Strida rear wheel road spray problem

I don’t make a habit of riding in the rain but I will ride the bike after the rain, which means I sometimes ride on wet street.

My unfortunate experience with that is that the rear rubbery mud flap, that attaches to the end of the rear fender, is not sufficient to prevent several drops of spray from hitting my backside.

This isn’t from blasting through puddles - I always slow down when I get to one.

From the patterns left on my pink dress shirt and rack bag ;-( it would appear that the spray gets thrown vertically up and drops down. Actually from the spray on the rack bag, there’s no other way it could get on top of the bag (since the bottom would block it).

When I look at the Strida, it appears this might be happening because the rear flap does not extend past the vertical tangent of the wheel, and also the Kendas have fewer water grooves than a Schwalbe Marathon. But it’s hard to know for sure because I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. But I never thad this issue with my Brompton.

I’m sure I could fashion some kind of extended mudflap from a milk carton, or screw on a Brompton (!) front mudflap but I wonder if something else is wrong. The Strida is a UK invention so it surprises me that the fenders aren’t a more adequate. Again I don’t ride in the rain, just occasionally on wet roads.

Anyone else have this problem? Suggested solutions other than the ones I’ve mentioned?

Here’s a picture of the rear of my bike. You can see what I was saying about the mudflap not extending past the vertical tangent. Nonetheless it’s incredible to me that spray is reaching to my back and the top of my bag. I’m quite sure it’s not rain from overhead.

BTW if you’re curious, the seat is a Specialized Expedition Plus. Very comfortable.

You can click the photo to see it bigger.

Hi Mark, I have the same mudflap and it works very well for me.

The reason that it works well, I think, is that I happen to lay my bike down on the ground quite often (folded, that is). You know, when the rear rack acts as a stand? Anyway, when the bike is lying on the ground like this, the rear mudflap contacts the ground and bends upwards, pointing away from the wheels towards the rack.

Over time, the mudflap has deformed to the extent that it permanently sticks out parallel to the ground when the bike is unfolded and upright. This seems to direct all of the water, mud etc. back and away from my butt. :mrgreen:

Long story short, you might want to consider expediting the process and bending your mudflap!

Hmm. Interesting hypothesis. I have had my Strida for over a year, I don’t remember this problem at first, and I do remember the flap being more parallel to ground at first (it seems to have drooped over time).

Thanks for suggesting…

Or maybe it’s a phantom memory.

I do seem to find varying photos:

Attention!

Droopy…

Just rub a Viagra pill on the tail of the mudguard. That should reveal the droop (so I am told).

Luckily I’m not quite old enough yet to own any Viagra.
And adventurous enough to use Strida recreationally, but not V :mrgreen:

Today I rode home from work after a rain (NYC has been rather like what NYCers imagine London to be like lately…) after stowing my Stida on its rack instead of propped against a wall, in order to bend the mudflap as StridaD suggested.

Result? No spray. I think this is the problem. Certainly my Brompton has a floppy front mudflap that points downward but the rear mudflap is firm and parallel to the ground.