Winter / rain bikes, fenders, tyres, lights and all that jazz.

AL9000 · June 17, 2013, 7:50pm

Compiling all the smugness here so I can just point people to it instead of digging up posts scattered throughout threads.

By no means is this a complete guide to every frame / fender / tyre / light / trick, just the better of the options I’ve used/seen.

Fenders:
No mounts, arse saver:
S-Blade: S-BLADE - mudguards - de - SKS Germany
Xtra Dry: X-TRA-DRY - mudguards - de - SKS Germany
Ass saver: http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Ass-Saver-Foldable-Emergency-Mudguard-Fender
Cons: Only keeps your arse dry, good QR for fast fit, but likely to be stolen like a Flamingo (Chuz!)

Zefal Swan: Swan Road - Zéfal
Flamingo replacement. Cons: slower to fit, still easy to steal. Arse coverage only.[u]

No mounts, partial coverage:
[/u]Crud V2 (not V1!): Roadracer_ | Crud-products
Better coverage at the BB than Raceblades.
Cons: paint damage to stays/fork, relies on tyre to locate.

Raceblade Long: RACEBLADE LONG BLACK - Radschützer - de - SKS Germany
Cons: stops short, funnels water into your cranks and feet. Have to remove QR skewer to remove wheel

Zefal Shield R30: Shield R30 - Zéfal
Cons: paint damage, flimsy

No mounts, proper coverage:
PDW Full Metal Fenders: Full Metal Fenders
Cons: 23mm tyre limit, maybe 25mm, Have to remove QR skewer to remove wheel unless you P-Clamp. Otherwise a total banger, check out Sime’s CAAD9 with them:

Rear brake mount
Front brake mount
Rear axle mount
Front axle mount with Soma porteur rack
ST mount

Update: Bigger ones now available, 45mm for 28-38mm tyres.
https://www.ridepdw.com/goods/fenders/full-metal-fenders-city
Here they are on a bike that should have proper guards on it…

Mounts & up to 28mm:
Honjo / Berthoud / VO 35mm: See below for link.

SKS P35: SKS Germany
Good hardware, good coverage, needs mudflaps
Updated as ‘longboard’, with flaps

SKS Bleumels 35: SKS Germany
matte black, mudflaps, stays aren’t as nice as P35

Planet Bike Cascadia Road: Fenders Cascadia Road Black
Good hardware, good mudflaps

Mounts & 30mm+:
Honjo 35-40mm: Honjo fenders
High quality aluminium fenders, Japanese, great hardware, different finishes available, long.

Berthoud 35-51mm: New Page 1
High quality stainless steel fenders, French, great hardware, smooth finish only, long.

Velo Orange 35-52mm : Fenders - Accessories
Taiwanese made aluminium fenders, decent hardware, different finishes. Hammered finish is poxy. Long.

SKS Longboard: LONGBOARD - mudguards - de - SKS Germany
Coverage forever!

SKS Bleumels 45/53: SKS Germany

SKS P45/50: SKS Germany
Good hardware, good coverage, doesn’t always come with mudflaps/reflector.

Planet Bike Cascadia hybrid/touring: Fenders Cascadia Hybrid/Touring Black
Good hardware, good mudflaps.

None more black: Handsome Mud Butler (Black powdercoated alloy fender) 35 & 45mm widths. Average hardware.

Axiom DLX, mudflaps, disc offsets, reflective: http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Axiom-Rainrunner-DLX-Reflex-Mud-Gaurd-Set

Toba Frank, aluminium, silver, 45mm, bit short, avg hardware: http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Toba-Fenders-Frank-45mm-Silver_4

Toba Frank, aluminium, black, 30mm, bit short, avg hardware: http://www.cellbikes.com.au/Toba-Fenders-Frank-30mm

Wacky wheel sizes (20/24/26"):
SKS Bleumels: SKS Germany

Mounting fenders on carbon forks / recessed nut brakes:
Sheldon Fender Nuts: Problem Solvers
Two types, steel or carbon fork mount. Sold as a pair, makes the front fender sit right, and you don’t have to mess with your brake adjustment. Also makes removing/fitting very fast.

Mounting fenders when you have clearance but no eyelets:

P-Clamps at the bottom of the stays/fork blades.

Soma Tanaka QR Mount: Similar to the PDW mount, but for any fender. Link

Use a reflector mount (your LBS has boxes full of them) on the seat tube and the seatstay:

DIY Mudflaps:
Ride with others? Don’t be a dick, extend that jam to keep your drivetrain/feet/riding buddies dry

Template and guide from Alex Wetmore using rubber stair tread:
alex wetmore’s bicycle pages

Alternatives: Cut up an old bidon, green bag base, HDPE bottle etc.

No chainstay bridge:
In decreasing order of quality

Reflector/light mount clamped around a chainstay, drill tab and bolt fender through
Zefal Gizmo around the seat tube, bolt fender to it
Make a “bridge” out of a ziptie around the stays, ziptie the guard to it.

Smarter mounts:
Fit a longer SS bolt (with loctite 243) in from inside the dropout, leaving the thread exposed on the outside, then clamp the guard on with a nyloc nut.

If you have a steel fork that’s open at the bottom, use a daruma around the brake bolt instead of the bracket. A frame designed for fenders will have a threaded boss under the fork instead.

Fork Crown Daruma | Constructeur

Track ends & Fenders:
If you have track ends, use the SKS quick releases on the rear, so you can pop out the stays when you need to remove the wheel.

OR, you can use a tensioner and mount them to it

Improving plastic fenders:
Drill out the rivets holding the stay brackets to the guard, reshape the bracket and reattach on the outside with a button head bolt / nyloc nut (bolt head on the inside) or a blind rivet. This will prevent water on the inside splashing outwards.

Caliper Brakes:
BR-R451: Cheaper, still great, upgrade the pads. Designed for longer cable pull of “hidden gear cable” shimano shakes. black or matte silver
BR-R650: More $, nicer hardware, upgrade the pads. matte silver. Old cable pull ratio.
BR-R600: Discontinued, ultegra polished finished. upgrade the pads. Old cable pull ratio.
Grand Cru Long Reach: Surprisingly good brake from VO’s usual offerings, upgrade the pads.
Tektro R539: 59mm reach, QR opens to clear fat rubber, Shimano’s don’t
Tektro R737: 59mm reach, QR opens to clear fat rubber, Shimano’s don’t
TRP RG957: Should be a better, lighter version of the above. Not quite available yet.
Avoid: Miche medium reach brakes, they’re terrible.

[b][u]Frames:

[/u][/b]PRO Training on a Surly Pacer: Note: As of late 2011 Pacer changed to take mid reach brakes only, avoid earlier frames.

Not as pro, but here’s my TK3:

Note the fender mods to minimise the splash and rooster tail.

Excellent budget option: Kinesis T2, aluminium frame, road geo, paired with a DC07 carbon fork:
Review: Kinesis Racelight T2 Tiagra | road.cc | Road cycling news, Bike reviews, Commuting, Leisure riding, Sportives and more

Cream of the crop: Kinesis TK3. Aluminium frame, road geometry, tapered carbon fork, actual 28mm & fender clearance:
Just in: Kinesis Racelight TK3 | road.cc | Road cycling news, Bike reviews, Commuting, Leisure riding, Sportives and more

Tyres:
Note: Nice tyres, that have low rolling resistance, good grip, not heavy turds with massive puncture belts

31-35mm: Schwalbe Kojak, Resist Nomad. The Vittoria Voyageur is the best combo of price/protection/suppleness.

27-30mm: Resist Nomad, Schwalbe Ultremo ZX, Grand Bois Cypres / Cypres EL, Grand Bois Cerf Green, Challenge Paris-Roubaix, Challenge Strada Bianca

25-26mm: Schwalbe Ultremo ZX, Michelin Pro Race, Grand Bois Cerf Blue

Lights:

Excellent article on lighting and human vision
http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=internet-bob.11102.0764.eml

Fender mount:
Spanninga Pixeo: Battery (Xba, auto on/off) or dynamo (Xs), 1x5mm LED, standlight
B&M Seculite: Dynamo, 1x5mm LED, standlight. meh.
B&M 4D lite: Dynamo, 4x 5mm LEDs, standlight, protective metal bar for rear end impacts. Heavier.
B&M Secula: Dynamo, So much better than the seculite TOP PICK. OK standlight, great beam. Don’t get the seatstay mount version, the mount sucks, you’ll have to drill/hack it like this:

Frame/rack mount:
B&M Toplight Line Plus: Dynamo. Brake model gets brighter when you deccelerate
Philips SafeRide Lumiring: Battery/Dynamo. Better light diffusing and angle than the B&M.
Hermanns H Track like the Philips but smaller

Seatpost mount:
Philips SafeRide Lightring: Smallerthan the lumiring, but good diffused light.

Bar mount:
Philips Saferide 60: Dynamo, 60 lux, shaped beam

Rack/crown mount:
B&M IQ Cyo N plus: Dynamo, 60 lux, shaped beam, lightweight. UPDATE: Cyo Premium has replaced this, don’t buy unless you get a great deal on a used one.
B&M IQ Cyo N Plus Premium: AKA the 1752QSNDi-04, 80 lux! small like kitten, UPDATE: IQ-X has replaced this.
B&M IQ-X : BEST VALUE LIGHT RIGHT NOW
B&M Eyc N Plus: AKA 160RNDI, 50 lux, TINY like scale model kitten. Not that much cheaper than the Cyo Premium, beam isn’t as good.
B&M Avy: replaces the Lyt, cheap and simple, small like the Eyc, 30lux. budget light for a beater.
Schmidt eDelux: Dynamo, 80 lux, shaped beam, better cooling than Cyo N so a little brighter, shiny. Great switch.
B&M Luxos U: Dynamo, 90 lux, shaped beam, wider beam at low speed, ‘high beam’ toggle, USB recharging. The best light on the market right now (mid 2013), Currently in V3, avoid used V1 like the plague. water will get in the remote cable and kill it.

Dynamo hubs:
Schmidt SON: Best build quality, lowest resistance (SP & shimano very close, barely measureable), centrelock disc option, wide flange option.
Shimano 3N80: Good value, disc options, Alfine variants, bearings only serviceable on one side.
Shutter Precision: Best value, lightweight, low resistance, colour ano options, disc option.
Shimano low wattage: 1n70 / alfine S500 etc: If you can get one cheap and aren’t running more than a headlight and taillight, go for it. But unless they’re on sale, just get an SP.

AL9000 · June 17, 2013, 7:54pm

Battery lights that don’t suck:

Trelock LS 950 ion:

Bike24 - Trelock LS 950 ION Front Light - black

SEVENTY lux, proper StVZO shaped beam, smart mode will dim the beam as battery runs down, USB rechargeable.

from a lighting pedant:

just got one, is awesome
it’s extremely light and compact on the bars, not brick-like in the least, very easy to aim properly
the charging / control stuff on it is perfect, knowing how long you have left really kills the range anxiety
the beam shape is pretty unusual, the core shaped driving beam is pretty tight (narrower than classic Cyo), but there’s also a dim flood beam surrounding it that’s brighter at the edges
people were complaining about the strap mount slipping, but they probably were mounting it wrong, it’s supposed to face backwards to balance the light over the bars (the mounting shoe is symmetrical)
this fixed mount is compatible too, it comes set for 22.2/23.8, but you can break out a shim and have it be 25.4/26.0: http://www.xxcycle.com/support-eclairage-av-trelock-zl-500,,en.php

B&M Ixon Core:

Bike24 - Busch + Müller IXON Core LED Front Light
50 lux, StVZO shaped beam, USB rechargeable. Cheep!

Philips Saferide 80:

Bike24 - Philips SafeRide LED Bike Light battery-driven 80 Lux - black

Or if you want to club people en route and be able to “recharge” at a 7-eleven, get this. 80 lux,StVZO shaped, USB rechargeable, hi/lo mode (~2/8hrs), takes 4xAA. I have it, it’s excellent, but the ball mount is terrible, get the other mount as a spare for your other bike. Discontinued, grab it while you can.

Lighting bullshit:

If you want to be seen, corner cube retroreflectors point nearly 100% of other road users light back at them. E.g. pedal reflectors, those things are crazy visible.

It’s hard to directly compare lumens (emission) to lux (illumation of an area) for bike lights, there are too many other variables at play. Plus, you want that illumination to be in a nice long rectangle, putting more photons at the far and less at the near end, so you don’t wash out the nearfield. Some light spill to the sides is also good, for cornering/navigation etc.

An example calc, using a 120 degree emitter and the 320 lumens from jase above at 5m gives 4lux.

Let’s ramp it up to a 1000lumen unshaped 'king bright / magicshine deal extreme light. I can’t find the view angle, but the spec for the CREE emitter is 120 degrees. Let’s be really generous and assume that the reflector
[li] is both efficient and has a 90 degree view angle. Now you get ~22lux.[/li]
For reference, my IQ Cyo Premium is 80 lux, (caveat, I don’t know at what distance etc this is measured as), the tiny tiny Eyc is 50 lux. Most of those lights are air, just a casing around the lens. The body behind the lens in the Ixon/Saferide/LS950 is battery/control circuits.

And a super tight beam, asssuming the torch has an optic that can do that
[li], will certainly have a higher lux value, but it’s over a tiny tiny area, no good to ride by. The extreme example of this is a laser.[/li]

Traditional reflectors don’t work for LED emitters because they’re not a point source of light, so instead you have to use a complex reverse reflector that fires the LED backwards to get a well shaped beam.

Finally, pics (there are so many reviews and roundups and comparisons out there, here’s a rare one comparing a shaped battery light to unshaped big lumen lights.

Philips Saferide (lower end model, not the 80lux):
Rated 400 lumen emission.

Fyxo / Magicshine:
Rated 1000 lumens emission. (Measured 648 lumen)

For James:

Sime · June 17, 2013, 8:33pm

The Enabler…

a.davis12 · June 18, 2013, 3:15am

how well do you think a set of cruds would handle being stuffed in a cardboard box along with a couplered bike? (with under 158cm total dimensions)

AL9000 · June 18, 2013, 3:18am

Fine, wrap them around your tyres (on the wheels) in the case/box. no probs.

a.davis12 · June 18, 2013, 3:29am

excerrent.

iamsimon · June 18, 2013, 3:56am

woah nice work Blakey, also you’ll be pleased to know I just fitted a front fender to the colossi using a sheldon nut and p-clamps, works a treat!

I like the look of that fork crown daruma thing too

spirito · June 18, 2013, 5:45am

Blakey = goodness of the highest order

dej · July 5, 2013, 6:54pm

Great thread Blakey!
Agree on the crud v2, would like to add flimsy to the con list.
The little aligning things have fallen off mine within a month and ive lost a couple of the bolt/nuts which hold the arms to the mount points on the frame

Running on a cannondale capo with 25mm tyres.
Mounting on a track frame may require gearing changes or chain length adjustment (i had to go from 48/18 - 48/16)

greenmachine · July 5, 2013, 7:44pm

+1000000000000000000000

doomith · July 31, 2013, 4:18pm

Sick post, but needs more rack comparisons!

AL9000 · July 31, 2013, 4:40pm

WTF does a rack have to do on a winter/rain bike? This isn’t the foofy porteur pub bike thread.

Rooster · July 31, 2013, 6:28pm

Can we have a foofy porteur pub bike thread?

AL9000 · July 31, 2013, 6:29pm

Sure, don’t clutter up this one.

heavymetal · July 31, 2013, 6:29pm

Too late brah.

Cookies · October 5, 2013, 6:38pm

Blakey, is there any rear fender around for an integrated aero seatpost?

diddy · October 7, 2013, 6:39pm

Sheldon fender nuts! Thanks

AL9000 · October 7, 2013, 6:46pm

Don’t know what you mean exactly. A clamp on fender for an aero profile post that’s not ~27mm diameter and round?

Sure;

The soft strap should be long enough to wrap around the post.

Cookies · October 7, 2013, 7:11pm

Exactly,
I’ve had a look at similar ones to that design at some lb stores, and the strap isn’t long enough. I could probably buy some sort of new strap for it, or just duct tape it on when needed.

AL9000 · October 7, 2013, 7:13pm

Yep. Sew a new strap on it.