“The Stripe,” as it’s known colloquially. Photo from Stuttgart Fixed.

Also known as “the freshman stripe” in college towns, it essentially refers to the embarrassing spray of grime stuck to the back of new commuters. It’s their first and most obvious clue that, if they want to ride rain or shine, they need to know about fenders.

Most folks will begin with something like this. The SKS X-tra Dry is the most basic retail option. Key features: it keeps the stripe off your back, it installs in seconds, and it’s less than $20.

Dave’s Mud Shovel from PDW is a longer, wider version that has the bonus feature of being able to fold up. It’s designed for “fat bikes,” but works well for commuters who want more coverage.

Depending on what suits your image, you can spend as little as $0 or as much as $48 on an anti-stripe device. All of these are great for keeping the stripe off. But that stripe is only a fraction of the spray scenario.

Let’s get scientific. Look at the photo above and think about the rotation of this guy’s tires. From our point of view, it’s clockwise. At 6 o'clock, the tires contact the wet, grimy, road. Two of the many interesting special properties of water are cohesion and adhesion, and they mean that the water picks up the grime and sticks to your tires. As they rotate past the road, centrifugal force pulls the grimy water off the tires, spraying it out at 7, 8, 9 o'clock. When your rear tire is at about 12 o'clock, that spray is hitting your back.

Here’s the interesting part: by the time the rear tire is sending grime up your spine, most of it’s already been shed off. The thickest stream of grime is what’s coming off at 7 o'clock, right after the tire’s made contact with the ground. This is why it’s useful to have a front fender as well.



Here’s a bike that’s in for a major tune up. What you’re looking at is the bottom bracket; it’s at the heart of the bike, making the crank arms turn. Here, the drive side crank has been removed, and we can see the “spindle,” essentially the axle of the bearing. This is not a mountain bike, in after a day of fun in the muck, but a commuter bike that sees about eight miles a day, every day. Although its owner has a luggage rack in the rear that keeps some of the grime off his back, there was nothing protecting the drivetrain from the grime coming off the front tire.

These are all of the new drivetrain parts that have to be installed, amounting to just over $100. Fortunately, this is a basic commuter bike with an 8-speed rear end; the same parts for a bike that uses 9- or 10-speed would cost at least twice as much.

Here’s a pretty good front fender. It comes with the rear, as a set with all the hardware, for $35. The set is what Planet Bike calls their “Hardcore Fenders.” The mudflap hangs down about level with the front axle, and will keep most of the grime off most of you and your bike.

This is an even better front fender. It also comes as a set, and Planet Bike makes this one, too. Named after the Pacific Northwest, these are called the “Cascadias.” Note that the mudflap hangs about 6" below the axle. They cost $10 more, and they will protect your shoes, socks, and expensive drivetrain components in a full downpour.

Our stores carry all of the products mentioned above, including different colors and sizes, as well as fenders made for road bikes that do not have ample clearance or eyelets for normal fenders. Further, our staff have the experience and commitment to help you select which are best for your bike and install them properly.