Crud Roadracer Mudguards or SKS Race blades?

iRider

HELP!
Dunno which ones to buy, SKS's seem good quality, but they cover less of the tire. Whereas The Crud's cover more tire, but seem to be of a poorer quality.

Crud Roadracer Mudguards.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Crud_ ... 360045569/

SKS Race Blades
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/SKS_R ... 300005894/

What do you think?

Thanks!

Gazzaputt

Just fitted Cruds and they were a pain in the backside. Took ages to get the clearance right and still the front bends to the left. Also had to replace the plastic fixings for proper nuts and bolts to get clearance with them.

As you say they cover more of the wheel than SKS.

stoobydale

Crud roadracers are way better IMO.
Have used both, and some raceblade copies. Raceblades are too expensive, don't give enough protection and don't look as good on the bike. The customer care from crud is second to none and for the price of two 1st class stamps you can get spare parts.

dboden

From my experience and feedback from a few club members who have both,
sks race blades

Philby

Depends on your bike - some won't take SKS raceblades due to clearance under brakes.

Crud Roadracers are fine, but a bit more fiddly to get set up right than the video on their website suggests.

Lagavulin

Have used both and think the Cruds are better. I appreciate the fact I don't have to faff about with the brakes as much as I did with the RaceBlades (who seem to direct road guff at the callipers) but I must admit I found them a real pain to fit initially.

Monty Dog

Raceblades - rattle about, less coverage and damage your paint work if you don't protect your frame and forks. But can be used where there is no clearance under the brake caliper - better for 'race' bikes. Ridiculous retail price for what they are.
Cruds - need extra brake clearance, fiddlier to fit but look neater and offer a bit more coverage. Better for training bikes but they could do with a wider version.
I have both - I'd say it's 50/50 as it depends on the bike you're fitting them to.

Steve_b77

I've got Cruds on my Road bike, saying that I can't have the forward most flap attached on the rear one as it won't go under teh caliper & clear the tyre.

If you want race blade style ones Zefal do one, called the Shield, got them on my SS commuter bike, they're £19.99 from decathalon, certainly do the job on that nicely and come with nice rubber mounting pads & straps so they're kind to paint.

APIII

Raceblades. My mate has the crud guards and they're just not wide enough, so his feet/lower legs get covered in the spray that comes out the sides. My raceblades seem a sturdier construction too.

Beatmaker

I found my Crud's a doddle to fit, I guess its luck of the draw. Your club mates / riding buddies will certainly thank you for going for the Crud's over the Race Blades, I was out last Sunday on a very wet ride and after being sat on the wheel of a friend with Race Blades for a while, I looked like I had just rode a particularly muddy edition of the Hell of the North.

afcbian

I have tried them both and prefer the crud roadracers.
Contrary to other comments they were a perfect fit first time on my Ribble. They also protect you more and look far far nicer IMO
Think it's a chalk and cheese/love hate thing though

afcbian

I have tried them both and prefer the crud roadracers.
Contrary to other comments they were a perfect fit first time on my Ribble. They also protect you more and look far far nicer IMO
Think it's a chalk and cheese/love hate thing though

andy_wrx

I have RaceBlades and found initially that the front one was too short and that every time through a puddle, half of it ended-up in my shoe.
However this sorted by pop-rivetting on a 3-4" piece cut from from a fabric softener bottle and now they're pretty good.

Cruds look too narrow, I'm not sure if they'll work too well - certainly from following others, I'd say that Cruds may be longer but because they're so narrow you get more spray coming off into the face of whoever is following.

And a friend has just had to replace his frame as the Cruds wrecked the carbon rear wishbone.
Raceblades have a similar fixing so I'd be very careful with either to make sure that there's protection on the frame and you check it periodically to make sure it's not worn through and the guard is chewing into the frame.

antikythera

+1 tried both...

I've used both 23 and 25 mm wheels with the crud catchers and not found any significant over spray. They are more effective (for me) than the race blades.

While fitting the cruds isn't simple in every case, it is tool freel and flexible enough that over a few rides you can tweak the fit. The (SKS) race blades requires that you screw the guard in place, which I never did and eventually ground a hole into the blade.

andyrr

Cruds for me - blades are shorter at the rear (not nice for riding in a group for those sat behind), easy to fit - a bit of faffing required to get them skimming the rim/tyre but IMHO give better protection. Full guards the best but if these don't fit your bike I'd go Cruds, blades are a bit of a crappy alternative IMHO.
Check the nuts bolts for security each time as I lost a tailpiece on my 1st ride but I think that was due to insufficient tightening, have been fine since.

passout

I have had both and found the cruds easier to fit (20min max) but do look at the video on the crud website - it really helps. I had to hacksaw my rear guard a bit (as per video) but it no works fine. They also work better ie keep your drier. Race Blades are OK if Cruds don't fit.

Daimler

Get full proper mudguards,
Crud road racers kept my back/bum dry and they are easy and quick to fit but they just redirected the water onto my gears causing them to gunk up......if they do they all the time you'd soon be getting through drivetrain parts quickly even after cleaning/lubing.

They are ok if it's a bit damp with the odd puddle but thats it IMO.

If you want you can have mine for £13 posted.

passout

Daimler wrote:

Get full proper mudguards,
Crud road racers kept my back/bum dry and they are easy and quick to fit but they just redirected the water onto my gears causing them to gunk up......if they do they all the time you'd soon be getting through drivetrain parts quickly even after cleaning/lubing.

They are ok if it's a bit damp with the odd puddle but thats it IMO.

If you want you can have mine for £13 posted.

Yes full mud guards are the best of course - the other options are compromises but miles better than nothing IMO.

13 quid is cheap!

APIII

Daimler wrote:

Get full proper mudguards,
Crud road racers kept my back/bum dry and they are easy and quick to fit but they just redirected the water onto my gears causing them to gunk up......if they do they all the time you'd soon be getting through drivetrain parts quickly even after cleaning/lubing.

They are ok if it's a bit damp with the odd puddle but thats it IMO.

If you want you can have mine for £13 posted.

Hopefully you get a buyer Steve. After following your wheel on Saturday I got home looking like I'd ridden Paris Roubaix

Daimler

lol, I didn't think they were that bad...lol

bigpikle

I put the Cruds on my Look before Xmas and there seem good. The clearances were VERY tight so I needed a little trimming with a sharp knife in places but they went on in the end.

I occasionally hear a little rubbing from the stick-on brushes that go in them, but otherwise they keep the worst of the spray and muck off. I havent done any group rides with them so cant comment on what others may think about the spray they keep off, or not...

Dick Scruttock

I have cruds and on the second ride the front blade lost the rear lower part. This is despite me checking the fittings were tight as instructed. Not good.

Daimler

Rick Draper wrote:

I have cruds and on the second ride the front blade lost the rear lower part. This is despite me checking the fittings were tight as instructed. Not good.

Just had this happen to me too.
Toe of the shoe caught the front bottom tail end and it snapped clean off......so the main section was damaged.
I kept the piece that broke off as the tail that screws on was ok.
However, Crud webiste shows that you can order another main blade section for 6 x large 1st class stamps = £3.66 IIRC...so not too bad.

maddog 2

I too snapped the front 'guard of a Crud with my shoe, when turning around on the bike at low speed.

Lightweight for sure, and generally okay in use but not a long-term solution for me. Just too fragile.

They can also snag on front wheel magnets , and you can't bend the stays clear as they are placky

Daimler

I had magnet rub but went to a cateye wheel magent and resolved that issue.
Agreed that they are just to fragile especially as mine happened when stationary. :shock:

monkeyjo

maddog 2 wrote:

I too snapped the front 'guard of a Crud with my shoe, when turning around on the bike at low speed.

Lightweight for sure, and generally okay in use but not a long-term solution for me. Just too fragile.

They can also snag on front wheel magnets , and you can't bend the stays clear as they are placky

I did the exact same thing too. I was surprised at how little it took to do it.

Daimler

Yet their video which I viewed on Wiggle showed how tough they are.
Admittedly the replacement blade is good for 6 x large 1st class stamps but I can forsee this happening every now and then.......so is it economically viable?

Wrath Rob

Got Crud's on my commuter, where they replaced the SKS 'blades. I never got the SKS's to sit properly on the front and the rear rattled alarmingly after a while. And they've work the pain off of the rear stays despite me using the "protective" film".

The Crud's have been very good so far and do cover a lot more of the tyre, plus they're a bit more stealthy. Yes they are more fiddly to fit but watching the video helps. And yes, I also need the lower lip for the front after a foot/Crud moment when turning at low speed.