Two Kickstarter projects have come to our attention that have a bike and Portland connection: a nifty new foldable plastic rear fender and a vegan food cart pulled by a tandem bike.
The fenders come from Full Windsor, a London-based design start-up with a U.S. sales rep in Portland. The fenders, dubbed the Quickfix and Foldnfix, have a cool, origami-inspired design that allows them to be snapped onto a wide variety of frames and then be folded flat while not in use. They come in two varieties, one that snaps on via a button (Quickfix, $25) and another, more permanent one (the Foldnfix, $20) that attaches via zip-ties. They are made in the U.K. and the designer is looking to raise $5,000 (they’re at about $1,300 so far) to make the first big shipment of them into the States.
The promo video features lots of action shots from Portland:
Tandem Treats! will soon be coming to a corner/event/food cart pod near you. This project is a “tandem-bike towed vegan food cart.” The folks behind the project say “We want to feed our community with as little environmental impact as possible.” In addition to human-powered transportation, Tandem Treats will use locally sourced/GMO/organic/vegan food for the items on their menu (which includes everything from buffalo-ranch pizza to chili, nachos and kombucha).
They’ve raised over $2,300 on Kickstarter and plan to use the money to pimp out their old Schwinn tandem with new tires, buy a custom Black Oak Fab trailer, and more. Check out their funny and sweet promo video:
Seen cool bike stuff on Kickstarter? We like to share projects here on the Front Page, especially if they have a Portland connection. Drop us a line if you find a good one.
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Oh yay, another company making the jerk fenders. At least these snap off quickly for ease of moving them into the garbage can.
Those fenders are definitely form before function. They look they are almost designed to create a huge rooster tail. Ride within 20′ behind someone with that on their bike and you’ve got a face full of water and mud.
Agreed. I refer to them as “rude fenders”
How about “easily installed, inexpensive, eyelet agnostic fenders”? I know it is cumbersome in-mouth, but “rude fenders” is fairly near-sighted.
How about folk who can’t afford a bike that takes full coverage fenders or can’t afford the fenders themselves? With shops charging a fair rate hourly rate for the installation of fenders, there is another hurdle.
If a bicycle is spraying road water on me (clearly an unpleasant circumstance), I adjust my riding so I am not situated in the spray zone. Until there is a “fender law” forcing everyone to drill their own Honjo full coverage fenders, I’ll just ride around or stay back.
Fender etiquette? Yeah, I’m really worried about that on a rainy day. These are a great idea for those of us who don’t care to run a fender set yet would like something to easily attach and then remove. Plus it folds and you can stick it in your pack/pannier. Beats arriving with a dirt track up your back.
And thank you for the dirt track you threw in everybody’s face because you’re too cool for real fenders.
If you are truly getting a face full of water and mud, I may suggest that you are not following the 2 second rule. And, yes that does apply to bicycles, IMO, especially when it is wet and stopping distances decrease signifcantly with wet pavement and wet rims.
I agree with this in sentiment, but in practice, like when you’re heading up the westbound on-ramp to the Hawthorne Bridge, someone with no fenders or this type of fender will kick up dirt in your face at a quite acceptable following distance.
Nobody gives two seconds of space when they go around you, either.
Perhaps I was not clear. I was simply suggesting that when a stream of wet road grime is hitting one in the face, there is not a safe distance between the bikes. I was not making a judgement on fender use. Yes, there are certain situations where this will not apply such as the approach to the Hawthorne Bridge. There always will be. However, on a level and wet stretch of pavement getting a face full of road grime simply tells me I am not giving me enough room to safely stop.
http://www.ridepdw.com/goods/fenders/origami-fender%E2%84%A2-rear
Beat me to it!
I thought I was the only one, but apparently most everyone else hates these, too.
It’s annoying when you have to ride (or pass) from 20 feet back because of the rooster tail these things kick up, but even worse when you’re overtaken and get a face full of mud. All because somebody is way too cool for image-tainting fenders.
OK Champs, you’re a hater on these and a fashion plate fender snob. And with only several posts “apparently most everyone else hates these too”.
Thats fine. I’ll be first in line to buy one. .
Perhaps as a courtesy to you, I’ll switch to a convertible fender that flips up to the more stylish look you prefer as I pass by.
Wow… a lot of hate flowing. I wonder if perhaps a more positive spin on this like, hey I wonder if a design could be considered where the fender is more of a full one? If they solve this engineering problem with the elegance of origami folds, then they might have a really game-changing product. Instead it’s all about the product beat down. Kinda uncool. Not productive anyway.
It might sugarcoat the negativity, but a simple “hey, this would be a neat feature” alone doesn’t show the reasoning behind it, or just how many people have put thought into this much-needed criticism.
Much like chopped down handlebars on fixies.
Um yeah, what Zaphod said. Seriously. I almost deleted the first comment, but I get conflicted because I do not want to sanitize the comment section and only allow nice things to be said. I respect if people have a negative reaction to something… But perhaps think a little bit about the humans on the other side of this stuff. To them, it’s something they care a lot about and have worked hard to bring to the market. You might not like the fender, but you would probably like the person behind it if met them in person. Keep that in mind please. Be considerate and question something by offering productive criticism.
Negative comments don’t help anything and they keep people from joining in the discussion. No reader has the right to keep others from feeling welcome. While not a direct insult, I’m just saying that a lot of people don’t like to be around negativity in general.
Thanks.
I am somewhat intriqued with these fenders because, as we know, the forecasters do not always get it right. I’d rather take my nice road bike to work than my rain bike. And, sorry, if there is a surprise shower, I am still going to ride home.
Jonathan, how about a MythBusters style experiment? I think it’s about time for real data before passing judgement.
I have some great ideas on how to perform the experiment. Jonathan, you can contact me if you feel like doing this.
The sad part is this debate is distracting from the couple trying to run a healthy food cart!
Seems like they could add a little mudflap type thing to prevent the rooster tail (or you could make one) Also, I think a mythbusters type experiment would be neat. (I’m curious how it would compare to this http://ass-savers.com/ fender as it also seems like a cool “in a pinch” fender)
I had something like these on my first mountain bike, they work similar to the road bike ones that rubber band on to the frame; mine are Planet Bike Speedez. Life is full of compromises folks. These type work better than nothing. Well if it weren’t for Speedez or the equalivant nothing is what you’d have to accept because full fenders don’t fit on either of my race bikes. Compared to nothin they work great.
Yay, excited about the bike food cart! Someday I’ll get around to kickstarting something for The Improv Pot (http://www.theimprovpot.com)
A big thanks for silencing the whining J-man. Some people I tell ya.
A local company already makes these way better. http://www.ridepdw.com/goods/fenders/origami-fender%E2%84%A2-rear Buy one from PDW and support local business and real cool dudes.
I hear what you are saying about the haters, Jonathan, but I also think there is a legit argument here (albeit not made in the hater-esque style). If we think of the fender as a *personal* rainy weather device, these new fenders look pretty cool. However, if we consider that there is ALSO a community aspect to full coverage fenders when riding in heavily used commuter routes/spaces, these don’t really hit the mark. I think of my fenders as both keeping me from the unsightly stripe up my back AND a kindness to those behind me, in the same vein I appreciate the mudflaps on trucks that keep the road grit from blasting everything behind them. No disrespect for the creators, these fenders have a place, but maybe not as a commuter full coverage replacement (which they were no doubt NOT intended to replace)
I think the fact that Portland gets a fair amount of rain leads a bit to the zealousness of the anti-fenderette crowd. However, I myself still have to side with that opinion after all the experience I’ve had riding a variety of bikes with a variety of fender setups and rain gear. It would be easy to write several pages on the subject, but at the end of the day, nothing beats full fenders with mudflaps for your own comfort and the courtesy to others with whom you share the road. And on that last point, it is not always possible to pick and choose your proximity and positioning to other bikes. If the people in front of you are not courteous enough to equip their bikes to prevent rooster tails, the ensuing mud shower is not pleasant.
Does a fender like this provide reprieve from the dreaded skunk stripe? Yes, but that’s about it. It’s not really worth the investment, in my opinion, when compared to a full coverage fender (front and back) that protects your drivetrain, feet, legs, butt and the people around you. If you ride regularly during the rainy season, full coverage fenders are simply common sense.
Q: What ever happened to the Tall Tour II kickstarter campaign?
A: I backed it, it was fully funded, and then NOTHING EVER HAPPENED.
Thanks guys; I have to say I’m done with Kickstarter now.
Is there a chance they could use the Kickstart funds to produce the fenders stateside rather than spending a big chunk of the money on freight costs?
These “mudguards” are a terrible product. The best thing about them is that they’ll be easy to steal.
Good luck to Tandem Treats!
Shorty fenders are great if you’re riding alone. I never used to ride with a fender, because I hated the available designs. Manufacturers finally came up with ideas like the SKS X3 I use, that attach and detach simply with a web snap-lock.
The SKS X3 fender works great for me, riding by myself, but if I was regularly doing, for example, the Hawthorne Bridge or Williams Ave commute, I’d probably get full fenders.
I like the SKS X3 because I can whip it off easily when the days look to be dry. It’s really not that awkward an object to stick in a backpack, but this new Quickfix and Foldnfix might have some potential if they fold to a neater package, and if they’re designed so they don’t mess up the bikes finish where fender and bike frame meet.
Jesus…..all this talk over some fenders. If you don’t like them, don’t buy them.