Noisy / non-noisy mudguards

mattdanielc

Hi all

I have a set of SKS Commuter mudguards fitted to my current bike. Whilst they do their job fine - they make an absolute racket. Constantly shaking and it really grates me. Can anyone recommend some quiet mudguards? I prefer fitted to clip ons.

slowbike

my clip ons were very quiet this morning - as I'd removed them because it's dry!

Nah - sorry - my SKS Raceblade long clipons make a bit of noise - I did find the Crud Roadracer MK2 relatively quiet - until I picked up some dirt

Gallywomack

My SKS Chromoplastics don't make any noise (at least I haven't been aware of any since I fitted them). TBH I think I'd live with noisy mudguards in preference to the faff of fitting a new pair...

keef66

My SKS Chromoplastics only start to make a noise when the rivets dissolve and the fittings are rattling against the guards.

Pretty much silent when everything's attached properly

mattdanielc

Slowbike wrote:

my clip ons were very quiet this morning - as I'd removed them because it's dry!

Nah - sorry - my SKS Raceblade long clipons make a bit of noise - I did find the Crud Roadracer MK2 relatively quiet - until I picked up some dirt

Is that these ones?
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.SKS-Longboard- ... _52388.htm

I was going to buy them coz the reviews mention how quiet they are

figbat

Not a peep out of the M:Part Primoplastics fitted to my old Cannondale Synapse.

cookeeemonster

You need to take them apart and stick some rubber between the metal.and the plastic (plastic metal?) bits, which mainly means putting it between the metal stays and the mudguards proper. Old inner tubes or ideally something thicker should do the job. I used to use the extra bits you get with various light fittings that normally go between the light mount and handlebar or something.

slowbike

mattdanielc wrote:

Slowbike wrote:

my clip ons were very quiet this morning - as I'd removed them because it's dry!

Nah - sorry - my SKS Raceblade long clipons make a bit of noise - I did find the Crud Roadracer MK2 relatively quiet - until I picked up some dirt

Is that these ones?
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.SKS-Longboard- ... _52388.htm

I was going to buy them coz the reviews mention how quiet they are

Nah - I've got theses:
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.SKS-Raceblade- ... _89347.htm

and these
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.SKS-Raceblade- ... _94699.htm

The longs are "quiet" except for a little rattle where (I think) the brackets knock against the brakes as I've got next to no clearance front or back - hence the longs...

I put the pros on my carbon bike as that hasn't got clearance either, but as it's a "summer" bike I don't want the fixed guard mounts of the longs on it - so can pop these on quickly if it's going to be showery...

frogonabike

CookeeeMonster wrote:

You need to take them apart and stick some rubber between the metal.and the plastic (plastic metal?) bits, which mainly means putting it between the metal stays and the mudguards proper. Old inner tubes or ideally something thicker should do the job. I used to use the extra bits you get with various light fittings that normally go between the light mount and handlebar or something.

Yeah this. I have chromoplastics and found the rear rattled in the seat stays bridge mount, I wrapped the guard in electrical tape to pad it out - about 8k miles in now and no issues or noises

greenamex2

Bontrager mudguards are pretty quiet. They have a weird double support design that makes them inherently stiffer.

https://www.evanscycles.com/bontrager-n ... c-EV138150

me-109

I can recommend Flinger. Running F42 mudguard over 28mm road and 30mm knobbly tyres with decent clearance. Rattle-free. Wider options available.

tgotb

keef66 wrote:

My SKS Chromoplastics only start to make a noise when the rivets dissolve and the fittings are rattling against the guards.

Pretty much silent when everything's attached properly

^ This.

Of course, the starting point (which most people miss) is to fit mudguards with a decent clearance between mudguard and tyre, which means buying a frame with enough space to do that. It's easy to keep your mudguards quiet when there's a clear 1cm between tyre and mudguard in all directions; if you're struggling with a few mm clearance, it's always going to be a pain, and the slightest knock to one of the mudguard stays will have it rubbing again.

CX frames are good for this; my commuting bike is based on an aluminium CX frame with (I think) 50mm mudguards, and I can even run 33mm CX tyres with a reasonable clearance.

daniel_b

Gallywomack wrote:

My SKS Chromoplastics don't make any noise (at least I haven't been aware of any since I fitted them). TBH I think I'd live with noisy mudguards in preference to the faff of fitting a new pair...

Likewise, but I think the commuter variant may be slightly different.



Only one set of supports, versus:



I suspect that affects the rigidity - I'm aware of the former, but have only ever fitted the latter.
Tortec guards are even better (though more tricky to fit) imho.

tgotb

OT: I've just replaced the rivets in my front Chromoplastic with aluminium pop rivets. It's currently very solid, but it's not a great environment for dissimilar metals, and I doubt they'll last very long. Any suggestions for a more permanent alternative?

slowbike

TGOTB wrote:

OT: I've just replaced the rivets in my front Chromoplastic with aluminium pop rivets. It's currently very solid, but it's not a great environment for dissimilar metals, and I doubt they'll last very long. Any suggestions for a more permanent alternative?

the boating community tend to use monel rivets and Duralac paste - although I suspect you could use a layer of plastic to isolate the dissimilar metals from each other.

keef66

I used some of the spare SS* nuts and bolts I've accumulated over the years. Only works if you have decent clearance as the bolt heads stick out a bit and can collect road debris.

Pop rivets are lower profile but consisting of 2 metals they are susceptible to pretty rapid corrosion if not painted. Wonder if pop-rivet plus a dollop of underseal might work?

* one of them was clearly not SS as it's already bright orange...

keef66

TGOTB wrote:

keef66 wrote:

My SKS Chromoplastics only start to make a noise when the rivets dissolve and the fittings are rattling against the guards.

Pretty much silent when everything's attached properly

^ This.

Of course, the starting point (which most people miss) is to fit mudguards with a decent clearance between mudguard and tyre, which means buying a frame with enough space to do that. .

+1^ Mines a Racelight Tk with 25mm tyres and there's a decent amount of clearance. Can't imagine trying to fit guards to anything with less space / standard drop calipers...

daniel_b

Sorry OP, a bit off topic, but I thought while we have a huddle of mudguard experts present........

I have fitted some mudguards to my Boardman Hybrid, and used bolts in all the normal places.


My issue is with the bolt that secures the rear mudguard at it's lowest point, where it goes through the section right near the BB - the clearance is tighter than I realised, so tight in fact, that I have to run the Marathon Plus tyres at a lower PSI than I want for the road (probably 30-40), otherwise it fouls the tyre on every rotation.

Anyone know the technical name for a bolt, with a lower profile, or flatter head I could use instead?
Suppose in theory I could dremel it down, but not sure if that is a recipe for an easy to remove bolt.

I could also dremel the sides of the guard down, so I could pull it through, and bolt it onto the front instead, but seems abit messy.

The hole is threaded, but I could easily pop a threadlocked nut on the other end.

keef66

My Racelight originally had a low profile pan-head type screw there, but it took a tiny hex key and I too feared that it could easily become a nightmare to remove one day. I replaced it with a meatier screw like the one you illustrate above, but there is just about enough room for it on my frame / tyre combination

arthur_scrimshaw

Daniel B wrote:

Sorry OP, a bit off topic, but I thought while we have a huddle of mudguard experts present........

I have fitted some mudguards to my Boardman Hybrid, and used bolts in all the normal places.


My issue is with the bolt that secures the rear mudguard at it's lowest point, where it goes through the section right near the BB - the clearance is tighter than I realised, so tight in fact, that I have to run the Marathon Plus tyres at a lower PSI than I want for the road (probably 30-40), otherwise it fouls the tyre on every rotation.

Anyone know the technical name for a bolt, with a lower profile, or flatter head I could use instead?
Suppose in theory I could dremel it down, but not sure if that is a recipe for an easy to remove bolt.

I could also dremel the sides of the guard down, so I could pull it through, and bolt it onto the front instead, but seems abit messy.

The hole is threaded, but I could easily pop a threadlocked nut on the other end.

You want something like these, m5 dome head - shortest option. I buy the bags of mixed SS fixings from SJS as always have loads of useful bolts, washers and nuts.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/nuts-bolts/ ... ack-of-10/

daniel_b

Thankyou Arthur, that looks like exactly what I need - button headed I would not have guessed ever me thinks :-)

Liking the look of the random assortment - guess lucky dip as to whether there are any with a flat enough head in there or not.........

Any idea what the thread size would be, or could I measure it with callipers?
M5?

arthur_scrimshaw

Daniel B wrote:

Thankyou Arthur, that looks like exactly what I need - button headed I would not have guessed ever me thinks :-)

Liking the look of the random assortment - guess lucky dip as to whether there are any with a flat enough head in there or not.........

I had exactly the same problem with my rear tyre and those bolts sorted it.

Yes looks different from the last time I ordered it, mine was 99% bolts, no other bits? Not so useful now

arthur_scrimshaw

Sorry just spotted your question - yes m5!

Gallywomack

After my smuggitude on page 1, my front guard is now rattling like a good 'un :x

All looks in place and not too worn so hopefully, may just be something loose that needs tightening

Edit: it does add to the 'shopping bike' vibe of my whip, which is all to the good for annoying promuter types - so that's something I suppose.

mattdanielc

I've decided to buy clips on for now - and see how I get on. Only a tenner from amazon. Means I can take them off if I know there is no rain = silence.

When it rains I can put up with any noise they generate.

I'm hoping I can continue like this - because so far I'm loving not having any guards on.

mattdanielc

I still need some advice if I may. I've had a new bike since the weekend now - loving it. I've added a panniers rack but thats it (amazing - why didn't I do this earlier - bye bye backpack)

I'm loving not having mudguards on - but I've no experience of riding in the rain without them. What difference do they really make - I mean you're getting wet anyway - is it really that much worse?

I now have the added complication of my new bike having the eyelets on the forks - does that mean I can only buy certain types of mudguards? I now have 35mm tyres instead of 28mm - so I'm looking at these mudguards:

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-p ... 00c-x-45mm

Will they fit fork eyelets does anyone know?

arthur_scrimshaw

mattdanielc wrote:

I still need some advice if I may. I've had a new bike since the weekend now - loving it. I've added a panniers rack but thats it (amazing - why didn't I do this earlier - bye bye backpack)

I'm loving not having mudguards on - but I've no experience of riding in the rain without them. What difference do they really make - I mean you're getting wet anyway - is it really that much worse?

I now have the added complication of my new bike having the eyelets on the forks - does that mean I can only buy certain types of mudguards? I now have 35mm tyres instead of 28mm - so I'm looking at these mudguards:

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-p ... 00c-x-45mm

Will they fit fork eyelets does anyone know?

Mudguards are a marmite subject, I love them but others hate the ruination of the bike asthetic.

Benefits for me are that I keep my clothes, bike and me cleaner in wet conditions. Some people don't care about this, but it inevitably means your bibshorts will last longer and your jerseys/jackets won't get stained and manky. Your bike will stay much cleaner and your drivetrain may last a bit longer.

Fork eyelets mean you can fit more permanent mudguards which generally perform better than clip on versions so a plus in my book.
No one can probably answer your question about the fit but if the bike came with 28c tyres you could probably fit 35mm guards without clearance issues, with 35c tyres your looking at 40-45mm guards which may not fit your forks and seatstays.

keef66

I once did a 50 mile sportive in Norfolk with a couple of my workmates. After about 10 miles the heavens opened, and the heavy rain stayed with us for the remaining 40. I had seen the forecast and took my winter bike with proper guards. They were both without. OK, by the end we were all soaked, but I was fairly clean while they were both covered in mud / animal slurry washed off the fields.

Proper guards make a massive difference to the amount of road filth you and the bike are sprayed with. Properly sized and fitted they make little difference to the overall appearance of the bike.

figbat

Also, if you’re riding on a wet road but no rain, you will reap the benefits of staying clean and dryish rather than plastered in mud/salt/whatever. You and your bike.

daniel_b

Arthur Scrimshaw wrote:

Daniel B wrote:

Thankyou Arthur, that looks like exactly what I need - button headed I would not have guessed ever me thinks :-)

Liking the look of the random assortment - guess lucky dip as to whether there are any with a flat enough head in there or not.........

I had exactly the same problem with my rear tyre and those bolts sorted it.

Yes looks different from the last time I ordered it, mine was 99% bolts, no other bits? Not so useful now

Managed to find a suitable looking M5 in the bike toolbox, fitted and all sorted, 70 psi and no issues