Prepping for rainy day commute

[NadiaMac]

when i used to bike commute in boston, i used a fleece balaclava to deal with the cold/wet ear/neck issue. It was thin enough to fit under the helmet, but completely sealed off my head, neck and ears from the cold, wind, rain. Then, I wore a rain jacket (with thick wool sweater underneath if cold), rain pants and rubber duck shoes if raining or snowing. It was a fairly short commute-- around 6 miles, so no problems with the footwear.

if you don't have fender mounts on your bike, race blades work really well (they robustly rubber band onto the frame area). They are also very light.

[pardes]

Race blades? That sounds like a better alternative than full regular fenders. Thanks!

[Grog]

I have had race blades on my road bike (700C X 23, and a tiny bike) and didn't like them that much. They were not really stable and I often had to stop to fix some fender rub. Someone taller (with a bigger bike) might have more luck with them. For me another problem was that while riding with a pack they are not sufficient, as there will be a lot of spray on anyone sitting on your wheel, but that may not be a problem for you Pardes.

Frankly, full fenders are a blessing when it's really raining. I think it's worth it if you're going to stick to it in the rainy days...

[Eden]

I have had race blades on my road bike (700C X 23, and a tiny bike) and didn't like them that much. They were not really stable and I often had to stop to fix some fender rub. Someone taller (with a bigger bike) might have more luck with them. For me another problem was that while riding with a pack they are not sufficient, as there will be a lot of spray on anyone sitting on your wheel, but that may not be a problem for you Pardes.

Frankly, full fenders are a blessing when it's really raining. I think it's worth it if you're going to stick to it in the rainy days...

I don't have eyelets on my rain bike and have seen the full fender kludge jobs on my teammates bikes break so often that I've gone with race blades (also on on a tiny bike, a 47cm 650 x 23's actually.) Once I got them set up I've never had a problem with them. If the bike really gets knocked around for some reason (put in the car on its side kind of thing) I might have to readjust, but they don't move around when I'm riding. I have wrapped all the frame contact points with electrical tape to protect the it from scratching, so that may be holding them in place better too.

If you are riding with others you *must* extend them, but it is not difficult to do. They just are not long enough to do more than prevent the stripe up the back. I have a nice long flap made from milk jug plastic (1/2 of an old water bottle works well too) attached to my rear to protect my teammates and a shorter one attached to the front to protect my own feet. I think the only thing I miss is the coverage out in front of my front wheel. I probably do get a little more spray from my own front wheel than I'd get if I had some fender out there.

One thing that make a huge difference is actually your tires. Some tend to spray a lot more junk than others..... I went from Kendas to Gatorskins (the Kendas were no longer available in 650 ) and the amount of grit and water sprayed up onto my legs and feet quadrupled...

Oh - and if you want to save some money Planet Freddy now makes some fenders that are pretty much identical to Race Blades for about $20 less!

[pardes]

My commute would be very short in foul weather and I wouldn't venture out in monsoon weather (I can wait it out till it's a light rain) so would the Planet Bike Freddy Fenders Clip-Ons (Hybrid/Road) be sufficient?