Bicycle Tidbits

Planet Bike Freddy Fenders Another fender option is Planet Bike's Freddy Fender.  They make their product in may different sizes.  I've used their "big wheel" variety as well as their 20" recumbent variety.  To get a pair of fenders from Planet Bike, you need to order two different products.  The 7010 is their front fender, while the 7011 is a rear.  The rear provides more coverage, but it is entirely possible that two fronts will fit your needs just as well.

What do you get?

Compared to the pile of parts that arrived with the Esge fenders, the Planet Bike packages were definitely retail and customer friendly.  The brackets were riveted to the fenders, and stays were already installed and bolted into place.  The loose hardware consisted of six bolts, four washers, four zip ties and one magic plastic clip.  While the stays and the clips attached to the plastic fenders are stainless steel, the nuts and bolts to not appear to be.  You would be well served by stopping at the hardware store for some small, metric, stainless fasteners.

How do you mount them?

Compared to the hassle of the Esge fenders, the Freddy Fenders practically jump onto the bike frame and bolt themselves into place.  

I ran the long black bolt through the top of the fork and hung the fender on it.  I then slipped the eyes of the stays over the mounting studs already installed through my drop-outs.  Once again, I will strongly recommend that you take the few minutes required to discard the little silver bolts that came with these fenders and install some stainless steel mounting studs.  Remove the front wheel and install your mounting studs from the inside.  Tighten them up against the frame (feel free to use some Loctite).  Then you can remove and replace the nut as many times as you like without fear of stripping out the threads in your frame.  I should have used a small washer between the nut and the eyelet, but I had skimped on the length of the mounting stud, so I had to forego it.  The front fender was installed and operational in less than five minutes (including the time required to remove the stock Green Gear unit).

The rear fender didn't go quite as quickly.  On most bikes, the small clip on the edge of the rear fender would fit over the chain-stay bridge.  On Tic Tac Toe (Family Tandem Triple), the kickstand mount and chain-stay bridge is too far from the wheel for the clip to reach.  
Additionally, the magic plastic clip doesn't work well on the seat stay.  The molded mounting bracket didn't run at the same angle as the seat stay, and the bracket had insufficient length to reach the provided mounting hole.  In the end, I slid the bracket under the seat stay and zip tied it into place.  I chose to use my own zip ties rather than the provided black ones.  The provided ties were too wide to lay nicely in the available space.  I was able to find some slightly narrower ones that fit much better.

The rear fender has two sets of stays.  Tic Tac Toe has one mounting eyelet.  Again, I installed a mounting stud in the frame to provide for the attachment of the fender and rack.  When you do it, be sure to file down the head on the right hand bolt to allow space for the chain to fit on the smallest cog.   In the photo, you can see the rack leg sandwiched between the two fender stays.  You can also see the slight bend I added to the outside stay to provide a good line back to the rear of the fender.  If you bend two stays at the same time and then flip one over, they will be symmetrical and you fender will be centered when you are done.

I now have fenders on Tic Tac Toe.  It was a smaller investment in money and time than when I put Esge fenders on the Flying Shoe.  The result is a better looking and sturdier installation.  Only time will tell if it is a robust.[ Back ] [ Up ]

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