Quoth Peter Kohler:
>I am no linguist but the only cycling nation in the world that calls them
>anything translating into "fenders" is the USA.
That's where I live, and I believe that's true of most members of the
list. However, I think we all understand what you mean when you use
either term.
>All good fun. And besides the no. 1 maker of such things for lightweights
>was Bluemels and they never, ever made a "fender"..
And Wald never made a "mudguard!"
>just lots and lots of
>those white plastic mudguards with the pain-in-the-ass little nuts and
>screws that always fell off!
Obviously a British company would use the British usage. They also
offered them in a range of different coloUrs. You had to provide
your own spanner to fit them, however.
>
>Whilst (while) on the subject: can anyone educate me as to why mudguards
>seemed to be a feature of Cinellis? I don't associate such things with
>lightweight, non-touring machines other than British ones and yet they were
>a real trademark of the brand and coveted today. Their best feature has to
>be the neat little Cinelli emblem on the front that you can contemplate
>whilst cycling. Of course, I wouldn't dream of getting rain let alone mud
>on my Cinelli...
Up until perhaps the early '60s, virtually all bicycles, including racing machines, had the ability to fit Schmutz Deflection Devices. Even racers would use them for training, though they would remove them for competition.
Of course, a lot of this has to do with road surface conditions. These days, "road" cyclists rarely encounter mud, so there's less need to guard against it. Rain, and especially the filthy water that runs along the roads when it is or has recently been raining is still as unpleasant and insalubrious as ever, both for rider and machine.
For the serious (i.e. all-weather) cyclist, a good set of SDDs to "fend" off this yucky, toxic spray remain a key piece of equipment.
Sheldon "Tire/Tyre Clearnace Is Good" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
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