Mudguards

feisty

Hi there

I have a specialized secteur elite for weekend rides. I ride every weekend, whatever the weather. And I always clean it when I get back, and give it a good dry afterwards.

I ride alone so don't need to worry about spraying others in the wet but was wondering if there is any other reason to get mud guards? e.g. does the grit etc from the road damage the components on the bike even if I give it a good wash afterwards? Or if I always wash it, is there no point?

Broaders

Personally I like to keep the bike as clean as dry as possible so I don't have to wash and re-geese it as frequently. My experience of BB30 bottom brackets is they don't like being washed frequently but I might just be unlucky.

I also like to keep dry while on the bike and it saves washing road spray from my kit!

Each to their own though!

Buckie2k5

not having a soaking wet caked in mud back and ass after 2 miles is as good a reason if any to fit mudguards. If you use white saddles its also keeps them nice and white

farrina

feisty wrote:

is there no point?

It depends on how many farm yards you ride past ... Personally I prefer swigging from a clean bottle rather than one covered in .....

blablablacksheep

Slows you down too much and never found one that actually fits well or actually works

the_cyclist_of_catan

Broaders wrote:

Personally I like to keep the bike as clean as dry as possible so I don't have to wash and re-geese it as frequently.

I only regeese my bike if it's got absolutely honking or if the weather has been unusually fowl. Otherwise it's not worth the eggstra effort.

keef66

I have full chromopalstics on my winter bike. I reckon they slow me down far less than would having shoes and @rse crack full of filthy, freezing water.

Each to their own though!

arthur_scrimshaw

The Cyclist of Catan wrote:

Broaders wrote:

Personally I like to keep the bike as clean as dry as possible so I don't have to wash and re-geese it as frequently.

I only regeese my bike if it's got absolutely honking or if the weather has been unusually fowl. Otherwise it's not worth the eggstra effort.

Bravo!

defride

Put on Crud Roadracers Sat and rode for the first time with them Sun. There were ponds and streams where there should be roads and when I got back the overshoes were barely damp at the toe, I was dry and the bike took 30 secs to rinse down, well impressed.

pilot_pete

I have SKS Bluemels full mudguards with home made mudflaps and they are the dogs danglies fitted to my winter bike with 28mm tyres and disc brakes. Not designed for disc braked bikes so took a bit of thinking and a few cups of coffee to get them set up and working, but I honestly wouldn't be without them on a winter bike now.

As others have pointed out they keep you considerably drier than without and not just your bum and back. Toes get a bit of spray but nowhere near as much as without and hence your feet stay drier for longer. They also presvent a lot of crap and water being sprayed into areas like your bottom bracket and gear cables (if they are exposed and run along the downtube). They also prevent large amounts of road spray being flung into your lower headset bearing.

It takes me 10 minutes to clean my bike after a wet winter ride and that includes spraying the muck out from under the guards and drying the bike off sufficiently to be able to keep it in the house! It also prevents my kit from getting really, really caked in crappy, filthy water. Anyone who has ruined a decent white coloured top with excessive road spray up their back will attest to guards saving your kit. A big thumbs up from me.

PP

slowbike

Its quite a frequent question - "do I need mudguards if I clean my bike after each ride" ...

Well - think about it - when does your bike get dirty and when does the grit start wearing away your components? I'll give you a clue - it's not when it's sat dirty at the teastop or in the 5 minutes between returning home and washing it all off ...

It starts getting dirty from the moment you start riding and that dirt will get anywhere and everywhere it can.
Ok - it's not the end of the world and your bike isn't going to crumble to dust after just one ride, however, if you're a regular wet road rider then you should consider guards to help protect you and your bike - not only is it more pleasant for you and anyone else you're riding with, it also helps prolong the life of your components ...

BigLee1

I rode home from work a few weeks ago in the wet on my new un mudguarded bike, guards were in the post , and it was amazing how much wetter I got just with the spray off the road, my kit was sodden whereas its just a bit wet in the same conditions on my mudguarded bike.

guards are a no brainer imo and in no way do they slow you down

simon_masterson

Mudguards reduce the amount of muck that gets on you and your bike by an order of magnitude. That you don't go on rides with others doesn't make it any more fun for anyone who crosses your path when out, though.

As regards mudguards slowing you down, whilst I have a feeling I know how much research many who say that they do can quote, the only research I've seen concluded that they - assuming properly fitted - do not; that is, the front one acts as a fairing and the rear one cancels it out.

feisty

Thanks. Now just need to see if I can get them for a specialized secteur elite with 25mm tyres. Have just looked for a search on the different types and there seem to be mixed opinions about whether it's possible to get Cruds to fit well on my bike or not. Will go down my LBS and see what they say.

Either that, or get myself a winter road bike...

wishitwasallflat

feisty wrote:

Thanks. Now just need to see if I can get them for a specialized secteur elite with 25mm tyres. Have just looked for a search on the different types and there seem to be mixed opinions about whether it's possible to get Cruds to fit well on my bike or not. Will go down my LBS and see what they say.

Either that, or get myself a winter road bike...

I had Cruds on my Secteur Elite 58 with 25 tyres and they were ok for a few months but after getting a particularly severe mud bath that meant I had to take them off and clean them I could not get them to settle again. I tried bending them out with a hair dryer to no avail. I'm now using race blade longs and they were much easier to fit, feel much more stable and robust and work fine with 25 tyres. My conclusion is the blades are the lesser of two evils . Blades front part rattles a little on rough roads but don't rub at all, Cruds rattled a lot and rubbed most of the time!

iPete

Sod the bike, I'm just not a fan of the wet nappy sensation when your bib shorts get continually soaked by cold water and grit.

socistep

I fitted them in November and definite improvement, another benefit for me was on commutes if I wasn't bringing clothes in with the rucksack I put phone, blackberry & wallet in saddlebag and this now stays dry

boydster76

+1 for 'guards in the winter.

Mudguards = a lot less bike cleaning, less crap hitting your frame and components, a dry(er) backside/face, cleaner water bottle and (if you do ride with others) respect from your chums for keeping them spray-free.

tom3

anyone used and has a view on the topeak defender r1/r2 set?

chris_bass

i've used cruds and sks raceblades, the cruds are a bit of a tight fit but better protection and the racblades are much sturdier and easier to set up but you do get some spray over the top.

thegibdog

Mudguards make cycling on wet roads much more enjoyable: the front keeps your feet much drier and the rear keeps your arse dry. Hate being soggy after a couple of miles and my shoes would spend the entire winter not being properly dry if I didn't have mudguards.

Danny87

I use my old Specialized Allez 2010 as my winter bike. Which is a challenge, as its rubbish as a winter bike, for the simple fact it has tight clearances and only rear mudguard bosses and no bosses on the fork at all.

That said apart from the above it is IMO a cracking bike. It fits me very well and I find it very comfortable, which may shock some people as the frame is aluminium; which is classed stereotypically by some as a harsh frame material. (Although I do run 25mm tyres and am pretty light which means I get away with slightly lower tyre pressures.)

Anyway back to the mudguards on my Specialized Allez.

I've tried Cruds, no good IMO, they fit very tightly and have hardly any clearance between guard and wheel. Which I suppose if you have perfectly true wheels and ride on velvet tarmac is not an issue. Neither of which however apply to me, as where I live we ride on what is left of the road as opposed to the left hand side of it.

SKS Raceblade Longs were next up. They seemed the solution as they sort of miss out the brake calliper/bridge avoiding clearance issues. But the beauty is this is simply the only area they miss as they run right up to and behind the brake calliper. Fitted simply enough, no guard to wheel clearance issues, all was well.

Until the rear guard (always seems to be rear guards that give more jip than the front!?!), crappy release buttons began to rattle and eventually brake. Plus the stays, which are kind of essential in keeping the guard attached to the bike, kept coming loose from there attachments!

So I decided a Bosch drill and some zip ties was required, several swear words later and I botched the rear SKS Raceblade into a form that I was certain would do the trick. Which they did. But after a year or so of riding, the rear guard started needing a bit of jiggling and pokiing; and then the rear guard randomly cracked at some point whilst out on a ride. I decided I would continue with SKS Raceblade long as a front guard as it was working well, and the fork as mentioned has no bosses; but that obviously I needed a better solution for the rear guard.

So I bought a set of SKS Blummels (you can only seem to find guards ever in pairs). Only I knew prior to buying them that they would not clear the brakes, so I had to think of something.

I decided to chop about an inch and a half out of the new rear guard at the estimated point of the guard where it would meet the brake bridge. I then used the existing mounting bracket from the SKS Raceblade Long (which attaches to the brake bridge and runs underneath the brake calliper). Then with two looped zip ties I attached the now 2 sections of new rear mudguard to either side of the brake bridge creating in essence one mudguard but in a way a bit like the SKS Raceblade Long had done previously.

The new rear guard is far sturdier (possibly due to the superior stays and stay attachments) and tidier than the other 2 guards I've used previously and has emitted no rattling noises so far but time will tell. The lesson in all of this, just buy a bike with sufficient enough clearances & sodding mudguard bosses when considering a bike for winter or all year riding!!!

pipipi

Well done with all those mudguard alterations.

I will certainly be considering mudguards when I buy my next bike, just one of those lessons I have learned! I might even get LBS to show me that they fit before taking it on a test spin.

It does seem strange though that so many bikes sold to use in British weather conditions just aren't designed to take mudguards easily. Fair enough if it's designed to be TT or whatever, but when I bought my (first)bike I wasn't thinking so much about fitting them, I was trying to get the right size frame, gears etc.

Danny87

pipipi wrote:

Well done with all those mudguard alterations.

I will certainly be considering mudguards when I buy my next bike, just one of those lessons I have learned! I might even get LBS to show me that they fit before taking it on a test spin.

It does seem strange though that so many bikes sold to use in British weather conditions just aren't designed to take mudguards easily. Fair enough if it's designed to be TT or whatever, but when I bought my (first)bike I wasn't thinking so much about fitting them, I was trying to get the right size frame, gears etc.

It was exactly the same for me when I bought the Specialized Allez which was my first bike. I wasn't thinking ahead about mudguards, you worry about the fit, specification etc. I wouldn't care but I bought it from a LBS so it's not as if I went and bought blindly from the internet.

But oh well you live & learn and bar the mudguard issues it has been a great bike.