I try not to ask already answered questions by researchin first but have not stumbled across an answer about fenders yet.
I work out of Ketchikan Alaska 4 or 5 months a year. small town, no car, limited space on my fishing boat for storage. My new hobby will fit really well. I’m looking forward to commuting around town on my unicycle. However it rains about 165 inches a year. Even the summer and fall have rain, which is when I’ll be there. soo, any advice about fenders. I have a 26x 2.5 inch older YunI with no mounting brackets. I suspect a simple solution exist.
I used to use seatpost-bolted mudguards on my 29er, but they’re not great as you tend to get splashback from the side of the tyre as well as the top. Have you considered just wearing waterproof pants/clothing?
Waterproof pants etc all good and we’ll sometimes. But I was hoping for a more civilized appearance when I get to where I’m going. Am I overlooking some obvious solution… I would think that a lot of unicycle commuters must deal with rainy weather and streets.
Recently I wanted to have a ride around the town but streets were all wet and I didn’t want to get splashed so much, so I connected such bottle-cage base:
with regular bike fender (I guess it was front one) e.g.:
Worked fine. If you want something more fixed you could try pipe hanger of this kind:
I used one to fix my rack and it worked well enough.
a couple good ideas. The video showed an especially nice looking solution IMHO. I was unable to go to their website and find the parts. Any further advice anyone. I would guess a lot of commuters deal with this. Is showing up for work wet and spattered the norm?
I made one for my fat 2 wheeler and it cost about $4. I used a bucket and some zip ties. If you have clearance between your tire and crown you might be able to make something similar.
Hey, Reid.
Do you know if there are many unicyclists in Ak? I am moving to Juneau in a couple of weeks and I am taking my 29er and 36er. As for the rain, I plan on getting a PDW Origami rear fender, hopefully that will be enough. It will be easy to swap from uni to uni
Fenders (in the UK, we say “mudguards”) in the bike shop are made for bikes. The rear mudguard on a bike is designed to prevent that wet stripe you get up your back when riding in the rain. That comes from a wheel that is behind you.
On a unicycle, your legs are either side of the wheel, and any splash from going through a puddle will get the insides of your calves and knees. Nothing short of a shrouded wheel (1950s style!) would prevent this.
Far better to wear shorts and carry a change of clothes.
Uni cyclist in Alaska? I don’t know but considering the per capita number of uni cyclist in the warmer states I think you could be the only one in Juneau. If you have never been to Alaska before be prepared to love it. The Juneau area is much more spread out and flatter then a lot of the SE Alaska communities, albeit surrounded my mountains. I commercially fish up and down the inside passage about 5 months a year. What takes you there?
As far as fenders, I had not considered that a fender might not be as effective as on a bike. Good point. I’m beginning to think boots and rain gear will be the norm.
That’s exactly my experience with them too - tried them for a while, even tried putting one of the front as well as the back, and still ended up with it all over my calves. These days I just deal with it, but if I’m riding to a job interview I’ll put some fisherman-style waterproof pants on and just whip 'em off before I get to the building, leaving my smart suit pants nice and dry
I’ve ridden in the past on a g36 in both Ketchikan and Juneau. Bellingham WA is not as wet by a long shot.
At some point I suppose you will decide like I have that fenders don’t really work as expected. They usually dump a lot of water into your shoes. Wearing gaiters might prove more effective. Rain pants usually don’t do the trick either without some way to shield the shoes.
I just expect to get wet. Wear as little as required to stay warm. No rain gear, no jersey. Only helmet, shorts, socks, shoes, and gloves. Then expect to change.
This is what wear for my muddy winter stugeon 36er unifishin’, and Mother Nature can dump on whatever she desires…
I strap on my 20 lb worth( expandable to fit in fish) backpack of rod, reel, rodholder, bait, 100 ’ emergency rescue rope , knife, scissors, and sinkers, hooks, etc, Throw on my extra lightweight waterproof shell windbreaker jacket, slip over a super light weight waterproof shell pants , over my pants,
plus a pair of rubber mud boots. Neither rain, wind, or hail will stop me.
Thanks for the replies. Your experiences have me convinced rain gear or a change of clothes are the best bet.
On a side note, uni cycling is for me, in my neighboorhood, a solitary activity. I am fine with that. This forum is obviously a great source of info. It is a surprise tho, how much I enjoy the feeling of comunity it provides. An unexpected bonus especially considering the international nature of this forum
I just got a job in Juneau at a bike shop. I plan on staying through the winter and onto the next season if all goes well. Thanks for the info, I just bought a heavy duty rain jacket.
I specifically chose to set up a mudguard (fender) a few years ago after I discovered my seat and camelbak were getting very soggy. It didnt bother me that I got wet, including shoes - but my seat seemed to take ages to dry and I didnt think it was doing it any good.
The pic shows the mudguard I have used for a few years now and always ride like this. Sure it doesnt stop everything but I also keep the mudguard fairly horizontal that increases the angle and effectiveness of it stopping rain from
coming off the wheel onto the seat, and my back.
Forgot to include this in last post…
Here is an earlier set up that seemed to work fairly well (in keeping seat and my back dry) but IMO looks aethetically awful! It was abandoned for my present minimalist look
Mine was far uglier: (edited for the giant picture!)
I ran through like 5 pairs of these mudguards (They were £1 each, can’t complain!) because I kept breaking them before I decided they look daft and do nothing to prevent muddy calves/shoes anyway…
