Tuesday

Anatomy of a City Bike (ACB): Mudguards

I did some biking while on Mt. Lemmon this weekend and as I was toiling up the mountain on my road bike, I did some thinking about different types of bikes. I realized that I have put the cart before the horse so to speak by not addressing what makes up a city bike. Because a city bike is very different from a road bike or a mountain bike.

There are some features that are essential, some that are optional but nice and some that are not at all necessary but fun. I'm going to start with the necessary features.

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about chainguards. Today I'm going to talk about mudguards, aka fenders.

Photo courtesy of Tavallai

Mudguards protect your clothes when you ride through puddles that collect from irrigation, construction or the occasional rain (like we had this morning...ahhhh). How often does this happen here in dry dry Arizona, you might ask? Who knows, maybe once a month or once a year. But do you really want to miss out on a lovely ride after (or in) the rain (highly recommended) or accidentally ruin your work clothes while commuting?

2 comments:

  1. Definitely the right day for mud guards in Flagstaff. Rained almost all day long. Very dreary. Rather cold but the monsoons are a big water source for us up here so we learn to love it. Yes, even up here one can still get a trail of mud creeping up one's back after a ride in wet conditions. I added Planet bike mud guards to my bike and the problem was solved.

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  2. It was raining this morning in Phoenix, too! Riding to the gym in the rain was a pleasant break from the heat we've been having. I would have looked pretty silly going into the gym with a mud trail up my back!

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