New to road bikes and wondering what folk recommend in terms of mudguards?

I’m running 25c tyres and have eyelets. What size do I need?

Is there anything special I need to know about fitting them?

I’m running SKS Chromoplastics and I’m pretty happy with them.
A bugger to fit properly, but nice once they are on and not at all rattly.

Is there anything special I need to know about fitting them?

On no account should there be any visible light between the guard and the tyre. Guards on a road bike are a big enough “sin” without them being unsightly.

This covers the fitting pretty well:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_WZVS9SUY[/video]

I recently fitted a set of sks longboard guards to my commuter and they really are fantastic. Much better than the standard length guards I used before. They keep all the crap off the seat tube/front mech/chainset that normal guards let through.

you’ll need the P35 size. Nothing special about fitting them except the stays are quite tough so a sharp hacksaw blade is required, as is about an hour of your time to do a decent job (like even spacing and close fitting). I cut the end off the plastic bit the stay slides through then cut in situ, much easier than trying to get the sizing right, I then file the cut end smooth.

Crud Roadracer Mk2 guards get some good press, but I’ve yet to fit mine so cant comment. Its generally a clearance issue so I was looking at SKS Raceblade Longs because they have the section under the brake arch removed. I was thinking of the guards that Giant do for the Giant do for the Defy range. They look a bit cheaper.

Crud raceguards are fine for a temporary measure but they won’t last a winter of commuting. The bit where the rear guard zipties to the brake bolt area wears through.

Raceblades are very rattly.

only things to be aware of are clearances, i could run 25s but i can’t run 25s and mudguards.

I’ve got narrow SKS Chromoplastics on 28mm tyre. Width is fine. Gap is a bit tricky as its a cross bike, so fork crown and seatstay-brace are quite a way off the tyre

Fairly tight though:

DSC_0134 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

Used Crud Roadracers with 25mm tyres previously. Coverage was good, they rubbed a little, but not too much

IMG_20130327_000850 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

takisawa2 – Member

Crud Roadracer Mk2 guards get some good press, but I’ve yet to fit mine so cant comment.

Great idea, but just way too fragile.
Mine are on their last warning and the spares aren’t free anymore.

They work fine, but can rub if you’re not careful and seem to explode whenever in contact with humanity.

SKS cromoplastics. In black. Will fit long-drop brakes and a 25c tyre. 28c will be too much for most road frames. As stated, they take an age to fit properly. But with no gaps will look the part. The stays are tough to cut, but nothing has the same performance. Replace the reflector with a nice backup rear light.

The rear will snap at the brake bridge. Replace as necessary.

SKS chromoplasts are excellent. Spares are available in case any fixings break, which is nice. I’d go with the narrow width, they seem fine up to 28mm tyres.

Getting the stays the right length is fiddly, and not 100% necessary if you don’t want to. But it does make a neater job.

I’ve also used the cheap SKS full length guards – avoid the ‘commuter’ guards, they are a bit of a crap design IME. The ‘bluemels’ are good though, and a bit cheaper than the chromoplasts.

Yeh my rear one snapped in two when a twig was pulled between tyre and guard. The bit that zip ties to the brake area had been repaired anyway, fitted using 3 zipties instead of 1, so they were on their way out.

Gap is a bit tricky as its a cross bike, so fork crown and seatstay-brace are quite a way off the tyre

I solved that by putting two nylock nuts on the bolt: one to tighten against the bolt head to secure the mudguard and the other to control how far the bolt screwed into the frame.

Works pretty well and saves faffing about with tons of different washers and spacers.

Getting the stays the right length is fiddly, and not 100% necessary if you don’t want to. But it does make a neater job.

Bending the stays around disc callipers adds to the challenge too

DSC_0695 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

Bending the stays around disc callipers adds to the challenge too

Chainstay-mounted callipers FTW! 😆

Chainstay-mounted callipers FTW

I know. On the next bike, but this one isn’t bad for nigh-on 10 yeras old. Disc brake mounts on cross bikes back then were fairly scarce.

SKS every time. You can fit them to almost any frame with a bit of ingenuity and if you take your time you can make them nigh-on invisible.

you can make them nigh-on invisible

SKS need to bring out black mudguard stays for black-spoked wheels. I’d by some…

Agreed 🙂
I have considered painting them but it’d be a waste of time

Thirded! Perhaps we should tell them.

Perfect, thanks all – SKS chromoplastics it is then 🙂

SKS need to bring out black mudguard stays for black-spoked wheels. I’d by some…

Either spray them or get them powder coated. But then you need to do the nuts, bolts and all the other silver bits too.

Late to the party. I’ve got some Crud Roadracer 2s, they survived all last winter without exploding or catching fire. They’re a bit of a pain to fit and remove, and I had to heat/bend the front to get it to fit properly but that’s because I’ve got rubbish clearance.

Perhaps we should tell them

I’ve sent an email…

CArbon fibre kite spars of course. You heard it here first 😉

Another vote for the chromoplastics, they really are fit and forget.

The Crud Raceguards annoyed the hell out of me, the constant rubbing (designed like that!) is a tad distracting.

SKS +1

Crud Raceguards – such a relief when I threw them in the bin after a few weeks. Really poor product.

Wish I had seen this thread last week, my crud guards are awful, already lost 2 screws this week 🙁

The rubbing things is pretty annoying with the Cruds. And to be fair I only went for them as they had the lowest clearance, otherwise I’d have gone for SKS. That said, they do the job.

To be fair I don’t think crudguards are designed as a fit and forget product. I only saw them as something for occasional use.

The Crud Roadrace Mk2 on my roadbike are great. Yes they take an enormous amount of patience to fit well, but if you follow the instructions you can stop any rubbing with a simple tug to centre them. Mine are virtually silent. They get bit annoying when you get grit on the tyre perhaps, but mine have lasted me 18 months so far.

Ask and you shall receive.

Just had an email back from SKS:

We have some black stays in 380mm length. You can order them from one of our three distributors in the UK. Contacts are attached.
None of them have the black stays at stock but they can order them directly at SKS. The item no. is: 8366-0380.

🙂

Chromoplastics here too… Though, being unconcerned about looks I got the absolute biggest ones that would fit in my frame, the 42s, to get more coverage. Ugly but effective.

takisawa2 – Member
Crud Roadracer Mk2 guards… …I was thinking of the guards that Giant do for the Giant do for the Defy range. They look a bit cheaper.

I found the Roadracer’s too easy to snap.

I have however just fitted the Giant Defy’s to my er, Giant Defy (winter bike) and they are good, black bike black guards so nearly invisible.

The look of a roadbike with guards still plays on my mind though….

Nice work ir_bandito – I may have to order some of those myself. 🙂

Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better coverage, the tighter the better to stop spray.

Gary_M – Member

Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better coverage, the tighter the better to stop spray.

While I understand the theory, IME it doesn’t work at all, bigger has just worked better especially in standing water.

SKS Raceblades are superb. Fit them nice and tight with a zip-tie and they not rattle at all.

The Crud roadracer mk2 I had were naff. Rattled and rubbed … hated them!