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There are some stylish flat fenders out there (e.g. these). Some, like the one in the preceding link, seem to only be as wide as the tire.

This question is posed to people who have used flat fenders:

Do you ever find that you get some splash, say on your legs, or the outer edges of your butt/back? Or are they completely fine?

When answering, please also tell me whether your flat fender was the same width as the tire (as in the link above), or a bit wider.

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Question is posed as a discussion-starter polling the community. How will you choose the best answer when all are valid? Perhaps you could rewrite to eliminate this aspect of the question? –  Neil Fein Oct 2 '12 at 7:04

3 Answers 3

up vote 5 down vote accepted

I can't speak as a user of them, but I can as one who has followed them. They seem to work reasonably well, but they aren't as good at protecting people behind you - the arc behind them is narrower than the traditional curved in guard. I would think that in this regard, wider would seem to be better

In this they are better than the horizontally flat guards you see, which do nothing to protect those following you.

If you're only worried about your back and legs, these seem fine - but if you're concerned for your fellow travelers, I'd be less keen on them.

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There are two factors: 1) Since they don't "hug" the wheel as closely they aren't quite as effective for a given width. 2) They aren't as stiff, meaning they'll vibrate somewhat worse with a given mounting technique.

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I have regular (curved around) full fenders in one commuter, and nothing on other, this one with skinny tires.

On the fenderless one, when water from the front tire hits the downtube, I feel like every drop of it is projected sidwards, and my feet quickly get wet.

On the other hand, on the fender-equiped one, only the water projected directly from puddles hit my feet, and every water that hits the fender is (or looks like it is) directed towards the middle of the fender and eventually goes out by its lower side.

So, although I have never used flat fenders like shown in the photo, I am afraid they protect much less than their more common curved counterparts.

Hope this helps!

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I think this is an interesting answer to a different question. –  SuperElectric Oct 2 '12 at 6:14

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