I hate mudguards as they spoil the look of the bike and get in the way however they are practical and stop the old brown stripe up the back!

What is your view on mudguards…darkside as well 🙂

Not a fan of them but my new 29″ crud catcher is the best I have ever used. I Use Crud Road Racers on my Langster which are a faff to set up but work well.

Essential kit IMO.
Ideal on days like Sunday when it didn’t rain, but the roads were wet and flooded in parts.
Off road they do as good a job, and don’t get in the way at all.
What’s worst are riders taking crappy lines or creating new paths just to avoid a soggy bum.

I tend to end up putting them on too late (like still not replaced on my bikes yet) and remove them too late when trails and roads are dusty and dry!

Never got satisfactory retro road mudguards…

why would you NOT use mudguards in winter?

they spoil the look of the bike

And mud and clag all over the bike and up your front and back is preferable, yeah? 😉

Ahh crap. I was logged in as my wife just then, sorry! 😳

Full sks muduards on my winter road bike. None on the mtb though.

I don’t understand the anti-mudguard thing.

I use SKS shock boards font and back – light , durable and really really good at not spraying crud all over me.

recommend me some then?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sks-shockblade-vario-mtb-front-mudguard/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sks-x-blade-mtb-rear-dirtboard/

ugly as hell and wish I lived somewhere that real mud didnt exist however I dont so its mudguards this year and its been nice going to the forest with the mudhugger on and not having the feeling of that mud coating me from head to toe….. OH even admitted to be jealous of mud prevention so looks like ill be buying him a mudhugger too. May be f-ugly but they work so Ill just have to suck it up and realise I cant see the bike while im pedalling it!

I I don’t mind mudguards on the road bikes. Not a fan on my MTB, much prefer a mud flap or Fender on the forks and don’t see much point in fitting anything to the rear. But each to their own.

Better an ugly mudguard than a soggy bum. If the pads in your shorts get wet you get horrible chaffing too!

Those SKS mudguards look just fine on a bike …

SKS were recommended as one of the best mudguards for the road, but I found them to be a disappointment. The stay mounts inside the guards just caused a dam for water to pour down onto my feet and fitting them was very time consuming as the stays needed to be bent to work with disk brakes.

I’ve very recently changed to Velo Orange stainless mudguards and they seem to be much better. No stay bending required and no internal stay mounts! They could still be improved, but for me – better than the SKS offerings.

Every time I hear someone slagging off mudguards I wonder if their alternative is just not riding in bad conditions, or maybe not for very long. Snow-melt mud up your jacksie for hours is not better than ugly bits of plastic.

Rural North Yorkshire, mud guards essential even in summer

You’ll have epicyclo along at this rate, but just to wet your appetites…

(Not mine, buI’m very tempted to adorn my Niner in a similar fashion).

ton – Member
why would you NOT use mudguards in winter?

He’s right you know!

Am amazed at the people I see commuting all year round on duller than dull hybrids and B2W road bikes without them. These bikes are only ever used to commute, so why wouldn’t you have mudguards? Seems mad.

Now’t wrong wi mudguards, i went out for a ride yesterday afternoon in the rain and driving wind, passed through many 4″+ deep flooded sections of road and surprisingly when i got home i was relatively dry without a soggy wet arse, I couldn’t give a flying **** as to whether they spoil the look of the bike as i’d much rather be able to ride whenever i want.

The stays did need a bit of bending and a ti spacer to clear the fitted rack and disc brakes so i’m intrigued to hear the velo orange items do not need such fettling, any pics of the fitting?.

I can’t promise that the stays wouldn’t need tweaking on any bike, but they certainly didn’t on this one, which made me very happy. This is as close a picture as I have of the fitting, but could get something closer later if needed: (edit – click the pic for zoom options)

The stays simply went under the callipers. Nice.

billytinkle, do those velo orange guards have some kind of quick release on the front says? I can’t make it out from the photo. The one piece wrap-around type can get jammed against the tyre and lock it up quick-smart if some debris gets trapped under the guard.

Sure there was a thread on here about a bloke trying to get Halfords to change their design after he was badly injured in this way.

No quick release, but I’m aware of the risks. My plan is to avoid debris and I’ve mounted the guard very close to the tyre in a bid to avoid crap being sucked up there.

Mudguards???…… 😆

Just fitted a Mudhugger on the front and rear which seem to work well.

It was so wet on Edmundbyers Moor on Saturday, I was still soaked from head to toe as the singletrack had turned into a fast flowing stream. A Crudcatcher on the downtube would have made the difference I reckon.

Have you not heard of water proof shorts?

Mudhugger on the MTBs works for me and him outdoors. Went through some deep mud and water on sunday and apart from usual mud flicks around the calves neither of us got off with the brown skids. They didn’t trap anything, even though there was lots of debris about. They don’t quick release, but can help keep your ass dry.

If it gets really really bad ie heavy rain, my man wears a 1 piece wet suit he bought for kart racing a few years back. He uses one for fishing too. They seem to keep him dry but I hate washing the damn things as they come out of the machine like water filled balloons.

Bender Fender on the from to keep the worst out of my face, and waterproof shorts to keep my backside dry.

Waterproof shorts are ok up to a point, but if you’re actually riding for a decent length of time, they soak through. I find that waterproof shorts and mudguards together is best!

This thread had just reminded me to get guards for my work bike….
SKS Chromoplastics on their way….

DrP

I’ve very recently changed to Velo Orange

bookmarked for when my sks die. Not noticed the water run off thing but sks I’ve had before usually go at the thin metal strip where they attach to guard, lookslike those are tougher

Blimey Grilla, which gym did that thing escape from?!

Crudguard & crudcatcher plus innertube between the fork legs for me. Waterproof shorts are great til you use them a few times without guards, and the grit thrown up your backside wears holes through the seat of them.

The “posh” kid from the big house on the edge of our village had one of those Raleigh Vectar’s in the early 80’s, from memory it had an LCD display on the central plastic housing and a three speed twist shift….needless to say it soon broke and was rendered useless. Meanwhile my £40 bmx from the Jolly Giant toy megastore in glasgow lasted years n’ years….with additional welding as i did rip the headtube from it and i occasionally had to turn the fork round and pedal the bike into a wall to straighten them back out…and my cottor pins in the crank arms used to snap all the time so i welded my cranks on.

You had to be resourceful growing up in darkest Argyll in the 1980’s. 😀

Welcome back Simon Barnes! 😀
Not a fan of mudguards but I had a nice clean dry arse yesterday after a muddy ride 😉

Waterproof shorts are fine if it’s cold and actually raining. If you are out on a mild dry day (but you’re riding through lots of ground water) then you get almost as wet from sweat as you would in a pair of normal shorts getting spray from the rear wheel.

Been out twice last week on the same waterlogged trail. No mudguard and waterproof shorts on the first ride and the bibshort’s pad was wet with sweat. Mudguards on a couple of days later (and the trail was even wetter) – soaked all down my front from water being sprayed up from the front wheel even with a mudguard but the pad and rear of the shorts were dry.

That’s the wrong Simon Barnes”, i guess the one you are referring to is “simonfbarnes”. needless to say with the mention of so many “wet arses” on this thread i expect the real simonfbarnes to post up some posterior shots at some point.

Ah…well in that case ‘get back here soon Simon F Barnes’ 🙂

I recently ordered a Mudhugger and was very disappointent to discover it doesnt fit my seat stays as the cable stop for the rear mech sits on top where it you fit.

Arse 🙁