Why I DONT use mudguards

CitizenLee

MrSweary wrote:

I used to use mudguards when I was living SW - now I don't bother. An AssSaver keeps my back relatively clean and the bike gets a clean every weekend anyway. I see so few cyclists until I get to Oval it isn't worth it. After that I would rather they keep their distance anyway. Yes - I get a bit mucky after a downpour but tbh it isn't really a big deal. Having showers and a drying room at work helps of course.

The other thing I've found is that even with full guards it only takes a minor mis-adjustment and the person behind you is eating spray anyway.

You SEFLISH bast*rd, how can you live with yourself?

Sorry, just replying in the same "I'm right, you're wrong" vein as the others

itboffin

Why does everyone keep claiming no rain, it's been pissing down all week.

willy b

itboffin wrote:

Why does everyone keep claiming no rain, it's been pissing down all week.

You live bloody miles away from London, where there has been no rain in the day.

mr_eddy

Ok so I get some of the points you all say - Again some have taken a very defensive approach to some of my posts - I said right from the beginning that my reasons are specific to my circumstances so for the record and in answer to some of the points made:

1. "It stops cr$p getting onto my bike" - My bike is a simple SS that has no complicated components to get screwed up - The chain is a thick SS chain and my bike gets a clean each Sunday so worst case scenario the chain / Hub etc has to go 6 days before getting clean so again does not cause a problem for me.

2. "mudguards are not noisy" - You must have a very good set etc but all the ones that I have tried that fit on my bike (no guard mounts) ARE noisy, maybe not at first but a hit from a pot hole and bingo rubbing noise! If you have a dedicated tourer or bike with mount points then sure full guards might work - I also find it difficult to tension the chain (required on SS every now and then) as this process effectively pulls the wheel back making any close fitting guards worse.

3. I get that in light rain they will keep rain of your feet etc but for the sake of the noise and messing around required to get guards onto a non guard mount bike to work its just simpler for me to have a spare set of clothes and shoes at work.

4. I absolutely do not agree with guards protecting a steel frame - It if rains your bike will get wet and if I ride all winter guards or not I WILL get stone chips or scrapes.

5. "Getting wet for no reason" - I chose to the lesser of two evils either get wet and change at work or try and stay vaguely dry with guards but suffer the constant need to fettle and tweak mudguards and p&ss around with them every time I need to change a tube etc. I don't enjoy getting wet its just that I enjoy spending 10 minutes each evening in the cold sorting out guards after someone has bashed my bike even less.

asprilla

I don't think the problem is guards, it's that your bike doesn't have proper mounting points.

If your frame could take proper guards then you wouldn't have any of the noise / fettling issues what are what puts you off.

bompington

I don't use mudguards because I don't like them, and there's no use anyone arguing against my irrational prejudice.

CitizenLee

bompington wrote:

I don't use mudguards because I don't like them, and there's no use anyone arguing against my irrational prejudice.

+1! You don't need any more reason than that. You'll still be told you're wrong though

pblakeney

CitizenLee wrote:

bompington wrote:

I don't use mudguards because I don't like them, and there's no use anyone arguing against my irrational prejudice.

+1! You don't need any more reason than that. You'll still be told you're wrong though

True that.

You are using the wrong tool for the job.

Ben6899

I don't commute by bike (but you lot are alright, so I hang around here if that's okay).

I clip on some Crud MKIIs, if I'm out with the club (or a group of mates). Other than that (when I'm solo), I just use an Ass Saver - there's no rubbing and it works. Okay the bike gets a bit wet, but I'd clean it thoroughly after a wet ride, regardless of whether I had guards fitted.

If you're drafting me - as a stranger - when I'm out by myself, then I don't really care if you're having a face full of Belgian toothpaste.

pblakeney

Just a query.

Is it considered to be drafting if you happen to be going the same way, on the same road, at the same time, in busy cycling traffic?

CitizenLee

I guess it's more about how close you'd be, like tailgating in a car? Must be a London / big city thing anyway though. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of commuting cyclists on the roads in Aberdeen but never so many that they'd ll be riding up each other's arses and worrying about spray.

davmaggs

mr_eddy wrote:

Ok so I get some of the points you all say - Again some have taken a very defensive approach to some of my posts - I said right from the beginning that my reasons are specific to my circumstances so for the record and in answer to some of the points made:

1. "It stops cr$p getting onto my bike" - My bike is a simple SS that has no complicated components to get screwed up - The chain is a thick SS chain and my bike gets a clean each Sunday so worst case scenario the chain / Hub etc has to go 6 days before getting clean so again does not cause a problem for me.

2. "mudguards are not noisy" - You must have a very good set etc but all the ones that I have tried that fit on my bike (no guard mounts) ARE noisy, maybe not at first but a hit from a pot hole and bingo rubbing noise! If you have a dedicated tourer or bike with mount points then sure full guards might work - I also find it difficult to tension the chain (required on SS every now and then) as this process effectively pulls the wheel back making any close fitting guards worse.

3. I get that in light rain they will keep rain of your feet etc but for the sake of the noise and messing around required to get guards onto a non guard mount bike to work its just simpler for me to have a spare set of clothes and shoes at work.

4. I absolutely do not agree with guards protecting a steel frame - It if rains your bike will get wet and if I ride all winter guards or not I WILL get stone chips or scrapes.

5. "Getting wet for no reason" - I chose to the lesser of two evils either get wet and change at work or try and stay vaguely dry with guards but suffer the constant need to fettle and tweak mudguards and p&ss around with them every time I need to change a tube etc. I don't enjoy getting wet its just that I enjoy spending 10 minutes each evening in the cold sorting out guards after someone has bashed my bike even less.

I have to say I find your post rather odd. You now seem to be complaining that people are giving their reasons for using guards, which seem quite logical and are after all replying to the post you started. You then spend effort trying to dismiss their reasons.

If you happy getting wetter than you need to then really that is OK by me, if you can't fit guards then that's fine, and if you are happy with oil and other crud on your clothes fine, and if you want to spend time washing your bike each week then that's OK too. Your comfort and extra admin is down to you.

The guard users on here are merely pointing out why they are using them and what benefits they get.

Ben6899

PBlakeney wrote:

Just a query.

Is it considered to be drafting if you happen to be going the same way, on the same road, at the same time, in busy cycling traffic?

I don't commute by bike. So although I live in London, I'm rarely in a situation where the road would be chocker with cyclists to the point that we can't avoid drafting each other.

I do head to Regent's Park (live 5mins away) for training laps. You get the odd wheelsucker, but I'm quite happy to slow and let them pass - mainly because I don't fancy "through and off" with (a) complete stranger(s).

Ian.B

davmaggs wrote:

mr_eddy wrote:

Ok so I get some of the points you all say - Again some have taken a very defensive approach to some of my posts - I said right from the beginning that my reasons are specific to my circumstances so for the record and in answer to some of the points made:

1. "It stops cr$p getting onto my bike" - My bike is a simple SS that has no complicated components to get screwed up - The chain is a thick SS chain and my bike gets a clean each Sunday so worst case scenario the chain / Hub etc has to go 6 days before getting clean so again does not cause a problem for me.

2. "mudguards are not noisy" - You must have a very good set etc but all the ones that I have tried that fit on my bike (no guard mounts) ARE noisy, maybe not at first but a hit from a pot hole and bingo rubbing noise! If you have a dedicated tourer or bike with mount points then sure full guards might work - I also find it difficult to tension the chain (required on SS every now and then) as this process effectively pulls the wheel back making any close fitting guards worse.

3. I get that in light rain they will keep rain of your feet etc but for the sake of the noise and messing around required to get guards onto a non guard mount bike to work its just simpler for me to have a spare set of clothes and shoes at work.

4. I absolutely do not agree with guards protecting a steel frame - It if rains your bike will get wet and if I ride all winter guards or not I WILL get stone chips or scrapes.

5. "Getting wet for no reason" - I chose to the lesser of two evils either get wet and change at work or try and stay vaguely dry with guards but suffer the constant need to fettle and tweak mudguards and p&ss around with them every time I need to change a tube etc. I don't enjoy getting wet its just that I enjoy spending 10 minutes each evening in the cold sorting out guards after someone has bashed my bike even less.

I have to say I find your post rather odd. You now seem to be complaining that people are giving their reasons for using guards, which seem quite logical and are after all replying to the post you started. You then spend effort trying to dismiss their reasons.

If you happy getting wetter than you need to then really that is OK by me, if you can't fit guards then that's fine, and if you are happy with oil and other crud on your clothes fine, and if you want to spend time washing your bike each week then that's OK too. Your comfort and extra admin is down to you.

The guard users on here are merely pointing out why they are using them and what benefits they get.

Discussion invited > opinions expressed > merits of opinions debated = the essence of a forum, surely?

Perhaps also comments getting progressively more belligerent = the essence of a forum too

cookeeemonster

Genuinely, I couldn't care less about the state of you or your bike after riding in the wet without mudguards - it's 100% your choice and good luck to you.

Literally my only concern is the people behind you. It's not drafting fairies (a rare occurance in reality) that get covered, it's anyone behind you in traffic that gets covered. The simple fact is there are hundred's of thousands of cyclists in london and you're always going to get some behind you when stopped at trafic lights and/or traffic. You can't always safely overtake while in said traffic and so you are stuck behind someone with no mudguards - and initially, especially when accelerating away from the lights, anyone behind a mudguardless bike will get covered in spray (potentially). The safe distance behind someone (safe as in not getting sprayed) also varies a fair amount depending on conditions/tyres/road state and so on...and if you hold back too far it can then make it very difficult to overtake and/or another cyclist/car may then jump in front of you to fill the gap you've left (who also may not have mudguards).

As for your commute, there may not be too many cyclists about and so fair enough...but in the centre of town then....grrrrrr

rick_chasey

Basically, Mr Eddy can't fit mudguards properly - ergo he doesn't see the value.

kurako

I don't have them on my carbon bike because they don't fit. I choose whether to ride it or not ride it based on the likelihood of getting soaked. I have cruds on my MTB (or dirty bike as the kids call it) because I want to keep at least some of the water and other gunk off. I don't mind getting wet at night but putting on cold, wet gear from the morning is just not nice!

roger_merriman

CitizenLee wrote:

I guess it's more about how close you'd be, like tailgating in a car? Must be a London / big city thing anyway though. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of commuting cyclists on the roads in Aberdeen but never so many that they'd ll be riding up each other's arses and worrying about spray.

It's more central London etc where it can get busy with some assertive filtering etc, since I'm outer London I rarely see another bike on the commute, and if I do go into central I leave big gaps, I loose a little time but frankly it's not a risk I'm prepared to take. i've yet out of a club run to had problems with spray.

Walls82

I like getting to work without it looking like iv'e shi7 myself while shoving my face in a barrel of mud - mudguards are good for that.

slowbike

Rick Chasey wrote:

Basically, Mr Eddy can't fit mudguards properly - ergo he doesn't see the value.

yup - seems to be it ...

considering I've been almost exclusively riding my Allez for the last few weeks - complete with Crud RR II guards and not had to spend 20 minutes every day adjusting them then it's got to be down to Mr Eddy's lack of capability in the tech department.
The guards do hit the wheels occasionally, usually at some point whilst riding along the potholed lane - but I cope with that to save my shoes & clothing from getting crudded up everyday.

Oh - bike cleaning - I sprayed it with a hose the week before last and wiped it down with a rag afterwards. This week I applied some oil to the chain ... it just doesn't get that dirty even riding through the farmyard!

ydrol

- 12 mile each way 2nd hand commuter bike - mudguards .
- Yet to be purchased bike-porn for summer commutes and eventual bike club status (dry days only) - no guards.

I only put them on a few weeks ago after getting my shoes soaked. They actually don't look to bad too me ..

dav1

I use SKS raceblades and they are fantastic.

its a two minute job to clip them on and I don't get anywhere near as much road crap up my back and in my face and my bag stays dry meaning I have dry clothes to wear when I arrive. and the bike is easier to clean without that greasy road gunk all the way up the seat and down tubes and under the saddle. I can take them off for dry days in no time as well.

shouldbeinbed

each to their own but what are you doing that needs so much maintenance???

my road bike has limited clearance and no eyelets, crud RR mk2's and absolutely not a problem to fit or fettle at all and in the couple of years since I got them, including fitting them in the first place, I'm probably on 25-30 minutes attention & I'm a ham fisted numpty riding round the back streets of grotty bits of inner city Manchester, potholes are a way of life. I also cant be fussed with taking them off in the spring either, they stay on year round.

If I want my (cheap aldi) softshells to look like I've just had a bout of explosive upward diarrhoea, I'll use them instead of andrex.

First.Aspect

Its easy enough to fiddle full mudguards onto a frame with zip ties, p-clips and the like. Providing you aren't Mr Gumby (http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/ ... 3dlzlr.png)

But if you only have one bike, its a pita getting them off again. There's no escaping the protection it gives for the bb and headset (even a single speed has these, unless its a unicycle) and also your shoes and pedal bearings. Even the brakes get less crap thrown up into them.

Its muck spreading season round ere. Soon the local farmer will put some chicken sh1t on the field. That smells like dead people.

I will be using mudguards throughout.

craker

P-clips keep my SKS chromoplastics on really firmly. It's important to get the right size for your tubes and get the rubber lined ones. These are on my SS bike which requires no fettling from one week to the next.

Just got cruds for my other bike (can't bare riding without guards this time of year) they're really flimsy by comparison, but that's another thread...

jedster

"but across London thats just plain anti social, a lot of people will be wearing fairly normal clothes in town as I do and don't take kindly to being sprayed because of someone else's vanity."

This really.

Personally I wouldn't buy a bike for commuting without guard mounts. If you have proper mounts and good guards like SKS chromoplastic they are pretty much fit and forget unless they get mangled in a bike rack or something.
I do get the point that if you have a short commute, change when you get there and have good drying facilities then it's not a big issue for you. I wear my cycle gear for about 70-90 minutes, some of it on a train, most on two bike legs - spending that time with a wet chamois is unpleasant (unless you are nappy fetishist natch) so I use mudguards on both bikes. I don't mind the way that they look because my commuters are ostentatiously functional (guards, rack, discs, hub gears or SS, dyno lighting). I wouldn't have them on a sunday best road bike.

Not using mudguards in London is still antisocial though. I don't draft strangers but in central London you inevitably spend a chunk of time in the spray zone of other cyclists if they don't have mudguards. It's unpleasant.

markhewitt1978

Basically if you're out cycling this time of year without mudguards then you're a bit of a lunatic. It's like driving an open top car in the pouring rain, it doesn't make any sense.

MrSweary

Nope - I stand by my position. On my route in, even in town, no one is getting sprayed and if they are they're too close. If they're close otherwise it is 99.9% at such slow speed that spray isn't an issue. In fact the only places I end up in a bunch of cyclists are at Oval (rare and usually shoalers anyway) and Buck Palace (well drained and I always wait at the lights rather than rolling forward like everyone else then accelerate past them on the outside).

If I were on Embankment I would have them on as the average speed makes them necessary out of politeness alone.

My reason for not re-fitting my Cruds this year is purely that I am a lazy bastard and the AssSaver keeps my back free of spatter anyway. Plus I enjoy cleaning my bike of a weekend.

To all the haters I hereby blow a long and fruity raspberry.

mpdouglas

It's pretty simple. If you don't fit mudguards and share your route with other cyclists then you're being selfish. I don't use the word to conjur up any particular negative associations, It's just a matter of fact. You've decided not to use them purely based on things that matter to you and you alone whether that be vanity, laziness or whatever. And you've ignored the consequences for others. That's essentially the definition of being selfish.

In some respects, it's the same selfishness that causes so many other road users to be unpleasant towards us!

Having a pleasant experience on a bike on British roads is fundamentally about everyone learning to share. And that includes us recognising that we share road space with other cyclists. The respectful thing to do in these circumstances is to fit guards and not cover everyone around you with filthy road spray.

I resisted for my first year in the mistaken belief that they looked uncool. Now that I know better, I regard guys running mudguards as better cyclists and they get fitted to my bikes at the start of Autumn or whenever I know the weather is going to be foul.

itboffin

Don't forget you also get to use the n+1 excuse for having at least one dedicated winter bike with guards