Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Fenders

I was talking to Marty yesterday at Tom's and he mentioned that he recently purchased some SKS Race Blade Fenders. He seems to be genuinely impressed with this product. After 2 weeks of riding in the rain, I think I am ready to invest in some fenders. Not only will fenders prevent my back side from getting sprayed with cold water and road grime, but anyone riding behind me can do so without being sprayed in the face. You might be thinking to yourself, "if it is raining...I am just going to ride indoors". But often times, winter rides will occur after the snow (more likely ice) has melted. The resulting combination of water on the road, cold temperatures, and salt/sand from road crews can make group rides pretty miserable. The right attitude, good clothing decisions, and some fenders can make winter training rides that much better.
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5 comments:

  1. JoeOctober 14, 2009 at 3:24 PM

    My problem with riding in the wet is that I get a bunch more flats, which fenders wouldn't help. Might be a good purchase for a commuter or townie..

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  2. JasonOctober 14, 2009 at 3:28 PM

    @Joe: Sounds like you need to purchase some off-season tires and/or tubes. I try to ride a tire that offers more puncture and sidewall protection during the off-season for this very reason. They are usually heavier with more rolling resistance, but I don't like changing tires when it is cold. This year I am even considering running some Slime tubes.

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  3. UnknownOctober 14, 2009 at 6:34 PM

    And didn't Soundpony Sam put a 23 tire inside a 25 for his winter tire last year?? Can you do that really??
    I think the fenders may be a good investment. Even if you truly only need them a dozen times or so during the winter, you'll be glad you have them! Do these attatch and come off easy?

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  4. JasonOctober 15, 2009 at 12:48 PM

    @K-Mac: Yes, Sam did run a 23 inside of a 25. Although, I am not sure how he did it (maybe he cut the bead off of the 23). I do think he ditched this idea after a while because the tires were very heavy/slow. I think Mr. Tuffy tire liners are another product that might provide some additional benefit (but I have not tried these myself).

    It is my understanding that the SKS Race Blades do attach and come off easy. Here is a pretty good review on them: http://tinyurl.com/yz4dtta

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  5. BryanOctober 19, 2009 at 9:48 PM

    he did cut the beads off of them.

    ReplyDelete

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