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I want to buy a bike. The road bikes look very gorgeous. However I noticed that they come without fenders to protect from water! I was really surprised for that actually and that made me wonder about how do people protect themselves when driving on wet roads.
When one drives on a wet road then you get smashed by water and your clothes get dirty. So how do people protect themselves when driving a road bike?! Are the tires somehow made that they prevent water? Or what is the secret?!
Most road bikes are the equivalent of an open-top racing car. You just don't ride them in the rain. And if you do, you are expected to be hard core enough that a little rain isn't worth the weight and aerodynamic drag that the fenders would cause. And there's also a reason that hardcore racers wear sunglasses during the day or transparent glasses in the evening -- they help keep bugs and rain out of your eyes. And as many people note, you'll be soaking wet from sweat anyway if you're riding hard.
That being said, there are some slim fenders that can attach to some road bikes -- although many/most road bikes currently being sold come without fender eyelets and are so aerodynamic that there isn't enough space between the wheel and forks/stays to put a fender that would work a darn. If you want fenders but like the road bike drop-bar style, look at expedition/touring bikes or cyclocross bikes.
Or, if you're like many people, you instead have a beater commuter with fenders that you ride in the rain and you keep your gorgeous carbon fiber racer for sunny days. One can never have too many bikes.
You will get wet if you ride at speed on a wet road without fenders. I think you can find fenders to fit almost any road bike if you want them, but otherwise I can think a few things that mitigate the problem:
Some road bikes have fender eyelets on the fork and near the rear dropouts (newer eyelets are a bit hidden to preserve the aesthetic on some models). You just buy the fenders and put them on. I'd say most non-race bikes will have them, and ones which are commonly used for commuting or touring will almost definitely have them. Then you buy a set of fenders, and bolt them on.
You can also use clip on mudguards and fenders (e.g. to the seatpost), like the SKS X-board and SKS X-tra dry.
This style clips onto the downtube in lieu of a front fender:
This style clips onto the seatpost as a rear fender:
Another style is this (from Planet Bike):
These don't provide all the benefits of a proper fender (e.g. protecting the drivetrain) but block some of the mud and water and can be mounted on any bike, even a mountain bike:
Finally, some people just get wet and dirty or don't take their road bikes out in the rain. Note that road bikes generally don't throw up as much crud up as mountain bikes since their tires are smaller.
My road bike has a SKS X-tra Dry seatpost rear fender, and the front is just plain. It uses 700x28 tires, and I find that the front doesn't throw all that much up that I care about it too much. The rear is pretty well covered by the seatpost fender, so I don't have skunk stripe.
This is a big issue here in the UK, where it rains rather a lot. And on the minor roads particularly you don't just get wet, but covered in mud, de-icing salt and other gunk - not great for you or your bike. Fortunately at least some manufacturers are waking up to the fact that mudguard mounts on road bikes are a really good idea. Some such as the Specialized Roubaix, use very discreet "hidden" mounts that are almost invisible when mudguards are not attached. The Focus Paralane even comes with a set of 'guards included:
For bikes without dedicated mounts there are two main options:
SKS Raceblade long
Crud Roadracer Mk3
You will need to make sure there is enough frame clearance to fit them.
So to answer your question - you don't have to!
For mechanical reasons, my wet-day bikes are both unavailable, so today I rode to work on my nice road bike. It has an "ass-saver" but nothing more. The rain was torrential.
I got wet. I got so wet my shoes had puddles inside them. My work pants were so dirty with road grime that they looked like I'd had a fall.
My gloves ran water like a tap if I made a fist with one hand. My under-thighs caught a lot of spray water from the rear wheel resulting in potential chafing.
There was road dirt under the saddle, and all round the seat post. The rim brake tracks looked like a desert, and worked like sandpaper any time I braked, so there was more coasting to a stop than normal.
Once at work, I had a hot shower and changed into spare clothes and shoes I keep at work. I also wrung out my clothes in the shower, removing the worst of the water.
Over the course of 8 hours, most of my clothes dried well enough. The gloves were the wettest part at noon, so I put them in a warm for the afternoon and they still didn't dry fully. Shoes also were not perfectly dry but fresh socks helped.
At home that night, I put all the wet clothes into the wash, the gloves and shoes needed for tomorrow go in a warm spot to dry.
One day of wet riding is not a big deal as long as you're prepared.
A week of it, or several months of winter is harder to deal with.
In lieu of mudguards, you can wear overtrousers and a waterproof parka. However I find that they don't breathe very well and I get "parboiled" in sweat.
Good overshoes help a lot - the neoprene ones are fine in the cold but useless in the wet. Rubber overshoes, or ride in gumboots works better in the rain.
Gloves are a mixed bag - thin enough to feel means not waterproof or warm. Thick enough to be warm, and waterproof both mean poor sensitivity. Both warm and waterproof feels like wearing a chicken on each hand.
Additionally, mudguards/fenders keep the road grime off your chain and BB by fully wrapping the rear wheel's top half. If you don't have guards and ride a lot of roads in the wet, you'll end up doing chain/transmission/derailleur servicing more frequently. 3/8 coverage front and 1/2 coverage rear guards help a lot.
"When one drives on a wet road then you get smashed by water and your clothes get dirty."
Indeed, but those are dedicated sports clothes. One has to change them and get a shower at work even when everything is warm and dry. And when one just go for a casual ride, one should wash them immediately afterwards. It is like underwear, you better do not put it on twice, else you can get saddle sores.
To be honest, I think twice about going for a ride on wet roads, but here they get dry very fast (less than an hour). The choice is rather: can I go off-road (gravel bike) or do I have to stay on the roads?
If I get surprised by rain on the trip, then I get wet from water from all directions (with or without a pocket jacket) and a fender would not save it. I usually ride alone so I also do not have to think about the rider behind me. But this is the biggest reason for a fender, in my opinion - to allow another rider to follow you closely without being in a constant spray of water.
A couple of years ago I bought these flimsy plastic fenders that I can snap on within a couple of seconds if I need to.
Here you can see how bendy and flimsy they are. They don't offer great protection and I wouldn't recommend them as a permanent solution, but if you want to use your road bike for the occasional trip to the bakery, etc. these might be useful.
One tip: I would cut the part that attaches to the seat a little shorter as mine kept rubbing on my pants and it ripped a hole in my pants after a couple of rides.
I bought mine here, but you can get them from many other sites as well, e.g. ass-savers.com
Not everyone will agree with this but here's goes... Riding, for me, is a means to get out of the sanitized daily grind and thus rain, mud dirt are all welcome. Fenders are ugly and if I can avoid them, I always choose to.
I ride to work. I ride to sports ground. I ride to supermarket. I rode to school. When did I realize I need a fender? When I was late for school I rode through rain and a forest at full speed. Luckily, I was wearing my waterproof jacket and was carrying my water resistant backpack
