Hey all, working on a Wilde Rambler build (first "new" new bike since grade school!) and wondering how VO fenders are day to day, and especially how well they deal with sticks/foreign objects.
My last winter fixie ingested a 2" wide stick on a beach path over the summer and I went over the bars and wrecked the fork/frame. The only thing that truly saved me was the SK stay breakaways. +1 for that, but you know, wavy fenders are wavy and VO just looks so much sharper.
Are VO fenders "safe" enough to push it riding daily in a city + trails with road debris? Id hate to kill my new steed over aesthetics but cool factor is cool factor too. Silly question but TIA!
by trotsky1947
6 Comments
This is a very difficult question to answer. Any fenders with a stainless steel stay will be roughly the same. I had a similar experience to yours 15ish years ago. For the following 10 years I would make a relief cut in my fender stays to allow them to break. I’ve not had anything remotely similar happen since and stopped cutting my stays about 5 years ago.
Trail riding and fenders do not mix. You could consider the fenders that zip tie onto the fork.
I use pdw’s on my commuter. They have a breakaway tab near the mounts, love the clean look and I prefer metal to plastic. I’ve also ridden VO’s in years past, I’ve never had an issue with anything getting caught in a fender before.
https://www.rivbike.com/products/pdw-fender-safety-tabs
That stick looks like it wouldn’t change anything with any diff stays. Wedged between the fork and spokes will not change
Are those forks bent due to the stick? My mind is blown!
Crazy story and even wilder bike ! Not sure i can help much but personally, i went the VO way.