Lovely new set of 50mm Chromoplastics arrived for my Charge Plug singlespeed – hurrah!

But true to my previous experiences – mudguards NEVER just fit and are going to require some bodging work.
Fork crown bolt is too short – need to find a longer one.
Clip for chain-stay bridge A) doesnt fit round the bridge correctly, and B) isn’t offset enough to reach the guard – potentially need zip ties here.
And finally, the plug has its seat-stay fixing vertically under the bridge rather than horizontally through it making the slidey mounting clip useless – going to have to drill a hole in guard.

As usual, what should be a 20-30 min job already consumed an hour and looks like at least another hour of bodging to go.

Rant over – feel free to share your own mudguard related frustrations below 🙂

Apart from doing about 30 seconds of bending for the brake caliper, my cromoplastics fitted my Boardman like a glove. This has never happened before in the world and will never happen again.

Fitting a set to my brother’s bike got a 5 spanner rating, harder than changing the cams in my motorbike. Mudguards are bastards.

You could buy a buy that has purpose designed guards.

Like a Giant or a Whyte.

You could buy a buy that has purpose designed guards.

Like a Giant or a Whyte.

Not for £350 in blindingly bright pink I can’t 8)

And finally, the plug has its seat-stay fixing vertically under the bridge rather than horizontally through it making the slidey mounting clip useless – going to have to drill a hole in guard.

Bend the eyelet 90deg so the hole now points North, slide the bracket onto the guard with a washer and bolt in place – it is too tight to put them in place once the guard is in situ.
Do up the bolt using needle nose pliers because it is too tight to get an allen key in there

And finally, the plug has its seat-stay fixing vertically under the bridge rather than horizontally through it making the slidey mounting clip useless – going to have to drill a hole in guard.

Can you not bend the vertical part of the mounting clip so it’s horizontal. It’s what I did to mount the guards on my Pompino and it’s still going strong many years later.

Bend the eyelet 90deg so the hole now points North, slide the bracket onto the guard with a washer and bolt in place – it is too tight to put them in place once the guard is in situ.
Do up the bolt using needle nose pliers because it is too tight to get an allen key in there

Good tip, had already come up with bending the eyelet 90deg, but hadn’t quite added up what good it would do me. You’ve completed the puzzle

If you do decide to drill the mudguard then use a small rubber shim on either side of the mudguard as excessive tightening of the bolt will eventually cause the mudguard to split.

Yep, although the standard clips cause the mudguards to split too so I reckon you may be better off with a hole + washers anyway.

And finally, the plug has its seat-stay fixing vertically under the bridge rather than horizontally through it making the slidey mounting clip useless – going to have to drill a hole in guard.

This is a good thing – you directly mount the guard instead of a bent-metal workaround. Just drill, mount with a washer and away you go.

If you do decide to drill the mudguard then use a small rubber shim on either side of the mudguard as excessive tightening of the bolt will eventually cause the mudguard to split.

It’s how the mudguard is mounted at the chainstay bridge, and doesn’t seem to cause any problems there.

I have done zero to maintain mine in the 4,4 years I’ve had them fitted to my poorly cared for commuter (also a Charge) and they haven’t split

I cut the stays to length with industrial strength cable cutters. It works but hurts your hands. And the jaws. Never a simple job to get right.

It’s how the mudguard is mounted at the chainstay bridge, and doesn’t seem to cause any problems there.

Yes but thats at the end. A hole in the middle, with one side braced at the chainstay and the other flapping about (even with stays it wobbles), can cause an issue if you bolt it up too tight. A bit of rotational movement there is good as it allows the gaurd to flex. Its the same with the metal bracket, loads break there as people try to pinch it tight to stop the annoying rubbing noise. The direct mount hole is the best option, though yes it is more faff.

I cut the stays to length with industrial strength cable cutters. It works but hurts your hands. And the jaws. Never a simple job to get right.

I am going to conscript my Dad onto the task and make use of his dremmel. If I have to take everything apart again they may get permanently bodged with the largest hammer I can find.

Yes but thats at the end. A hole in the middle, with one side braced at the chainstay and the other flapping about (even with stays it wobbles), can cause an issue if you bolt it up too tight.

Both my road bikes are mounted that way at the seatstay, so time will tell! Incidentally, my commuter front mudguard cracked where the crown mounted is riveted.

I just cut the stays with a junior hacksaw that lives in the bottom of the tool box. Even a mostly blunt one will have cut through all 8 (front and back) by the time id dug out a dremel, charged it or got an extension to plug it in, and found and fitted the right disc.

I cut the stays to length with industrial strength cable cutters. It works but hurts your hands. And the jaws. Never a simple job to get right.

Got some cheap bolt cutters that do the job with very little bother other than firing off the chopped off bit like a bullet.

Got some cheap bolt cutters that do the job with very little bother other than firing off the chopped off bit like a bullet.

I do the same. Wear safety glasses..

I looked at mine, I looked at my Tripster and thought, nah! They ain’t gonna fit. So went in the bike shop and asked for some to fit – bikey shop blokey said, drill here, cut there, bend there. Was easy with a bit of wordy advice. Then I didn’t have a long enough fork crown bolt. Found some coach-bolt I had for a climbing frame – perfect fit! Looks awful though cos the head’s gawn rusty. Still mudguards. Horrible things, time to take em off soon! Or spend £90 on some poncy ones that look just as shite, but you’re so proud of spending out on them that you leave em on all year round! 😆

Fork crown bolt is too short – need to find a longer one.

A longer sunken nut may be a better/cheaper option. Shimano offer sunken nuts in 10mm-27mm lengths:

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brake-spares-shimano/?page=5

and Planet X for example sell a 31mm version:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FSPXBB/planet-x-brake-bolt

Mudguards only break if they are bent to fit on the bike – try to follow their natural curve to prevent this.

Mudguards only break if they are bent to fit on the bike – try to follow their natural curve to prevent this.

There are other failure modes.

There are other failure modes.

stick in the spokes (bloody big stick) twice within 12 months, shows this to be painfully true.

Fitted a few, pita, kinda time consuming but still not as annoying as setting up a front mech imo – not that I’m a 1x fanboi, i just hate setting up F mechs.

Had to trim/bend the front stays when fitting the Chromoplastics to my Arkose because the mounting point is halfway up the fork leg.
Cut pretty well with a hacksaw.
(Tip – wrap masking tape around the area you want to cut first – it stops the blade slipping whilst you try to get going)

I then bent them in a vice so they entered the fixings on the guard at the correct angle.
I used a length of M5 studding to make up a bolt for the fork crown.
I had to use a couple of spacers to ensure the gap between the guard and tyre was even all the way around – this is not vital but satisfied my OCD.

They fit pretty well and have only needed the odd tweak over the last 15 months.

I’d buy again – mostly because I can’t justify the additional cost for the PDW all-metal jobs, and I think Chromoplastics are more than good enough if you fit them properly.

Its the same with the metal bracket, loads break there as people try to pinch it tight to stop the annoying rubbing noise.

My must recent ones came with a plastic bracket, so obviously couldn’t pinch it up tight even if I wanted to. It rubbed away the edges of the mudguard, then they cracked. Now taped, drilled and bolted.

I used 15mm nylon spacers from Amazon for the seatstay mount, and drilled a hole in the mudguard, seems to work a treat with my chosen tyres (32mm Randonneurs). I’ve got a couple spare if you’re interested.

I think I drilled a hole for the chainstay bridge

I fitted some Aluminum guards yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. It took up alot of my time this week. I will however, be cutting quite a dash as I rock up at my chosen Audax this Sunday. Queue admiring glances from weirdy beardy, over-saddle bagged types as they drink in my uncanny OCD mudguard fitting skills.
Much fabrications, well worth the effort tho, pics to follow.

I got a Contend SL1 specifically as a winter bike, found out in the space of a few weeks that no mudguards actually fit it properly as (although they make a point of mentioning guard fixing points in the advertising blurb…) there is no clearance between tyre and fork crown, ended up using clip-ons anyway…

In reality though, these are the second set of Widget clip-on guards I’ve had, they really are very good, and the SL1 is otherwise also very good.

pics to follow. OOOOH! Hi-res please!

Fitting mudguards must come close to the most hated job in a bike shop.

Some are a 15 minutes job, eg fit a set of Giant mudguards to a Giant designed to take mudguards, but others can take half a day if you have any concern for the safety of the rider – ie not to close to the tyre, stays mounted so if something gets wedged in the mudguard the guard swings away from the tyre instead of locking the wheel.

Yeah, I decided to add a couple of DIY mudflaps to some brand new Chromoplastic ones before I fitted them. Once the OCD had kicked it and I had to make the most perfectly shaped flappage, and then properly fitted them with repeated removals to trim the mudguard stays I think I’d gone through 2 hours.

But the additional mudflaps are deaf worth a little bit of effort (front one for my benefit, rear one for my mate riding behind me), simple to do with a couple of short bolts and pretty neat. If any actually cares I’ll try and post a couple of photos up.

photo’s are always good 😀

feel free to share your own mudguard related frustrations below

Mine weren’t quite central so I loosened the bolts to try to even things up. Not only can’t I get them centred, I can’t seem even to get them as good as they were before I tried improving them.

Arse.

Mine are a constant nightmare, most annoying thing is that whatever bolt you use for the chainstay bridge it sits so close to the tyre you have to deflate it to get the wheel out.