

I also wore my increasingly pointless and irritating shoe covers.
Permalink Reply by Natalie on January 28, 2009 at 8:56am
Dude, I'm telling you, winter cycling boots. It's worth the $$$ not to have to struggle to stretch those stupid things over your shoes for little incremental benefit. Although, I have to say that the $20 Performance neoprene bootie is not bad for the price. The worst part about them is getting the zipper up, so last year I would carry a spare shoelace and thread it through the zipper pull so I could get enough leverage to get the thing closed.

Sorry, I guess I'm going off topic. As I said, I'm really not feeling the whole work thing today.

terryg said:
Nat, I sure did. There was this white stuff floating around and all over everything outside. I figured the streets would either be similar or swampy in a wintery way.

I also wore my increasingly pointless and irritating shoe covers.
Permalink Reply by terryg on January 28, 2009 at 9:00am
(still off topic...)
That's exactly the problem I'm having with my covers. The stupid zipper. It's like Pearl Izumi used a zipper you'd use on a sweater or something, in a rather vulnerable place. I like the shoelace idea, I'll give it a shot.

Maybe this is the last snow of the season, and I won't have to wear them ever again. One can dream.
Permalink Reply by Rusty Piton on January 28, 2009 at 9:08am
That light is mounted by taking the brackett that it came with apart, drilling a hole in the part that the light slides into, countersinking it a bit so that the screwhead sits level, drilling a corosponding hole in the fender and bolting it on. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Also, +1 for clipless boots. I have the ones made by Lake, but they suck because they started falling apart two weeks after I got em.

Bullshit. Don't buy these.

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