Do-it-yourself fenders
In a previous Cycling on the Cheap article, I talked about mud flaps. The thing is that without fenders, well there is nothing to attach the homemade mud flaps to. It also seems like there is no end to the rain we have been getting, so let’s look at some options for fenders on the cheap.
Fenders can be relatively cheap or prohibitively expensive. Bike shops and most discount stores sell fenders, but what fun is that when you can make your own of recycled material. The web is full of ideas to make your own fenders.
Materials that you can use include (click the photos to go to the respective articles):
Corrugated Recycled Plastic — This is the same stuff you see some signs, such as political style yard signs or for-sale signs and zip ties.
Water Bottle Fenders — You can even make fenders with zip ties and a typical bottled water bottle.
Aluminum — You can also use aluminum to create your own fenders.
Cardboard Fenders — Even standard cardboard beer containers are able to be made into makeshift fenders.
Plexiglas Fenders — A cheap bike fender utilizing this see through material.
The nice thing is that you can make a makeshift one that you take off when it dries up, or you can make something more permanent and nice looking. The choice is yours. Ride a bike, no matter what the weather is.
2 comments
Andrea Antulov
The law does not require lights on front, side and back lights when its raining or low light rain conditions in Illinois.
The choice should not be yours anymore than with a car.
If you are going to make your own fenders, use reflective tape and make a dry place to hook a second light on the back. You are virtually invisible and even more unexpected in the rain by cars and pedestrians.
Scott
I bought a huge pack of zip-ties at on eof the box stores and made a rear fender for my winter rat by cutting the plastic cylinder they came it into thirds and attaching with some of the zip ties inside.
We use the WHOLE animal in my tribe.
Nice column.
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Why wait ‘til 3 pm?
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Very inspired Photochops as well….
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