Any Lightweight Metal Mudguards??

Give up! Given the abuse to which you seem to subject yours, metal ones
would bend. You'd straighten them. You'd bend them again... After a
couple of cycles of this, the metal ones would break, too. Sorry...

NYC XYZ wrote:
Plastic ones suck...they just crack. I think a metal one, say made out
of sufficiently strong aluminium, will be rugged for any stones and
twigs which wind up getting caught. So which ones for a 26" wheel,
please? I'm assuming such a thing exists. I have the HP Velo SMGTe
SWB, and the rear guard has cracked. Why don't they make these things
out of light-weight metal?? Copper costs pennies, I'm sure....

"Pete Biggs" wrote in
message ...
NYC XYZ wrote:
Plastic ones suck...they just crack. I think a metal one, say made
out of sufficiently strong aluminium, will be rugged for any stones
and twigs which wind up getting caught. So which ones for a 26"
wheel, please? I'm assuming such a thing exists. I have the HP Velo
SMGTe SWB, and the rear guard has cracked. Why don't they make these
things out of light-weight metal?? Copper costs pennies, I'm sure....

My rear SKS "chromoplastic" fender cracked withing months of purchasing it
as a factory supplied part on a new bike. The bike shop gave me new ones.
They have held up nicely for the past two years. I wonder if the idea that
mounting them with struts putting tension/compression on them caused my
first set and your set to fail? This would fit with me having no problems
in the past two years and others suggesting years of use and
indestructibility.

BobT

BobT wrote:


My rear SKS "chromoplastic" fender cracked withing months of purchasing it
as a factory supplied part on a new bike. The bike shop gave me new ones.
They have held up nicely for the past two years. I wonder if the idea that
mounting them with struts putting tension/compression on them caused my
first set and your set to fail? This would fit with me having no problems
in the past two years and others suggesting years of use and
indestructibility.

BobT

Good point. I've been wondering that myself. But how would one know
what's too much tension??

On 2006-11-10, NYC XYZ wrote:

Plastic ones suck...they just crack. I think a metal one, say made out
of sufficiently strong aluminium, will be rugged for any stones and
twigs which wind up getting caught. So which ones for a 26" wheel,
please? I'm assuming such a thing exists. I have the HP Velo SMGTe
SWB, and the rear guard has cracked. Why don't they make these things
out of light-weight metal?? Copper costs pennies, I'm sure....


When that *twig* gets wedged between the rugged front fender and your
front wheel, guess what happens? It happened to me last night.
Fortunately, I had a flimsy plastic fender, and it didn't quite throw me
over the bars. I was able to 'superman dive' across the trail and got
away with a couple scrapes. I'm sure with a metal fender I would have
gone over the bars instead of into one to drink off my scrapes. The
Planet Bike fenders have lasted 12,000 miles of dirt riding. I'll buy
another set in the spring when they start cleaning up the trail again.
BTW, while these are nice in the rain, I have them mostly to keep the
lime dust off my drivetrain.

Peter Clinch wrote:
NYC XYZ wrote:
Plastic ones suck...they just crack.

Typically /not/ the case with SKS ones. They're not indestructible, but
they don't make a habit of cracking, and they don't bend, corrode and
weigh more like metal ones would.

That's opposite of my experience with an upright bike. I've had several
SKS fenders crack, usually on very cold days. On the other hand, I have
had a pair of Planet Bike fenders for a few years, and they haven't yet
cracked. Some of this difference is probably be due to my change in
commute (I used to use a bike rack that stressed the fore section of the
front fender). But that doesn't explain why the rest of my Planet Bike
fenders have survived longer than the SKS versions.

Here's a fun anecdote... I was riding along on a dark rainy night. I
rode over a stick that I hadn't seen. The stick lodged in my rear wheel
and brought the fender stays around to the chainstay. After I stopped, I
found that much of the rear fender had slipped forward between the seat
stays. So there was a little bit of fender behind the seat stays, while
most of the fender was in a very awkward shape ahead of the seat stays.
I pulled the rear fender back into shape and rode home.

The only repercussions were a) a small crinkle in the fender and b) the
fender stay broke free from the fender a few months later. These were
Planet Bike fenders. I scavenged a bracket from my collection of cracked
SKS fenders and riveted that to the wrinkled Planet Bike fender. I still
ride with that fender.

The Planet Bike fenders have been much more durable for my riding style
than the SKS fenders. They're not perfect; the 622 size fenders are too
short, so my mudflap has to be extra long. But I'll take that trade.

--
Dave
dvt at psu dot edu

Everyone confesses that exertion which brings out all the powers of body
and mind is the best thing for us; but most people do all they can to
get rid of it, and as a general rule nobody does much more than
circumstances drive them to do. -Harriet Beecher Stowe, abolitionist and
novelist (1811-1896)

chuck wrote:


When that *twig* gets wedged between the rugged front fender and your
front wheel, guess what happens? It happened to me last night.
Fortunately, I had a flimsy plastic fender, and it didn't quite throw me
over the bars. I was able to 'superman dive' across the trail and got
away with a couple scrapes. I'm sure with a metal fender I would have
gone over the bars instead of into one to drink off my scrapes. The
Planet Bike fenders have lasted 12,000 miles of dirt riding. I'll buy
another set in the spring when they start cleaning up the trail again.
BTW, while these are nice in the rain, I have them mostly to keep the
lime dust off my drivetrain.


Hmm! Very good point. Better it breaks, than that I should!

Arrrrggh...okay, another $$$ for some fenders...damn, this is one
expensive hobby...and I thought I was saving on car insurance here...!