So I have a dialemma.

I do not mind getting a bit wet on the daily commute however I keep hearing and reading that in inclement weather I really should have mudguards.

However I ride a Boardman Road Team Carbon and the clearance is not much for guards. From what I read my solution would be to use more of a clip on style mudguard.

As I say I am not too bothered but from a being polite and also taking care of my gear stance should I try to fit some or just keep going as is?

An alternative is I have a late 70s/80s Dawes Super Galaxy that I am adding too (want to make it more of a touring machine) and I could add guards to this, but I don’t really fancy using it for my daily grind.

Any ideas/suggestions?

I’ve used the Crud road mudguards on my road bike – they’re effective and I didn’t have problems with them but I’m not sure they’re robust enough for a daily commute. SKS race guards give a bit less coverage but are more secure.

They make a huge difference on wet roads (more so than when it’s raining, tbh), your feet and kit stay a lot dryer and you’re not cycling into the spray from your own front wheel the whole time.

And your rear lights last longer.

IMO Use your Dawes for the commute rather than your Carbon filley. Why would you put that through the sh!te in the winter?

Get the Dawes as a commute hack / tourer with guards on.

As for;

I keep hearing and reading that in inclement weather I really should have mudguards.

I would say that’s down to common sense? Its like saying I hear in the sh!t weather I should put the roof up on my convertible car is it not?

your bike will thank you ….. but really people should not be so close to your back wheel to be getting sprayed on a commute…

“An alternative is I have a late 70s/80s Dawes Super Galaxy that I am adding too (want to make it more of a touring machine) and I could add guards to this, but I don’t really fancy using it for my daily grind.”

distance dependant its probably far more suited to the daily grind than it is a modern day touring machine……

Cheers for the replies.

I had a feeling the Dawes may start to come out on top for that. Need to look at what mudguards will fit it now I guess.

Cheers.

Get a pannier rack on the Dawes and your commute will be a hell of a lot more comfortable. Even with one bag its miles better than getting a sweaty back and restricted movement.

There is very little clearance on my road bike, and I wanted to get some mud guards for it.
Considered the Crud ones, but I wanted something that could be put on & taken off fairly quickly and the Cruds looked a bit fiddly for this.

I ended up with some Topeak DeFender R1/R2 mud guards. They go on fairly quickly but can be a pain to stop them rubbing.
Took me ages to get them right the first time I set them up, but I thought that was the only time I’d have to do it. But in reality, there is quite a lot of fiddling every time I put them on & they still rub as they move around when going over bumpy surfaces.

If it was me, I’d be setting up the Dawes with decent quality, permanent mud guards & using it through the winter.

I am currently trying to persuade the wife that I NEED a ‘gravel’ bike so I can get something with proper mud guard mounts, bigger tyres & disc brakes to give me less excuses not to ride during the winter. But, it’s not working at the moment 😀

Surely you just point out N+1 and that is your argument?

Just pricing up mudguards + pannier for the Dawes.

I’ve used Crud RoadRacer guards on a Boardman Team Carbon for daily commuting duties for a couple of years. Provided you don’t go to big with tyres (<25mm best) to ensure sufficient clearance then they work quite well. They can snap around the joints if you catch them with toe overlap or when standing on back wheel, but replacement parts are available.
As the low cost option that lets you get most use from your bike, I’d recommend them. Having said that, I’m now after a disc braked commuter that can take full PDW guards.

If you’re not finding that getting wet is a problem, I wouldn’t bother with mudguards.

That said, they will help avoid wear on components a bit, but to be honest winter is not nice to most parts of the bike – to me using the Dawes with mudguards would be preferable to using a nice road bike. And you may find the benefit of not getting so wet is more useful in colder weather.

I don’t think I’d bother trying to put mudguards on something with tight clearances, whilst there are options available to do this it’ll always be a bit of a compromise and they won’t protect the bike as well as proper mudguards would.

I used to use cruds on my old Boardman for commuting, they were fine. Definitely a leave on thing though.

New bike time I reckon.

I left the Crud RRs on my Ribble Carbon Sportive year round when I was commuting on it. It’s not as if it only rains between November and February!

They were pretty hassle free tbh, I’d happily use them again if I had another road bike without space/fixings for proper guards. It’s not just about people riding behind you, it’s also about people that you overtake. You need to leave a LOT of space if you want to avoid spraying them with dirty road water.

Commuting and mudguards are like beef and mustard. A MUST couple.

Used to have Crud and it was very wobly in comparison to proper SKS Blumels or similar guards.

But always better than no mudguard at all…

Cheers!

I.

I use/used SKS raceblade longs on my ‘racing’ bike. They work OK except they don’t go right down past the front mech which means a lot of the water gets sprayed onto your feet and the drivechain, not onto the floor.

I had crud roadracer guards for a very short while, crap. Utterly crap. Utterly, completely, rubbish crap. They were always bent, they snapped whenever the wheel had to come out, they rubbed, they were far too short to be usefull to either me or the guy behind me, and they didn’t fit with anything bigger than 23mm tyres. Spares are available, whoop-di-flipping-doo so are SKS, the difference is I’ve never broken any SKS bits in the first place.

I’ve also got a Claud Butler Super Dalesman (or maybe a Eagle Touristique, or maybe a Super Galaxy, it’s origins aren’t entirely clear), makes a fantastic commuter with full guards. It’s currently in bit’s awaiting a bit of a renovation. Even with new 5800 hub’d wheels, new drivechain, new contact points it’s still going to be a lot cheaper than something newer and a whole lot less suitable.

Ride the Galaxy with some SKS P35 chromoplastics. Or Raceblade Longs, which I have found to be very good.

^ that

the galaxy is prime for commuting.

Anyone else find that the aluminium rivets on the SKS mudgards dissolve in salty water and then fall out? My mudgards are held together with zip ties at the moment.

I’d like to say mine re fine, but:
a) I’ve not fitted them yet for this winter
b) they’ll be encased under a layer of crud, which my well be holding them together and/or be shielding them from salt
c) I swapped from 28nn to 32mm tyres last winter which required bigger guards, so my set is only one winter old.

Which bits are riveted (genuine question, my recollection was the attached bits were bent around the guard to allow it to slide).

“Anyone else find that the aluminium rivets on the SKS mudgards dissolve in salty water and then fall out? My mudgards are held together with zip ties at the moment.”

Both mines and the mrs mudguard rivets on the sks bluemels took 4 years to dissolve…..

so i put in 4 new rivets and the mudguards are like new…..

Anyone else find that the aluminium rivets on the SKS mudgards dissolve in salty water and then fall out? My mudguards are held together with zip ties at the moment.

After 4 seasons of regular day-in-day-out commuting they only getting a bit white with oxidation on top. Truth to be told, that after so many years plastic start to crack much more easily than at the beginning…

Cheers!
I.

OK following on from the suggestions here is the Galaxy all commuter ready – I had an itch and needed to scratch it!

Hopefully will do the job during winter, now do I use it for my Audax in a month…

I’ve been through loads of different types, but eventually splashed out on some PDWs last year and they’ve been brilliant. They stay put, don’t rub and don’t rattle. They are also nice and long, so give good protection.

The only downside was the tiny clearance on my Planet X, which meant adapting them by chopping a bit off from the rear brake to the BB. Despite that, puddles hold no fear for my arse and feet now

Anyone else find that the aluminium rivets on the SKS mudgards dissolve in salty water and then fall out? My mudgards are held together with zip ties at the moment.

Yes, but when they do I drill them and use a button head bolt in their place. The aluminium bridges also go eventually so a bit of pipe replaces those. My last set “lasted” for 4 years but hardly any of the fixtures were original. Current set are about to come up to their 3rd winter and a few of the rivets have gone.

I wonder if a splodge of paint, bit of duct tape or splodge of sealant might help… Will put some on next time I service and report back in a few years.

I use these (Zefal Swan R and Croozer Road Mudguard Set) on my commuter. Ideal as I also had little clearance between the down tube and front wheel. Eliminates potential toe overlap and easy to clip on/off

hmmm pic isn’t working, try here Dawes

I do not mind getting a bit wet on the daily commute however I keep hearing and reading that in inclement weather I really should have mudguards.

Have you commuted a full UK winter before? If so chapeau and carry on if you want. Guards should help lessen the abuse your bike gets, but again if you’re happy with the frequency you currently change running parts just carry on.

If you haven’t done a full winter of commuting yet then my advice would be the same as many others here, “guards are a good idea”. Some consider them unnecessary but i think they are in the minority.

You only really have to consider other people if you’re doing a group ride.

Anyone else find that the aluminium rivets on the SKS mudgards dissolve in salty water

Nah mine tend to rattle themselves to death in around 12months and break at the mounting bracket but then I’m commuting mainly offroad nowadays. The ones I had on my old road commuter lasted a good few years before breaking in the same place. ~£25 every 12 months I can put up with, I spend more on tires in that time.

piedi di formaggio – Member

I’ve been through loads of different types, but eventually splashed out on some PDWs last year and they’ve been brilliantDo you run discs or otherwise had to manipulate the stays? I like the look of them but unsure as to how the play with disc brakes, those stays look sturdy dunno how well they’ll bend.

I bent the stays to fit in a more aesthetically pleasing way, so you can do that if running discs (I’m not) no problem at all. They’ve stayed exactly as I shaped them.

Was was a bit concerned about the was they ‘fix’ to the dropouts with the skewer going through them, but they’ve been absolutely fine

hmmm pic isn’t working, try here Dawes

Looks absolutely bob on that nice work.

D0NK the PDW stays are attach a lot lower/further round the guard and generally don’t interfere with the calliper as they attach/exit below or behind it, but the stays are just alu rod so can be bent easily enough, but I wouldn’t want to repeatedly bend them , but a one time adjustment is fine.

Come back in a few years and it’ll look like this :-p

How did you attach the mudguard at the BB end? I had to make a spacer out of a wine cork and some zip ties to get it to the bridge.