Fenders with safety release

Stephen Greenwood said:

I'm looking for full fenders for a bike with 26" (ISO-559) wheels. They
should accommodate tires of at least 2.1" width, and the front should
have a "safety release" for the fender stays. I know that SKS makes a
65mm wide set that might work, but none of my LBS's stock them. Planet
Bike's 60mm Freddy Fenders might fit nicely, but they don't appear to
have a safety release.

My last set of Freddy Fenders came with "safety release" struts. I
think this a fairly recent change.

Jeff

JeffWills said:

My last set of Freddy Fenders came with "safety release" struts. I
think this a fairly recent change.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. When I emailed Planet Bike regarding the safety release
on the Freddy Fenders, the verbatim reply was, "No our fender doesn't
have a safety release, sorry." It might be the case that the person who
replied doesn't know of this update, or it might be because we're
talking about different models. I specified the "Hardcore" model when I
asked. Which model do you have?

Thanks,
Stephen Greenwood

Stephen Greenwood said:

I'm looking for full fenders for a bike with 26" (ISO-559) wheels. They
should accommodate tires of at least 2.1" width, and the front should
have a "safety release" for the fender stays. I know that SKS makes a
65mm wide set that might work, but none of my LBS's stock them. ...

Quoted message said:

Besides the SKS, is
anyone aware of other offerings that might fit the bill?

An alternative that's sometimes used is to attach front fender stays
midway up the fork, rather than at the dropouts. This way, if
something jams between the fender and tire and causes the fender's rear
portion to follow the tire, that rear portion moves up and away from
the the tire. It changes a positive feedback situation into a negative
feedback situation.

I'm curious about how well the safety releases work. Has anyone had
experience where the safety release prevented a front fender being
swallowed by the tire & fork?

- Frank Krygowski

Stephen Greenwood said:

JeffWills said:

My last set of Freddy Fenders came with "safety release" struts. I
think this a fairly recent change.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. When I emailed Planet Bike regarding the safety release
on the Freddy Fenders, the verbatim reply was, "No our fender doesn't
have a safety release, sorry." It might be the case that the person who
replied doesn't know of this update, or it might be because we're
talking about different models. I specified the "Hardcore" model when I
asked. Which model do you have?

Thanks,
Stephen Greenwood

The packaging said "Hardcore", so I assume it's along the same lines as
the fenders you're contemplating. The new struts clipped at the edges
of the fender, which would allow "safety release".

(FWIW: this was a replacement for an earlier Planet Bike fender, which
had suffered a couple modifications and broke underneath the brake
arch. I removed the strut (one-piece)from the old fender and installed
it on the new fender. I have seen a "safety release" strut come loose
and come perilously close to getting caught in the spokes.)

Jeff

Quoted message said:

I'm curious about how well the safety releases work. Has anyone had
experience where the safety release prevented a front fender being
swallowed by the tire & fork?

How would you know? I had a stick in the front wheel that caused the
stays to release. I don't know what would have happened without the
safety release.

I also had a stick in the rear wheel, where the fender did not have a
safety release. Most of the fender was stuffed between the brake bridge
and wheel. I think the rear wheel locked up, but the stick through the
spokes probably caused that. The spokes in the area were pretty distorted.

In short, I think it would be pretty difficult to prove the
effectiveness of the safety release. As long as the safety release isn't
harming anything (i.e. JeffWills' experience with loose stays), I say
use 'em.

BTW, I find that the safety release mounts from SKS fenders work just
fine with Planet Bike fenders.

--
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)