A new method of commute fail
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So I thought I had discovered every possible commute mishap. However, this morning was a new one.
I was going through the construction site on the NW Branch trail at low speed. At the very end, where you get back on the trail northbound, there’s a narrow grassy/muddy section that you can take to avoid having to dismount to go around the “trail closed” sign.
As usual, since I needed to slow way down, I unclipped on the right, just in case I had to put a foot down to squeeze through.
However, I must have been going too slow, or wobbled or slipped or something, because I managed to somehow kick my front wheel and fender pretty hard with my clipped-in left shoe. The wheel kick knocked the plastic fender hard enough that it doubled over against the tire so the wheel wouldn’t turn.
So I dismounted and, after a few hard tugs, pulled it off the wheel and back into its normal shape.
However, I must have tugged hard enough that I managed to bend the support bars so much that the fender rubbed the tire in several spots. I tried to ride a bit, because the wheel would turn a little, but it was really hard pedaling — like having the front brake on all the time — and it was really loud and stupid sounding.
So I decided to detach the whole fender. Got the support bars off disconnected from the lower of the fork with the allen wrench on my multi-tool, but didn’t have an open wrench or socket to disconnect the support where it connected to top of the fork.
But OK, with the lower part disconnected, I could just sort of bend back the lower part of the fender and secure the support bars way back around my bottle cage, so that it wouldn’t dangle loose and the wheel would spin freely.
The only problem with this bit of improvisation was that while the wheel spun fine and I started back up the trail, I couldn’t turn.
I found this out the hard way, by actually trying to turn, nearly falling off the bike, and jamming the rest of the fender back up between the tire and the top of the fork where it was still connected.
I managed to break off the front of the fender by bending it and forth back a few times, but there was still a lot of plastic bent double underneath the fork, which I couldn’t dislodge.
But it spun a little, so I was able to limp at about 5mph up to the gas station at Eastern Ave, where the nice Chinese lady loaned me a pair of pliers through the bulletproof glass opening so I could detach the fender from the fork once and for all. All the folks trying to pay for gas and lottery tickets didn’t seem to mind this weird dude dressed in bright green disassembling a bike in the middle of her quick mart.
So finally, I was spinning freely AND able to actually turn the bike as needed, and after buying a Diet Coke from the nice lady, made it the rest of the way to work only a half hour late. My planet bike front fender with the smiley face stickers is in her trash can.
The moral? If you ride with a front fender, probably best to unclip on both sides to avoid kicking your wheel during really tight maneuvers. Or else just put a small crescent wrench in your tool bag, so you can take off your fender completely if it gets bent up in a mishap.
Nice sunny morning, though: http://app.strava.com/rides/24653794
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as I mentioned on Facebook, the original fender brackets do work with the bike planet fenders. I ran in to some issues using the bike plant mounts though, they’re just not shaped right to go around the brake properly. I know you used the front rack mounts, instead of the fender mounts, since you don’t need a front rack anyways…. So, I don’t know if it will help to use the stock brackets or not, but it works out really well for me. Maybe because they’re sturdier brackets, it wouldn’t fold up on you? Dunno, hope it helps though.
view from the top
view from the side (wine rack LOL)
recognize this? haha
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