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The I&M Canal Trail between Morris and Ottawa is very flat and untechnical. An excellent trail to get long-distance training on dirt and light gravel.
This happened during a fitness maintenance ride and locked my front tire. Sent me over the bars at 18 mph. I landed on my face and ended up in the emergency room last night. Serious cuts and gravel rash to the face, but no broken bones. I’m lucky this didn’t happen when touring.
These are the [Bontrager NCS Fenders – 700c x 38-45mm](https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/equipment/bike-accessories/bike-fenders-accessories/bike-fenders/bontrager-ncs-fender-set/p/21832/). They are fairly inexpensive fenders, but they worked well over the past two summers. I washed the bike before this ride and didn’t notice any issues with the fender.
I really like have fender protection, but not at this cost. I may be replacing with some like the [Mud-X Downtube Mount Quickrelease Fender](https://sks-us.com/products/mud-x-downtube-mount-quickrelease-fender).
Has anyone else experienced this? Has anyone found a better alternative to fenders?
by jamorgan75
5 Comments
I like ass savers or the snap on origami fenders from PNW. I’m glad you’re okay.
Were there no “stays” to keep the fender where it belongs ? I would never run a big fender with no stays or supports. I also make sure there is ample tire clearance between fender and tire. Glad you didn’t get hurt worse or hurt anyone else.
Edit: looking at the pics again, I see fender stays. Do you have a picture of the front fender pre-crash ? If all was right in the mounting, I would think clearance was the problem and a bump bounced the rearward lip into the tire or you picked up debris which couldn’t fit under the fender.
No stays, no way. You need to have fender stays, fore and aft.
Use breakaway fender mounts. SKS, Planet Bike, PDW, and probably others use these to mount at least the front and sometimes also the back fender. Not sure if any are compatible with other brands for retrofitting, but I guess you’re not reusing that fender anyway!
I like [Honjo fenders.](https://www.sim.works/collections/fenders-simworks-by-honjo) I have a couple sets in the household and never had any issues.