I really like your tips. I just wanted to add to Steve, you should pay more than just gas if you’re always mooching off the same person, and it’s out of their way. This happens to me a lot: I have the only car out of my group of 4 friends, and I always have to drive them around. Sometimes they give me a few bucks for gas, but I’m really starting to resent it because oil changes, maintenance, etc are all really expensive, and my car actually costs more like 40c per mile to drive! We are all graduate students and all make the exact same amount of money, so I’m not more well-off than them or anything: I just chose to own a car for my other activities, but somehow ended up being the group chauffeur. I wish they would see your post. I can’t drop them because they’re good friends otherwise, but I wish I could make them see how expensive it is to own a car that they use all the time…

The ones I have are the silvery ones. They are aluminum sandwiched between plastic and will not shatter/break.

What I’m saying is, hard plastic is even more likely to break in the winter.

SKS makes some that are laminated aluminum and plastic that will last and last.

Any mud flap on any fender you can buy (that I’ve seen) is relatively useless. You can remove the ones they come with and put one that actually works on, that hang to the ground.

I can’t find my exact set online anywhere. They either both have a mud flap or neither have a mud flap. When I bought mine only the rear one did. Here’s an image of my rear fender.

http://www.bikesonline.com/SKS-Commuter-Fender-Set-Black-60mm.htm

Yeah, the fenders are the hard plastic. I’m gonna need some removable ones…

i would proudly send a photo of mine, except I don’t own a digital camera!

http://www.phred.org/~alex/bikes/fendermudflap.html

Note that I recommend one on the front fender as opposed to the back. The one on the back would only do good to someone following right behind you, while the one on the front keeps the wet stuff off your feet etc.

Make it wide and make it longer than those pictured–It should come within an inch or two inches from the ground.

Skip the weights, they are not necessary.

It sounds like you have those Planet Bike plastic fenders if they broke. SG (German Co.) makes a set of aluminum fenders sheathed in plastic that won’t shatter. Of course, they cost more than the Planet Bike ones, too. German Engineering.

I have been thinking about a cape. Typically the way I work is, do what I’m doing until something pisses me off enough to change. So I’ll try with what I have. If my gear doesn’t handle it then I’ll get a cape.

Maybe you could show me a picture of the rainflap…