Carrera Virtuoso Mudguards?

cheddarpaul

Hey all

I have a Virtuoso as a commuter bike but need some mudguards to keep my back dry and clean during the winter.

I have seen the roadracer and the SKS chromoplastic models but they seem expensive (and flimsy) for what I need.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to go for?

Thanks

SimonAH

Yup.

Halfords sell a set that clamp on to the seatstays for the rear and the fork blades on the front. although shorter than the crud clipons they seem to work really well and so far (about six months) have been 100% fine. My raceblades on the other hand fell apart in about three.

I've only got the rear fitted in this photo - the front is a very similar arrangement.

lost_in_thought

I have to say, having tried both the chromoplastics and the Mr Crud, I think both are great and would heartily recommend them! The chromoplastics are easier to fit but if you've got tight clearances the Mr Cruds are for you.

cheddarpaul

Thanks SimonAH, which model are those?

I have seen the raceblades falling apart on friends bikes so want to keep well away from those

SimonAH

TBH I don't know what the model is - I think they were a bikehut own brand.

Despite neither 'guard going ahead of the calipers there seems to be no blowpast of spray - and because of it there are no fit issues.

Zombie_donkey

I thought I was the only one on here with a Virtuoso.

I have a Zefal Swan rear mudguard that clamps on to the seatpost.

cheddarpaul

Yep seen that one, very artistic but is the Swan any good? Also, what do you have on the front zombie?

redvee

Zombie_donkey wrote:

I thought I was the only one on here with a Virtuoso.

Another one has just joined this exclusive club. Mine was dirt cheap £50 but does need some TLC spannering in the form of a new rear wheel, rear mech and hanger. There may be other hidden surprises that I haven't seen yet till I get it home and start properly fettling it.

Stu T

I got one too

Usually been great but freewheel hub broke whilst riding down the Croatian coast this summer so fell out of love with it.

However it fixed and winning back my affections at the moment :twisted:

Zombie_donkey

cheddarpaul wrote:

Yep seen that one, very artistic but is the Swan any good? Also, what do you have on the front zombie?

It keeps all the crud off me. I have a Zefal Cruuzer road for the front but it doesn't keep the muck off my feet when steering.

cheddarpaul

OK one thing wrong with the Swan, I will have a pannier rack on the back.... so any other ideas??

Thanks y'all

redvee

cheddarpaul wrote:

OK one thing wrong with the Swan, I will have a pannier rack on the back.... so any other ideas??

Thanks y'all

I blagged a clip-on mudguard and zip tied it to the pannier rack/seat tube to solve this problem when I had a MTB but didn't have anything on the front.

cyberknight

I have the crud raceguards and they are fine on my virtuosso, that means i can leave the rack points for my rack.

cyberknight

Zombie_donkey wrote:

I thought I was the only one on here with a Virtuoso.

I have a Zefal Swan rear mudguard that clamps on to the seatpost.

And i have the same bikes as you :shock:

SimonAH

Very urgent addendum to this, DO NOT BUY THE HALFORDS / BIKE HUT MUDGUARDS THAT I RECOMMENDED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AS THEY CAN KILL YOU.

This is not a joke or hyperbole.

On my way home from the office this evening I had about a second's worth of warning in the form of tyre rub from the front 'guard before the clamps dropped down the fork blades and it the guard got dragged forward and jjammed absolutely solid between the crown and my front wheel locking it completely solid.

The bike then cartwheeled at 20mph+

The car following me missed me by mm, and I in turn missed the back of a parked tipper truck with my face by inches.

My right knee and shoulder are borked, my jeans are ripped, my right shoe is ruined, my top tube badly dented, my grips flucked, my jacket ripped, my left wrist painful and my adrenaline quota used up for the year.

Nobody died as they say, but it was a bloody close thing.

I've emailed Halfords - will keep you updated. Not happy :evil:

cheddarpaul

Hey cyberknight, do you have the crud raceguards underneath the rack??

lost_in_thought

Strewth Simon, glad you're OK.

:shock:

SimonAH

Thanks LiT, very old-man-creaky today but apart from a bit of missing skin on my knee and a bit of bruising I'm OK. Still steaming mad though.

When you stop to think about it carbon bladed forks generally have a pretty aggressive taper - so attaching something to them that will inherently vibrate using band clamps is a failure mode begging to occur. Astoundingly (and incredibly dangerously) bad design.

dav1

i run sks raceblades on my virtuoso. Theycan be a pain to set up initially but work very well once done.

If you are going for cruds check they will fit OK, the clearence under the fork is obscenly tight on my bike.

The Rookie

Doesn't sound like fun, sounds like when the front light bracket went into the spokes of my old Raleigh Hustler, driver behind reckonede I was doing nearly 40 as I made like Superman!

I have a Gryphon frame in my commuter and that is almost identical to the Virtuoso but with mudguard mount holes......

I use a rack with a deck and a small front mudguard attached to where a rim brake calliper would be to cover down the seat tube. At the front i have one similar to the cheapy zefal ones with just one bolt where a rim brake calliper would mount.

Simon

rolf_f

SimonAH wrote:

Thanks LiT, very old-man-creaky today but apart from a bit of missing skin on my knee and a bit of bruising I'm OK. Still steaming mad though.

When you stop to think about it carbon bladed forks generally have a pretty aggressive taper - so attaching something to them that will inherently vibrate using band clamps is a failure mode begging to occur. Astoundingly (and incredibly dangerously) bad design.

Glad you are OK. Sounds like you were very lucky (in some ways!).

Looking at your pic, on the rear there is a clamp onto the rear brake mount which presumably should stop the problem at the back. Is there similar on the front or does it just rely on the clamp? I'd expect something to attach the guard to the fork crown.

SimonAH

Actually the bit at the back is my own modification! Because the rear mudguard is larger than the front I put the stay in place to stop it oscillating on broken tarmac.

All it is is a spoke that I've put loops in either end of and pop rivetied to the guard and bolted to the brake mount. Had the front guard come with something similar (or had I thought to make a similar modification to it) then last night's impromptu tarmac boogie wouldn't have happened I suppose.

jonginge

Whoa! That crash sounded spectacular and not in a good way. Glad you're pretty much intact.

cyberknight

cheddarpaul wrote:

Hey cyberknight, do you have the crud raceguards underneath the rack??

Yes

fit fine.
This is a piccie when i had a seat post rack, i now have a full rack and theres still plenty of room(click for a larger image).TBH i have moved to my subway 1 now as its my winter bike though i was trying to swap it for another roadie as i prefer the hand positions etc on a raod bike.

rolf_f

SimonAH wrote:

Actually the bit at the back is my own modification! Because the rear mudguard is larger than the front I put the stay in place to stop it oscillating on broken tarmac.

All it is is a spoke that I've put loops in either end of and pop rivetied to the guard and bolted to the brake mount. Had the front guard come with something similar (or had I thought to make a similar modification to it) then last night's impromptu tarmac boogie wouldn't have happened I suppose.

On that basis I think I'd agree the design is basically lethal but that you have a solution for Halfords!

asquithea

The SKS guards have plastic attachments at the front which are supposed to release the stays in the event that something jams under the front mudguard.

Now I can see why.