Mud guards

mask of sanity

This probably sounds like a stupid question, but bear with me...

Can anyone tell me the purpose of having mudguards on your bike? Obviously they help to keep the mud of you (hence the name) but to me thats not something thats important. I just think that if you're going to go out in wet conditions then you're going to get wet/muddy and its kind of part of the fun.

So is there another purpose to them other than that of keeping you clean or is it really that simple?

bomberesque

nope, it's really that simple

I have full guards on my road/commutor bike, they are a godsend on a wet road. You'd be surprised at how light the kit you need is so long as you stop road spray from soaking you.

I wouldn't have thought that getting muddy was part of the fun for road biking but there you go. Now mountainbiking is a different story ... mud guards there are really to stop the worst of the much from a) making a paste between your shorts and your saddle and b) coming up off the front tyre getting in your eyes, under your specs. I don't use them much, but mostly coz the rear ones mostly attach to the seatpost and don't stay still.

mask of sanity

oh ok, thats cool. Am i right in saying you can get after production ones? Because i have an Allez and it doesnt have the fittings. Would these be ok to fit panniers on. Don't really know how all that works tbh.

Obvioulsy i''d rather go out in the dry but sometimes when you get caught in it its quite nice! Or maybe im just weird... lol. Its definatly nice when you get home after a wet ride!

Anonymous

It also alleviates all the cr*p thrown up at riders behind you on a group ride.

Chris Swansea

Using mudguards is also appreciated if you ride in a group!

bice

They stop getting crud all over your drive chain. I put on race blades if it is/has been wet.

Chris Swansea

Has anyone had experience of the different brands of 'race guards' (clips on's) that are available?
I have read a review of one brand and it slated them, but there do seem to be other brands out there.

giant_man

The SKS Race Guards are fine, I've had them for a couple of years now and they do a good job. You have to be careful to safeguard against them rubbing on your frame and taking the paint off - a bit of tape usually does the trick - but apart from that they're fine.

The Topeak defender is the same thing but probably cheaper.

bomberesque

for aftermarket guards, SKS seem to have the best rep out there. I've had Zefal guards and now have SKS and the SKS are so so so much better that I wouldn't even question it next time. For those old enough, these used to be called ESGE 20 years ago and they were the bollox back then.

As for clip ons, I've never used them myself but have heard good things about SKS raceblades. They will never be quite as effective as a full set but they seem to be a good compromise for a race bike where you want to take them off in good weather and / or don't have the braze-ons / attachments for them

as for panniers, if you don't have the braze-ons / attachments at the rear drop out then you can look for a rack that attaches through the hub QR (think about how weigth weenie your hub is though) or you can get a rack that cantilevers off your seatpost. Beware of the seatpost ones, they usually have a max loading of 10kg and I wouldn't attach them to a weight weenie seatpost. Have a trawl thorugh your internet seller of choice's site and see what they have CRC have a wide range of racks and guards, but so will others.

Chris Swansea

ESGE Chromoplastic... that brought back a few memories!

I wondered where they went when I was looking for guards for my touring bike. I ended buying SKS anyway!

I'll check our their raceblades.