I was walking my dog the other day, when I saw an oblong piece of plastic laying in the middle of the road. If you’ve walked around the Planet Earth recently, then you’ve probably encountered bits of plastic strewn about. They’re pretty ubiquitous. But I recognized the distinct shape of a bike thing when I looked at this one, so I walked over to it and picked it up.
There in my hand was a seemingly unused Ass Savers clip-on fender.
I looked up the road, then down. It was Django and myself there. No cyclist anywhere. So I tucked the fender in my back pocket and commenced my strolling.
This is the part where I say I don’t like fenders. I had a rain bike once upon a time. It was ok when it was raining, and it was heavy and rattley when it wasn’t raining. I never wanted to ride it. I sold it.
I have a Zefal clip on fender that I use occasionally. It’s kind of an awkward thing, albeit effective. This Ass Saver though. This might be the real ticket for me. It’s flat as a piece of paper, mainly because it’s basically a piece of plasticated paper, a not-very-complicated piece of origami. When I’m not using it, it sits flat on the shelf or slides into a tool box drawer. If it’s not raining when I leave, I can slip it into a jersey pocket, just in case.
Is it a great fender? No. Is it enough to keep you from looking like you’ve been incontinent while wearing a lycra unitard? Yes. Does that have value? I think so. For $8-10 retail, actually, I know so.
Or you can find one while walking your dog. Those ones are free.
They come in all sorts of colors and varieties. Get them here.
TCI is funded by our subscribers, and by Shimano North America. How cool is that?
I also got my Ass Savers fender the cheapest possible way. I found it mountain biking. It’s not a great fender but I live in California so it doesn’t really rain here. But in the winter when the higher elevations are covered with snow we ride trails which we share with multi-thousand pound excrement generators (mostly cows but horses also make a mess of the trail). The Ass Saver does save a reasonable portion of my backside from be spackled with poo so it’s definitely worth more than I paid for it.