Winter is coming ... Mudguards and tyres

andyh01
andyh01 Posts: 599
edited September 2019 in Road buying advice
Hi all
So I have the one do it all bike which is disc flat mount adventure/gravel Mason Bokeh, with Hunt wheels currently with 35mm G Ones tubeless tires.

I'm after some mudguards the bike also has fittings for them. The recommended ones are SKS Bluemels but I had the raceblad3d 9n previous bike which didn't last long.
I'm tempted to go alloy rather than chromoplastic so looking at PDWs but the price puts me off a bit or Velo Orange
Are the PDWs worth it?
Any suggestions/recommendations?

Also need to be able to take winter tires, am I best off with MTB type or spiked for snow & ice ? Prefer tubeless I think rims are 19" wide. Ideally change tires November time and leave on until Feb time.

Any help much appreciated
Thanks
Andy

Comments

  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,717
    Raceblades are a completely different beast to SKS Bluemels/Chromoplastics. The proper fitted guards take an hour or so of tinkering to get them to fit right, but after that they'll be solid and won't need touching. I don't bother with any other guards, I just go for fitted SKS ones every time.
  • andyh01
    andyh01 Posts: 599
    Thanks for the quick response.
    How do they fit on are they zip ties on the forks?
    Bike has 12mm thru axel
  • SKS Longboards are very good. Somewhat longer and wider than "normal" guards so will easily take a 30mm tyre. They do keep a lot of crap off you, especially if you are riding on muddy tracks. Quite sturdy so should take a bit of hammer.
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,717
    AndyH01 wrote:
    Thanks for the quick response.
    How do they fit on are they zip ties on the forks?
    Bike has 12mm thru axel
    No zip ties necessary. If the bike has fittings for mudguards, there should be M5 (I think) threaded holes on the fork legs somewhere, and the mudguard stays bolt to those. They used to be at the dropouts, but a lot of disc frames have them halfway up the fork leg, to give clearance for the brake.
  • andyh01
    andyh01 Posts: 599
    Thanks all.

    I had another look last night if PDWs only go to 45mm with recommend 10mm clearence means could 9nly fit max 35mm tyre. I originally thought I could go with their 650b beast but they won't work in 700c wheels.
    I could go for the Zeppelin's which are 51mm

    U guess it comes down to which tyres I would use in deep winter whether ice spikes/studs like the marathons which I think can come in at 335mm or whether I go wider and more studs or wider treaded mud tyre? I guess snow sludge is similar to mud??
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    Where and what are you riding?
    Whats makes you think huge tyres are essential for our winter?
    My PDWs are now approaching their 4 th 'season'.
    I can just about squeeze 23mm in them but , I seem to survive.
  • andyh01
    andyh01 Posts: 599
    JGSI wrote:
    Where and what are you riding?
    Whats makes you think huge tyres are essential for our winter?
    My PDWs are now approaching their 4 th 'season'.
    I can just about squeeze 23mm in them but , I seem to survive.

    Commuting /riding Leicestershire country and cycle lanes roads etc.
    My only steed is a Mason Bokeh Adventure/gravel type bike.
    My experience of trying to ride with snow/ice on the ground with 28mm slicks and rim brakes

    I now have discs and clearance for wider tyres to cope with snow/8ce currently only have the one set of wheels
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    Good luck for keeping upright on snow and ice is all I can say .
    There are those rare days when a walk or bus to work makes more sense.