Have I gone too soon?

Gpfanuk

With Mrs Gpfanuk away on business tonight I got a little bored.... Two hours later and one stripped, cleaned and rebuilt winter bike later... I have removed the mudguards... Has the sunny weather gone to my head and have I removed them far too soon? :roll:

banditvic

In the UK they need to fitted at all times.

sloppyschleckonds

What Vic says.

ugo.santalucia

Never too soon to remove the mudguards... they are nonsense

rolf_f

It rains all year round and they protect you and the bike and riders around you. If you only have one bike, keep them on. It's not as though they slow you down or anything! The milliseconds you save because of the extra weight you lose in more cleaning time!

ai_1

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Never too soon to remove the mudguards... they are nonsense

How so?

antfly

Everyone I come across seems to be removing that at the first sight of the sun, this is shortsightedness, it will rain again. Quite soon.

marcusjb

Mudguards all year around (except for time-trials) - I ride much, much further in summer and can be riding in the rain for hours on end, so I think I probably get more use from them in the summer months.

keef66

I'm in the fortunate position of having an alloy winter /wet weather bike which has mudguards on all the time, and a nice carbon, mudguardless summer / dry weather bike. I look at the weather forecast and take the appropriate bike. Summer 2012 it was mainly the bike with mudguards. This week it's looking like the carbon one. Horses for courses (now you can't put them in lasagne any more)

slowbike

as it's not difficult to put them on or take them off then it doesn't matter - a settled period that we're getting now could be worth removing them for ... but then you might want to put them back on at the end of that ...

Pross

If it's a winter bike why bother removing them at all?

florerider

One bike with, one without. Increasingly think of it as winter/wet weather bike, rather than winter only and "good" bike.

slowbike

Only 2 bikes? Not enough in my opinion!

Anyway - I have a road bike that doesn't have mudguards (usually)
A CX that I use for wet weather that usually does have mudguards
and another road bike (my original) that will be damp weather and TTing - that may or may not have mudguards depending on use ...

I need more bikes....

Gpfanuk

Pross wrote:

If it's a winter bike why bother removing them at all?

I'll be honest here... vanity, plain and simple. I commute all year round on the winter bike and hate the look of it with mudguards, and the sound when it sucks grit etc up between the very small clearance gaps between tyres and guards. Shallow I know but there is only so much I can take riding a bike that's doing a passable impression of a john Deere! :oops:

Grill

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Never too soon to remove the mudguards... they are nonsense

+1 million

Pickled Pig

My guards came off last Friday on my only (road) bike. It does rain all year but in the summer the roads dry much quicker -they never dry in cold winter weather - and there's no salt to worry about. Apart from minor issues of aesthetics and aerodynamics, my biggest gripe with having guards on is putting my bike in a car, which I do a couple of times a week when I cycle out to wherever Mrs Pig happens to be working.

DiscoBoy

Pross wrote:

If it's a winter bike why bother removing them at all?

+1.

Gpfanuk

DiscoBoy wrote:

Pross wrote:

If it's a winter bike why bother removing them at all?

+1.

I should have said winter/commuting bike....

CiB

I took the mudguards off my bike in errr... let's see, about 1976 I think, and have never had a pair on since. Bikes seem to last, and my legs haven't fallen off.

Guards are overrated; unless they go all the way to the floor they still throw water up. Can't see why anyone bothers with em personally. Each to their own though.

markhewitt1978

I've liked having them on over the winter, means I can ride roads which aren't just wet but covered in mud and don't get a streak right up my back. But any other time than winter they aren't necessary when you're a fair weather cyclist anyway. If I was using my bike for commuting then the guards would be on permanently.

Gpfanuk

madasahattersley wrote:

I wish there was some sort of alarm button for when mudguards get discussed, so I have time to get popcorn on the go.

+1 (even though I started the thread)!

markhewitt1978

There needs to be some sort of Dura Ace for mudguards, i.e. ones that weigh nothing, don't rattle, don't rub or otherwise be super annoying.

me-109

Hmm, I've been forced into it now, though I would not have removed them by choice for some weeks yet. Back one has been rattling for while, popping off the brake bridge fitting (Raceguard Longs) so I've been tie-wrapping it in place. Noticed today that it has actually snapped about 8" along from the end. Time for the bin....

markhewitt1978

I ran Raceblade Long over the winter, and they worked fine with GP 4 Seasons tyres. However now I've gone back to my tyre of choice - GP4000S, they no longer fit - the bracket under the front brake fouls the top of the tyre, so they had to come off.

I wonder if Crud Roadracers would fit and be easy to take on and off?

ai_1

Grill wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Never too soon to remove the mudguards... they are nonsense

+1 million

Again - I'd love to know why either of you think this?
Having ridden with and without on the same bike in similar weather, it's most certainly more pleasant cycling in really wet weather if you're equipped with mudguards. So why are they nonsense?
You may not be a fan of the appearance but from a practical point of view they're not nonsense.

Grill

Ai_1 wrote:

Grill wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Never too soon to remove the mudguards... they are nonsense

+1 million

Again - I'd love to know why either of you think this?
Having ridden with and without on the same bike in similar weather, it's most certainly more pleasant cycling in really wet weather if you're equipped with mudguards. So why are they nonsense?
You may not be a fan of the appearance but from a practical point of view they're not nonsense.

-They do absolutely nothing for the rider behind unless you run full length with a sweepy bit that hits the ground.
-They're a PIA if you don't have mounts (none of my bikes do)
-An ass saver saves you from the brown streak without the hassle
-Having cycled in stupidly wet weather with guards and no guards I can confirm there is no difference. You end up just as wet regardless.

rayjay

I think winter bikes is a load of nonsense . I ride the my weight weenie bikes all year.
In the winter it is usually just cold not wet. If my bike gets dirty I clean it, what ever the time of the year, and I reckon it get's a clean more in spring/ summer than winter.

I Hate mudguards. They are uncool on a racing bike. Word.

I live in London.

damocles10

rayjay wrote:

I think winter bikes is a load of nonsense . I ride the my weight weenie bikes all year.
In the winter it is usually just cold not wet. If my bike gets dirty I clean it, what ever the time of the year, and I reckon it get's a clean more in spring/ summer than winter.

I Hate mudguards. They are uncool on a racing bike. Word.

I live in London.

I agree with that.....I bought an AssSaver a while back which helps a little if it is wet, but, if it's raining you're gonna get wet regardless. Just clean the bike afterwards and your done.

I used to have a winter hack, long base miles was not much fun on it, I prefer to ride the best bike all year too...

keef66

Well i rode a sportive last year in Norfolk with a couple of colleagues. After about 15 miles we were joined by a cataclysmic cloudburst which stayed with us for the next 30 miles. The roads were turned into rivers of orange slurry, much of it of animal origin. I had mudguards but neither of my chums did

By the finish everyone was soaked to the skin, but I wasn't sporting a layer of topsoil and pig$hit like my friends.

ugo.santalucia

keef66 wrote:

By the finish everyone was soaked to the skin, but I wasn't sporting a layer of topsoil and pig$hit like my friends.

As a sales pitch for mudguards it's pretty poor... "hey look at my mates.. they're wet and brown, while I am only wet... "

bendertherobot

Mudguards are great AND it's ok to remove them when it promises to be dry.

Anyhow, I can confirm that the REST of March is likely to be dry. Certainly at least another 7 - 10 days in the South.

If you ever want a good indication go to Weather Online. Select the expert charts. Then UK>

Then run the precipitation sequence on the GFS model.