Could you use mudguards in a pro race?

k-dog

Just watching the Vuelta and obviously yesterday was pretty miserable.

Obviously the guys had rain jackets etc but the bit I find most miserable is the water squirting right at your crack. Is it just tradition/machismo that prevents the use of mudguards - or is there a rule?

I'm think of something like a race blade or those little ones that go under your seat. I've found that must water comes UK rather than down and stopping the spray from your wheel makes a big difference.

arthur_scrimshaw

Unless everyone in the race did it would be pointless as the worst thing about riding in the wet in a group is the crap coming off the wheels of the riders in front hitting you in the face!

gpreeves

Some were using Ass Savers during MSR this year, but it was by no means universal.

rick_chasey

Just something else to go wrong. And who wants to make it comfier for a wheel sucker? ;-)

knedlicky

I can imagine it making some sense in a rainy TTT (although then the mudguards would also have an unadvantageous wind resistance effect), but why bother in a normal tour stage about the rider behind you, who’s often of a different team.

In rainy conditions without mudguards, it does actually sometimes work like this (I mean amateur level and only then infrequently; I’m not sure professionals behave the same – if so, maybe just on descents):
a rider overtakes another rider and soon thereafter moves back in. The overtaken wants to follow but gets the backwheel spray and backs off or moves to the side, so a gap opens, sometimes enough of a gap to prevent the overtaken following the slipstream of the one who overtook.

RideOnTime

madasahattersley wrote:

Rule #5

Rule #5 - the water up the crack rule?
the nobody speaks about cycling club rule?
the water only comes from the UK rule ^^^ as above?

mechanism

Mudguards probably fall into the "modifications" rule that the UCI choose to enforce or ignore as they see fit.

goonz

You mean full on wheel covering types like SKS raceblades or the ass saver?

If the former I can imagine a wheel change would be a bitch.

thegreatdivide

gpreeves wrote:

Some were using Ass Savers during MSR this year

This