The missus is contemplating chopping in her “proper” roadbike (Van Nic Euros) for something more relaxed, with discs and proper guards that can deal with some offroad and light touring/bikepacky stuff. The plan would be to have 2 sets of wheels – normal road, and a set of gravel knobblies (possibly 650+). She’s already entered the Dirty Reiver, so that’s the kind of riding we’re talking about.

Couple of questions.

What are people doing for mudguards on gravel bikes? An all weather roadbike ain’t an all weather roadbike unless its got proper guards on, but I don’t want to have to take the guards off every time she wants to change wheels.

What’s the current view on road plus? Seems to make plenty of sense to me for the gravelly stuff, but I’ve very little actual knowledge.

Thanks!

Dunno about 650b but I’ve just bought a CAADX, planning to use big slicks (Schwalbe CX Comp or Sammy Slick) with M:part primoplastic guards in winter and something like WTB Nano’s without guards in the summer.

That leaves a bit of a gap for winter-of road, but TBH taking the guards on and off would be enough of a faff to put me off doing that without tyre/wheel changes.

I can see the appeal of 650b for longer distance off-road stuff though, but then you’d want ‘mtb’ style guards that don’t clog with mud.

I think you’d have to check the details of each frame for mudguards/clearance – most seem to quote clearance without guards. I think I’ve got these on my CdF

Road plus – looks a good idea as you get the extra volume meaning more cushioning. I don’t know anyone who has actually used it though. Until recently it’s been quite hard to get hold of either rims or tyres and there’s still not a lot of choice – WTB and an Alpkit offering are all that spring to mind.

My Holdsworth Stelvio is currently wearing these
There’s plenty of clearance for 650b x 47 WTB Horizons and Voyager Hyper 700 x 38 tyres

I found that the front mudgaurd would sometimes catch me out offroad (single track stuff) with toe overlap,so I now just put a crudcatcher on the frame and one of those enduro gaurd thingies inside the fork.I have an SKS (wide) on the back.
I have been toying with the idea of a spare 650b wheelset for a bit more clearance though.

I have a Diverge which would fit all those but not sure about guards I dont bother.

I’ve got Crud Mk 3’s on my cross bike, which do a good enough job of keeping me dry on the road even if they are a bit flappy on rough stuff or when honking out of the saddle, and then detach in seconds using industrial velcro (plus i use one ziptie down by the BB so it doesn’t move when the front derailleur cage presses on it)

Fitting them takes a bit longer but once you have the idea how to adjust it’s still only a 5 minute job at most.

Went for these because I can now road in to work and then take it back home over the ranges, using a semi slick offroader tyre (Spesh Borough FWIW)

Big fat SKS guards and tyres a size down? I use 35mm knobblies with that and its fine. Slicks wold work one size up. The other thing is if you have a bike with real guard mounts its only 7 bolts or less and no nuts to whip them on and off. 5 minutes job.

Big fat SKS guards and tyres a size down? I use 35mm knobblies with that and its fine. Slicks wold work one size up. The other thing is if you have a bike with real guard mounts its only 7 bolts or less and no nuts to whip them on and off. 5 minutes job.

+1 it really isn’t a problem to put mudguards off an on once fitted correctly first time.

What are people doing for mudguards on gravel bikes? An all weather roadbike ain’t an all weather roadbike unless its got proper guards on, but I don’t want to have to take the guards off every time she wants to change wheels.

What’s the current view on road plus? Seems to make plenty of sense to me for the gravelly stuff, but I’ve very little actual knowledge.

Simple solution, I have 700x50mm guards that fit my 650×47 wheels very well, and I don’t use 700c wheels anymore on that bike. Maybe >85% of my road miles have been on 650B for a fair while.
The bike’s set up to be a great all-roader – if I want 700×25-28 it’s for fast riding and I have a tighter angled, lighter road bike for that use. If you’re not riding road for speed/training imo 650B does more and covers it all really well. No need for 2 wheelsets. There, just saved you £300 : )

Had this dilemma with my Vaya. Was planning two sets of wheels but after a bit of research went for 650b x 47 WTB byways, will cover 90% of my riding

I have an alloy GT Grade and have two sets of wheels, one with 28mm conti road tyres, the other with 35mm Kenda Happy Medium “gravel” tyres.
Frame & fork have mudguard eyes, so I use some SKS Commuter full mudguards. Clearance with 35mm tyres and ‘guards is tight on the fork, but no issues thus far.
I used the bike with mudguards and 35mm tyres fitted for last years Dirty Reiver. (I highly recommend running tubeless on the off-road wheels. Also join the DR Facebook page).
I’ve been experimenting with 26″ wheels and knobbly tyres, for more volume/comfort off road, but I’m not convinced about it tbh.
The Grade is more Road bike than Pure Gravel bike, which suits me, but depends how often you see yourself riding it on the road.

I run two sets on my saracin hack- 650×42 resolutes and 700×32 marathon supremes with sks chromoplastics which I think are 45mm. There’s a gap with the 650b but it lets mud pass through, get alot of little sticks stuck in there though.Ive bent the guard attachments out and pissed around with the mounting bits to get more clearance.

I’m about to build 650b wheels for my Van Nic Amazon. I’ll be fitting 47mm tyres and 700x50mm mudguards.

What wheels (or hubs/rims) are you using Colin?