Not for me, for her. I’m trying to persuade her that putting guards on her bike for her commute will mean

a) she will arrive at work cleaner and dryer and
b) it’s better for her bike, cos they offer protection against the ‘orrible corrosive road spray
c) it’s better for me, becuase b) means I won’t be whined at that her bike’s not working properly/making funny noises

However, her main objection is that they look horrible. Are there any that don’t, or at least minimise the horribleness?

If full length guards fit, then chromoplastics.

If full length guards don’t fit then raceblade longs.

d) its better for other commuters not being sprayed by her

SKS Raceblade or Longboard or the SKS Chromoplastic ones.

IMO A winter bike with guards look good.

Should have added, she has a ‘Dale Synapse, no mounting wotsits (although I know that’s not really an issue)

I think “looking good” and “mud guards” are not things that go together sadly.

I really like SKS Chromoplastic guards, they fit well, are reasonably tough and do exactly what’s required. Pretty they are not though.

Should have added, she has a ‘Dale Synapse, no mounting wotsits

Check the dropouts, my (older) CAAD has tapped holes in the dropout rather than ‘braze on’ mounts. If not just fit a p-clip or wrap the stay in tape and just zip tie them on.

Personally I quite like the look of guards, as long as they’re not black, black just looks like you’re trying unsuccessfully to hide them.

SKS Raceblade longs, no mounting wotsits required and look good.

Certainly not the cheapest on the market but worth the money. Cheaper to buy them straight away than buy another type then end up getting race blades eventually anyway.

I fitted some Stronglight guards to a CX bike this week and they look very good. Not over-generous with their mounting hardwear though, unless my set was missing some.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/mudguards-road-stronglight-mudguards/stromudr200

Raceblade Longs are the best option – they’re also out of production (unless they’ve suddenly come back from the dead?)

I had SKS raceblade longs, they we very good. They won’t fit my new bike (it has discs/through axles) so moved to raceblade clip ons, so far they’ve been good too, though not quote as much protection as the raceblade longs.

Not sure why people have such an issue with Crud Racerguards, I’ve been using them for about 5 years of commutes without issue. Do the job simply and silently and are easy to remove/replace.
And she can’t complain about the look of them, you can hardly see em!

Yeah, Dez, the Crud’s were something I was thinking of.

I have the racerguards on my commuter as its the only ones that fit. They are ok, but would prefer something a little more ‘substantial’ with a better coverage of the wheel. However they are better than nothing.

PDW fenders

https://www.ridepdw.com/goods/fenders/full-metal-fenders-city

Look good and can be fitted to bikes without mounts.

Cruds are rubbish, bolts are made of cheese.

Edit to my previous post, mine arent the longs, they are the standard ones that fasten onto the fork lags/seatstays. Still excellent.

I had cruds once, Liked the slim look but I found them flimsy and fiddly and didn’t hold their shape off the bike over the summer so they didn’t fit the next winter.

Cruds are rubbish, bolts are made of cheese.

Plastic actually. Work fine for me.
Only issue I had, on a previous bike, was there wasn’t enough clearance under the fork. (In which case there wouldn’t have been for any other guards) – good thing about the cruds – just took a pair of scissors to them and trimmed them to fit. Great product.

didn’t hold their shape off the bike over the summer so they didn’t fit the next winter.
Er, surely that depends on how you store them..

Plastic actually. Work fine for me.

Maybe I got unlucky but it didn’t take much of a knock to snap the head off the bolt once mounted. Just found them to be flimsy and fragile, especially compared to a set of Chromoplastics.

Do you want mine of my ribble? Cant see me using them any time soon. I can bring them next week.

similar experience to DezB with cruds. can’t really fault them. must have had my originals 5 years and ridden 10s of thousands of miles in all weathers and just leave them on all year round (temperature is season specific in the UK rainfall isn’t). took them off a year or so back and fitted them to their second bike. All fateners were fine.
Also. CRUD will send you out ANY spare part you may require.

Raceblades and any other mudguard that don’t protect your brake caliper pivots from winter road spray seem a massive fail to me. unless of course you don’t ever cycle in winter where the gritters go.

Raceblades and any other mudguard that don’t protect your brake caliper pivots

Oh yeah – and do any others have the bit that protects your front mech from spray? Excellent addition to the newer versions that is.