Mudguards for Europe this summer?

EnglishChris

Hi,

I'm turning my On-One Inbred into a tourer for a trip this summer down through France / Germany to Switzerland and then down through the Alps. Some of it will be off road, though nothing too serious I suspect. This will include one of the Swiss National Mountain bike routes from St Gallen to Lac Leman.

I'm undecided whether its worth putting mudguards on the bike. Would probably be SKS Chromoplastics.

Any views - is it always worth it?

I'm also undecided about changing out my current suspension fork to a rigid... can I fit these kind of mudguards to a suspension fork? Presumably I'd just attach the the top bracket to the fork bridge? Would I be better sticking with my crudcatcher and Neoguard?

alfablue

I would recommend a rigid fork and full SKS Chromoplastics. You need a fork of the right length to account for suspension geometry of the frame. I put some Kona Project 2 forks on my mtb, they come in a few lengths. Other possibilities are Surly or Thorn steel forks.

The real difference of a full mudguard is your feet, if you ride on wet roads, even if not raining, your toes get soaked (and then cold) in no time, only full guards stop this.

I don't think you will be able to fit full guards on a suspension fork (may be wrong).

An alternative might be some waterproof boots, like Shimano MT90's - I have these and they are great, but rain can get in the top and then once wet inside they stay like it for some time!

EnglishChris

Thanks. Yeah, I feel the wet feet mountain biking/commuting and use overshoes. I guess I'm imagining a summer of long sunny days when the reality might be quite different!

I have had a look at forks. Couldn't find any P2s available in the right length but figured that the Surly 1x1 100mm would be the one - has disc and v brake mounts. I was just trying to avoid having to change it all over!! I know the general advice is to use a rigid fork, even if your tour includes some off road stuff.

I suppose that taking the current Reba's off gives me a fork to build up an off road hardtail with :-)

alfablue

I got a spare crown race for my headset when I swapped forks, easier than removing it. Luckily it was an FSA headset and spares are easy to find.

I presume you are aiming touse paniers, just check that the frame geometry leaves enough heel clearance for the panniers. Might be worth checking before you start swapping forks.

niblue

On-One do rigid steel forks for the Inbred and they're £50 currently - there are disk only and disk & v-brake options.

Using panniers on the Inbred is no problem, but it's best to put the panniers well back on the rack to give heel clearance. Here's my old one:

EnglishChris

niblue wrote:

On-One do rigid steel forks for the Inbred and they're £50 currently - there are disk only and disk & v-brake options.

Using panniers on the Inbred is no problem, but it's best to put the panniers well back on the rack to give heel clearance. Here's my old one:

Cheers - I've ordered the Surlys from Brixton Bikes who will be able to cut to length etc when I take it in.

I will get some mudguards also... have a shopping list of things I need... racks, rear panniers etc :-)

EnglishChris

niblue wrote:

On-One do rigid steel forks for the Inbred and they're £50 currently - there are disk only and disk & v-brake options.

Using panniers on the Inbred is no problem, but it's best to put the panniers well back on the rack to give heel clearance. Here's my old one:

Out of interest - what mudguards do you have on your Inbred? And how easily do the rears attach? I notice my frame (2nd Gen) doesn't have a chain or seatstay bridge, so I'm not sure how easy it is to attach a set of SKS chromoplastics, for example?

Bodhbh

EnglishChris wrote:

Out of interest - what mudguards do you have on your Inbred? And how easily do the rears attach? I notice my frame (2nd Gen) doesn't have a chain or seatstay bridge, so I'm not sure how easy it is to attach a set of SKS chromoplastics, for example?

I have full SKS guards on my converted Rockhopper (no chainstay bridge). I drilled a hole in the centre of the guard and looped a tiewrap through and around the chainstay each side. It holds it firm enough, although I know it's a bit of a bodge and not very elegant.

I changed the sus forks in the end, but originally I used hoseclips to make mounts on the front for the guards (i.e. pull out the screw out the hoseclip, put the mudguard stay in place, then screw it onto the hoseclip and tighten it around the fork leg). I think I used a p-clip around the bridge of the fork to make a mount at the top. Again, bodgeville but it was pretty solid.