Monday, June 24, 2013

Owner Modifications

This rider has added a tail light and a clip-on fender.
The fender protects the light from rainfall. Right?
It also protects it from prying eyes.

Without the fender in place, the tail light would barely be above the curve of the rear tire anyway.

People's seatpost fixation makes many tail light placements nearly useless. If you just want to create a personal delusion of safety and use up a lot of batteries, go ahead. If you want to be seen, get those lights up and out.

In the case of this rider, the spray off his rear tire will severely test the water resistance of that light. Also, the flying flap style of fender does nothing to keep the water and grit flowing around the rear tire from spraying forward beneath the fender onto the backs of the rider's feet and all over the mechanism of the bike. All it prevents is the trademark butt-stripe. Meanwhile, with no front fender, the water off the front tire is happily hosing down the rider's face and feet from that end.

4 comments:

RANTWICK said...

Thanks for that. It made me laugh. Which is good.

Steve A said...

As a Taiwanese Mercier owner, I understand fender frustration, but that seat bag has a loop for mounting a light. Great observation.

cafiend said...

Rantwick, always glad to oblige.

Steve, if the problem is tight clearances I have done some weird things to fit full-coverage fenders under low fork crowns and brake bridges. It may be the fender equivalent of a thong, or actually cutting the fender into fore and aft parts.

RANTWICK said...

James Bond 007 - Thong Fender