mudguards on club run

stueyc
stueyc Posts: 518
edited January 2008 in Road beginners
definite yes?
«1

Comments

  • on the road
    on the road Posts: 5,631
    I'd say yes, they won't be too pleased when you spray someone behind you. You only need them for from late autumn to early spring. Some insist on them and some don't.
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    Not really, depends on the club! 8 of us out yesterday and only one had a mudguard. It's only a bit of water for goodness sake! Most people ride to avoid puddles and if it rains you're going to get wet anyway. :D:D
    Still breathing.....
  • piedwagtail91
    piedwagtail91 Posts: 781
    definitely yes in the clubs i ride with. almost everyone has fitted a mudflap on the rear guard as well., most of the roads round here are covered in filth.
  • Richie G
    Richie G Posts: 283
    A lot of clubs insist on mudguards. On a club run over christmas i somehow ended up behind the only person without them. I didn't think anything of it until we got to the cafe when it was pointed out that everyone else was clean whilst i looked like i'd just had a mud bath! It's not the wet that's the problem so much as all the muck on the road. It's much nicer when you're not having to wipe horse poo off your specs! :D
  • notsoracy rich
    notsoracy rich Posts: 229
    Its very inconsiderate to go out with other riders on a club run and spray all the following riders with road dirt .My club doesn't insist on mudguards,so although I am one of the few riders to actually have full mudguards and mudflaps,I have to wear my oldest clothing as the dirt sprayed up by other riders never washes out.

    I don't go on many club runs when the roads are wet!
  • graham_g
    graham_g Posts: 652
    Well, I don't belong to a club as yet but I've been astounded at the amount of bikes which don't have mudguard eyes and can't stand riding without guards if it's wet/filthy on the roads, even in summer. Judging from these comments I think that I'd support any casual/implied rule of mudguards in the wet on club runs.
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    hambones wrote:
    Not really, depends on the club! 8 of us out yesterday and only one had a mudguard. It's only a bit of water for goodness sake! Most people ride to avoid puddles and if it rains you're going to get wet anyway. :D:D
    For me, it isn't that water is wet, it's that it contains all sorts of crap which gets thrown up in your face.

    I rode behind a mate one wet day a few years back but wasn't too bothered by the odd splash that caught me. What did for me was when he rode through a particularly grimey puddle and I got a face-full. There must have been some fine grit in the water which managed to get behind my glasses into my eyes. I felt a sudden sharp pain in my right eye and had to pull over because I couldn't see anything out of that eye, and the left one was rapidly closing up too. My mate used a whole bottle of water trying to flush the grit from my eyes but the damage was done and I ended up taking about 2 hours to limp 20 miles home. It was hard to ride more than about 100 yards before having to rest my eyes again. The right eye was bloodshot for about a week after that, so I reckon the grit had scratched the surface of the eyeball. There's always the chance of getting a nasty eye infection too. If you ride with others in wet weather - yes, mudguards are a good idea.

    Mudguards also keep a lot of nasty stuff off your bike if you have flaps on them. Short mudguards are nowhere near as effective.

    My 'winterised' Basso

    bodged_basso_001.jpg

    Note the extension flap I added to the rear guard. That's purely for the benefit of people behind me. It doesn't make any difference to what gets onto me or my bike.
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    Good to have a difference of opinion although mine seems to be the only difference so far :D

    Personally I'm not bothered if people have them. If it rains whilst out it's no big deal as we all get wet and a bit grimy but then I have a washing machine back home! On a club ride people are generally 2-abreast, with gaps, with people avoiding very wet areas. The amount of 'spray' from just a damp road I find is minimal. Maybe it's just the roads around where I live? :D
    Still breathing.....
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    Also, my bike wouldn't look as sleak and sexy with mudguards on and one couldn't be doing with that could one? :wink:
    Still breathing.....
  • Ashley_R
    Ashley_R Posts: 408
    I've had criticism from fellow club members that I don't have a mud flap on my mudguards, dread to think what would happen if I turned up on a wet day without the mudguards!
    You can lead an elephant to water but a pencil must be lead
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    The only inconvenience would be to fellow club members who find it an issue. It seems no-one in my club are bothered and we seem to be the exception (there was even some sniggering yesterday when a large group passed and every single bike had guards front and back!) :)
    Still breathing.....
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    appreciate the replies...think i might get myself a pair
  • arranandy
    arranandy Posts: 688
    I would say yes to mudguards in the autumn and winter. Nothing worse than being out on a club run and being sprayed with water and all sorts of cr@p from the bikes in front.
    Flying Scot? You must be joking!
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    hambones wrote:
    It seems no-one in my club are bothered and we seem to be the exception (there was even some sniggering yesterday when a large group passed and every single bike had guards front and back!) :)
    So, were they from a rival school?
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    Water and even road dirt is one thing, but a face full of slurry and worse on rural roads is surely not too healthy?
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    LOL glad to see someone appreciates a smiley :)
    Still breathing.....
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    Agreed - ride around horse manure at all times!
    Still breathing.....
  • Garybee
    Garybee Posts: 815
    hambones wrote:
    The only inconvenience would be to fellow club members who find it an issue. It seems no-one in my club are bothered and we seem to be the exception (there was even some sniggering yesterday when a large group passed and every single bike had guards front and back!) :)

    Maybe this is the reason that only 8 people turned up to your club run.
    Hypocrisy is only a bad thing in other people.
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    Yeah maybe :roll:
    Still breathing.....
  • ColinJ
    ColinJ Posts: 2,218
    hambones wrote:
    LOL glad to see someone appreciates a smiley :)
    I thought I'd be subtle by not putting one on my previous post.

    I had my sister's family up for the weekend and had to sort out my teenage niece's laptop. Someone had set Vista's parental controls and couldn't switch them off again. It meant that my niece couldn't watch videos on YouTube and she felt terribly deprived. I managed to get YouTube working again and she insisted on showing me the sort of wonders that were now available to her.

    For some reason, when I read your post about sniggering at people riding with mudguards, I couldn't help remembering this lovely lot from my niece's school - the future of our great nation. Ah - it makes me wish that I was 13 again... (long awaited smiley - :wink: ).
  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    You are not too popular at cafe stops if you are covered with crap and the farmers round here like to lay it verge to verge. We want to keep our cafes so mudguards and flaps are required in winter.
    My Fleet.
  • graham_g
    graham_g Posts: 652
    That's a good point - I wouldn't want to psych myself up for that hot coffee only to be told I'm too bloody filthy to sit inside! :D
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    got a pair!!!

    clubs generally require you to wear helmet or down to personal choice?
  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    My group is about 50/50. No rules. In the last 5 years we have had 2 broken helmets ( one with a minor scull fracture) and one badly bashed head. The bashed head (no helmet) was off the bike for 3 weeks. The fracture was back on his bike 4 days later. I still think it should be personal choice even though mine was the other broken helmet. Also if you have to wear one for racing you may as well get used to it.
    My Fleet.
  • stueyc
    stueyc Posts: 518
    fair point John...thanks
  • hambones
    hambones Posts: 407
    Most of the riders in my filth-covered, sopping wet, under-attended miserable sniggering club wear helmets :D:D (Generally I don't!)
    Still breathing.....
  • pieinthesky
    pieinthesky Posts: 417
    Few of the riders round my area bother with mudguards and look down their nose at you if you have them. The annoying thing is, when I ride with them I am the only one who never benifits from my mudguards :x
  • gumball3000
    gumball3000 Posts: 14
    I never use them. Bought a set of SKS race blades, but can never be arsed to put them on. Have never been a fan of the clubs round here anyway.

    This is why washing machines and Assos cleaning fluid were invented!
  • pieinthesky
    pieinthesky Posts: 417
    Riding without mudguards in the winter is like smoking - selfish, antisocial, and best practiced on your own.

    Unfortunately while attitudes to the smoking issue have progressed the mudguard issue has regressed.
  • geoff_ss
    geoff_ss Posts: 1,201
    stueyc wrote:
    got a pair!!!

    clubs generally require you to wear helmet or down to personal choice?

    It should be down to personal choice.

    However, in !990 when a cat in the front wheel sent me over the handlebars I suffered severe spinal shock which paralysed me for a while (still not fully recovered - and won't ever) I broke the helmet I'd bought just for commuting. I think most in the club decided a helmet was a good idea.

    I got a special award at the club dinner that year - 'The flat cat trophy'. It's still awarded to the most spectacular crash of the year. I think my wife and I are the only couple to have 'won' it individually :D

    Geoff
    Old cyclists never die; they just fit smaller chainrings ... and pedal faster

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