Bike with no mounts to be picked up this w/e – heart says run naked for looks, head says fit a set of SKS Raceblades or Crud Roadracers.
Experience or opinions of either most welcome – aluminium frame/carbon forks if that makes any difference, fitting will be done by LBS so ‘fiddle factor’ not an issue (for me anyway)….

Aluminium frame, carbon forks, not that it makes any difference.

Crud Roadracer mk2s. They’re fantastic. Fit them yourself though, it’s well easy.

Also if it’s a winter bike, run it with mudguards. If it isn’t, don’t.

If it’s both, go for something like the cruds, as you can take them off and put them back on really easily.

Crud MK2s. SKS are fine if you want to stop a bit of the spray from going up your back but they dont stop it all, nor do they stop spray onto your feet, chainset/frontmech, brakes etc.

Some say they are noisy, and they can rub a little, but you wont notice unless you are riding somewhere where there is no background noise, no wind, no other riders and perfect smooth roads.

Might be worth fitting them yourself tho, they are not hard to fit and its good to know how to adjust them to keep them running free and quiet. Also worth noting if you regularly take the wheels off you need to be careful you dont break them.

Thanks guys,
Bike will be for year round use, ride to work then put some training miles in by going the long way home, so sounds like crudguards it is then…

Pretty much as Realman says – Mine has mounts so I run full guards but used to use the race blades and are a good second if you have no mounts 🙂

daft hijack question – is it ok to strap those crud MK2’s onto a carbon frame ? I am getting my first carbon road bike in a few weeks and ain’t got a clue about do’s and don’t 😳

was also wondering if any precautions should be taken with the Thule 591 carrier clamp jaws – I guess just a rag to protect the finish ?

Thanks

No problems fitting them to carbon frame. Doesn’t matter what it’s made of, they won’t damage it.
Couldn’t get them to fit my Cooper though, lug thing on the brakestay meant the tolerance was too tight even for mk2’s. Apparently it doesn’t rain in Tennessee! 🙁

daft hijack question – is it ok to strap those crud MK2’s onto a carbon frame ? I am getting my first carbon road bike in a few weeks and ain’t got a clue about do’s and don’t

No worries at all, I’ve done a winter with mk2s on a carbon frame, all was fine.

Only things you need to worry about with carbon frames is not overtightening the seatclamp, not much else really.

was also wondering if any precautions should be taken with the Thule 591 carrier clamp jaws – I guess just a rag to protect the finish ?

Yeah, rag, bit of foam, bit of rubber, whatever. Just be sensible.

The Cruds can scuff up the lacquer finish on a carbon frame (or any painted frame for that matter), stick a patch of electrical tape under the mounts or any point they touch the frame, seat tube etc. and all will be fine.

I’d be a little wary of zip-tying directly to a carbon frame. I ran a pump mount on my frame and the zip-ties scratched the lacquer. Easy to solve though – just wrap a bit of electrical tape round the frame first.

As for a Thule, I wouldn’t recommend that at all. Carbon frames shouldn’t be clamped.

As for a Thule, I wouldn’t recommend that at all. Carbon frames shouldn’t be clamped.

honestly ?

few places are doing road racer mk2 for £21 at the mo

Honestly.

I know there’s a school of thought that says “a bit of cloth and everything will be fine”, but carbon frames aren’t designed to take clamping forces. It’s for exactly this reason why manufacturers recommend against clamp-style workstands.

Carbon frames are fine in clamp style racks, just don’t be silly..

http://ass-savers.com/

The 591 is shaped, so even lightly fastening it and locking should hold a bike fine, no need for really doing up the clamp and risking crushing the frame. However, i always make sure to chuck a toe or luggage strap around the frame and the clamp arm as a backup (but then im tall and can reach :0).

If your frame can take them (in combo with your tyres) then the cruds are much better than the SKS race blades. There’s a newer ‘long’ version of the SKS blades coming out soon which should put them back on par performance-wise.
Personally I started with SKS race blades and got fed up of the constant adjustment they seemed to need (if you sneezed within 30ft of them they’d be rubbing on the wheel next ride). Changed to crud mk1’s and they were good (the draft excluder strip providing self-centering is genius, not sure if you can get that to work with race blades). Lost some of the fittings for them during the year though so recently got mk2’s and they’re even better (longer coverage and more front mech protection). I’d say the only downside is you’ll struggle to get 25’s on with them (I run 23’s but would prefer to run 25’s if I could).

I’ve been well impressed with my Crud’s.

As said above – doesn’t work with all frame geoms and as STATO says put some elecrical tape under the frame before mounting 🙂 prob best to stick to 23c – 25c and above would be a bit tight !

It’s for exactly this reason why manufacturers recommend against clamp-style workstands.

jeez, so I cannae use my workstand with this plastic bike either !

Clamp the seatpost

it’s carbon too…..and a funny shape

iainc – you can use your workstand just fine. It’s just that some folk here seem to be so ham-fisted, they can’t even manage to operate a Presta valve without breaking it.

I’ve got those Crud Roadracer mkII guards fitted to my roadbike,one of my better accesory purchases.They’re easy to fit though there’s not much clearance,here’s a pic of the front wheel running a standard 23 tyre,it’s proper tight..

druidh – I haven’t broken one of them yet !!! 😀