Mendota Meets Mud

It has been raining for days in my area and the streets and the path I ride were wet and had several patches of thin, slick mud on them. I figured this would be a great opportunity to test the Mendota on wet pavement.

According to their website, the Mendota is “fender-ready for utility,” but as Mike in Florida pointed out after my first post “I see a set of rack eyelets on the rear, but no fender eyelets on the front.” I decided to check the website to see if I could get some help; I clicked the link for manuals and the most recent manuals they have are for the 2005 series.

I finally found a pop up window “Questions” where I could fill out a form to get an e-mail reply. Asked them what to do about mounting a fender and to get a PDF copy of the manual. I got a reply within 3 minutes, including a phone number for the person who replied. When I called the number I was quickly connected with the actual real, live person who had replied to my e-mail. I was directed to check out SKS fenders, particularly Raceblade; he said they were nice and super easy to get on and off. A quick search with my favorite search engine turned up several SKS fenders that look like they’ll work nicely. So, although the website could use some tweaking, I’m very impressed with Trek’s customer support so far.

I also checked Bontrager’s site for a better shot of the Satellite Elite fork. HERE is the link.

Now, other than the tell-tale stripe on my clothes and back pack which can easily be avoided, the ride went pretty well. I love the consistent performance disc brakes offer in wet conditions; it is nice knowing that if you have to stop suddenly, you’re going to stop. In the constant mist of this morning’s ride, the Avid BB5 mechanical disc brakes performed well.

The Bontrager Satellite Plus 700x32c tires did fairly well through puddles and on wet pavement. I was a little concerned about the slick mud patches that did me in March — so I was riding with a bit more care this morning. Compared to my slicks, these tires did add a bit of traction but still slipped a bit while I was leaning into some curves. Again, I was riding much more cautiously than when I wiped out in March.

I guess I’ll be finding out how easy the bike is to clean after I get home tonight. Stay tuned for more.

See all the posts in this review…

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