Faster with Fenders?

Today I took my first ride with Planet Bike “SpeedEZ” clip-on fenders.  It took me about 1/2 hour to put them on for the first time, and most of that was spent adjusting the struts.  Now that the struts are properly adjusted, it should be pretty quick to put them on and take them off.

The fenders didn’t affect my ride much.  I hardly knew they were there.  There was maybe a slight rattle when I hit a bump or rode over some rough pavement, but they’re much quieter than the full fenders I used to have on this bike.  The roads were pretty dry, but I was able to test the fenders out on River Rd, where there’s still a lot of lingering runoff and standing water.  The fenders kept me clean, as well as my downtube, but short fenders obviously aren’t going to be as effective as full fenders.  There was more spray on my seat tube and also on the fork crown and brakes.  I expected this, and I’m hoping it’ll be an acceptable price to pay for the convenience of clip-on fenders.  My intent is to use these as “warm weather” fenders.  During the summer, I rarely feel a need to use full fenders, but it’s nice to have something to ride on wet roads after storms and the like.  I’ll post a long-term update after I’ve ridden for a few months with these.

The really cool thing about these fenders is that they seem to make me faster.  I averaged 17.1 mph riding to work today, which may not be fast for some, but it’s fast for me.  It could just have been the beautiful weather, dry roads, and relatively flat route, but I’m giving credit to the fenders.