I’ve recently acquired a cx bike for winter use, whilst the local trails aren’t worth riding. Took it out last for a road ride last night, very happy, besides the amount of shite I got covered in.

I now want need some guards, currently running 37mm slick(ish) tyres, with room for bigger, but it’s comfy enough on road.

So, what are my options? Rear has eyelets/holes/mounts or whatever you call them, fork does not. It’s a Kinesis Crosslight Pro 2, canti brakes.

Also interested in this one…

For road or off-road?

If road, the default answer is probably SKS P45s, with some P-clips on the fork. (Alternatively, a Zefal strap-on bottle boss might work better on a fatter fork.) But they might be a bit too twangy off-road.

If off-road, this may (or may not) be worth a read: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/mudguards-for-cx-bear-with-me

I recently fitted some of the Whyte 50mm ones to my Whyte Saxon CX, they’re not meant for that model as it doesn’t have any mounts on the frame (but does on the forks). I’m really pleased with the results, the stays are very sturdy and there’s no rattle when I ride off road.

If mostly off-road I actually remove the guards to prevent mud built up induced lock-ups.
These don’t require eyelets and aren’t solid plastic like SKS Chromoplastics etc (see the video) but aren’t twangy either

I’ve been using sks chromoplastics on my cx commuter for years but they don’t seem to be as robust as they used to be and crack around the bridge/fork mounts. (awaits post to tell me it’s all my fault as I haven’t fittde them properly, but I have).

So I recently switched to pdw full metal guards and I’m very happy with them.

I do a lot of miles on the bike so things like guards take a battering, these don’t budge. Got mine from Triton cycles for £39 posted. I’m pretty sure they do a bigger sixGreat service too.

Just noticed they’re out of stock though.

whenever the mudguards topic comes up I always make my recommendation along with my reasoning but people just tend to argue that since they have/haven’t had problems with product X then I’m delusional, or that they don’t see why certain differences are actually important so I’m now just condensing my reply to this.

1 – if you want cheap and adequate get SKS chromoplastics

2 – if you want really very good get the PDW FMFs (or Velo orange Alu guards if you want something more classic looking)

3 – if you want really excellent guards get Gilles Berthound (but more for road than offroad)

the differences between 1->2 are significant, 2->3 less so. Will gladly go into more detail if necessary.

If you don’t have fittings on the fork then PDW is the best option. The one thing I will say is that fitting thme properly (whatever make) is key, it isn’t difficult if you have some degree of common sense and mechanical ability, but it pays to take the time to do it right, and yes, sometimes this means making or adapting mounting hardware.

PDW are very nice indeed, but I’m not sure they’re suitable for the OP: I don’t think they do a version for 37mm tyres (at least, I’ve only ever seen a narrow version) and I also wonder whether the rear mounting, which is designed to reach over a caliper brake, would interfere with cantis.

I bought some Radial aluminium guards, but the 45mm version is only 37mm wide, so no good for 37s (and the front guard is rather short, too). I’m might give them a go on the road bike which has 25s.

I also came across Giant Speedhield Tour Alloy guards, which look promising, but also look like they’d need a wide and square-profiled fork crown.

I don’t think they do a version for 37mm tyres

they do, I have the big wide ones covering some 38mm tyres as we speak 🙂

they also appear to be on offer at Charlie the Bikemonger at the moment

The included rear mount is only one option, and the up and over reachy roundy mount is only included with the narrow version, the fatter city version does’t come with that mount anyway.

If you have tapped frame mounts you just drill a hole through and mount them that way, more secure and neater, if you dont then you can make or re-purpose an L bracket, or use a p-clip around the bridge and drill a hile in the guard, both of these options work well/better for bikes with Discs or Cantis. FWIW that’s what I have done on bikes with normal dual pivots too, I HATE the look of that silly reachy-over mount they include, but it’s kinda handy if clearances are really tight, but there’s still better options, you can of course mount that (or another) wrap around clamp behind the stays ie: in the gap between bridge and seat tube to get it more out of the way of the brakes if needed.

nice example of neat mounting on a bike with Cantis

The other nice thing about the PDW is the included mounts for the axle end if you don’t have fork/dropout eyelets whihc are neat and work well assuming you are using QR hubs, otherwise it’s return of the p-clip just like any other guards.

Also if you have a carbon fork with no hole through the crown, and no access up into the steerer for a bung/daruma, the wide version of the PDWs has two slots already cut into the front guard so that if you absolutely must bodge it you can slip two zip-ties through the slots and run one on each fork leg where they meet the crown, with some heli-tape in the gap and clicked up tight it’s actually quite a secure mount for forks like that.

Oooooh. Nice.

Shame they don’t do a ~35mm version. The road bike’s running 25s that come up closer to 28 on wide rims. The 30s would be too narrow, the 45s would look rather odd…

I quite agree, it’s been bugging me too as the 30mm thin ones are only just wide enough to cover (small) 25s and at their best with 23s, and as you say the 45mm ones are waaay too big for a normal road bike, if they did a 35 or 37mm version I’d have them on another bike too but I’ve just put a pair of the VO ones on instead, hoping they dull down a bit as they are exceedingly shiny at the moment!

I’m going to try the “45”mm Radials with some Rainy Day Biking stealth flaps. A smidge wider than ideal, but they should do the job, I think. All-black is a win in this instance 🙂

1 – if you want cheap and adequate get SKS chromoplastics

they work for me, on my second set, first were pretty shagged after ~8000miles. Only serious issue I had was when a branch got in the front spokes and jammed the front mudguard sending me OTB but I’m 100% sure I’d have been sent airborne even without guards fitted, it was a big bit of branch.

Tempted by the PDWs, Charlie’s had em for a while, dunno how bodgeable they are tho – getting them fitted round brake calipers etc

Bez just had a quick read of your thread, as I said I’ve done pretty well with chromos and knobbly tyres (conti cyclo x king), mainly towpath/sustrans commuting but I’ve done plenty of “proper” xc rides too and haven’t died yet.

getting them fitted round brake calipers etc

Discs callipers? they normally fit OK as the stays come out much lower/further round the guard* than on SKS, but if they do interfere they’ll be harder to bend correctly as the stays as Alu, much will depend on where your disc calliper is mounted. if you meant normal callipers than you’ll have no more issues than you would with SKS.

*Worth bearing in mind the PDWs are a lot longer than regular SKS chromoplastic, about as long as longboards, which means offroad the front mudflap is likely to catch on steps/roots etc. a lot more frequently so you’ll either need to be careful or modify them to suit. the PDWs do have breakaway safety mounts though for peace of mind.

One of the main benefits (leaving longevity aside as SKS/other plastic are normally OK for a while if mounted well so that flex is minimised) of PDW/VO/GB etc. over SKS is that the stays mount externally on the guard itself, so the inside is pretty much un-interrupted (save few mounting bolt heads), you don’t have those metal bridges inside the guards that SKS use to attach the stays to, which means you get a much better flow of debris and water through the guard and none of the build up or damning that you get with SKS, this means less build up of crap and less chance of jamming, but crucially, it means that when riding on very wet roads the water is retained better inside the guards and doesn’t splash out and drip form where the stays mount, which SKS always do** so your feet and drive train both stay drier. VO and GB guards are even better in this regard as they have rolled edges (the PDW do not) so they trap even more water inside (GB especially).

For short rides it probably makes little difference to your overall comfort but over long rides or in very poor conditions it makes a significant difference to how wet you, your feet, and your drivetrain gets. You can modify these style guards by drilling out the rivets holding the stay bridges, and the mounting them on the outside with short button head bolts instead, this looks a bit crappier but works wonders for water retention.

** people have chimed in before telling me this doesn’t happen on their SKSs, but I’m inclinded to think they either don’t ride in very wet conditions or haven’t actually noticed that it happens because with the bridges inside the guards it is impossible for this NOT to happen once the water volume is high enough. I’ve seen it happening on every pair I have ever encountered when out on wet club rides and audaxes but it’s not specific to SKS, it’s any guards with mounting hardware that sits inside the guard and across the whole width eg: SKS, Tortec, Vavert etc.

mounting them on the outside with short button head bolts instead, this looks a bit crappier but works wonders for water retention.

Yes I always did this on the lower front mount on sks guards, made a huge difference but not required on the pdw’s. No issues with canti’s btw.

V-brake nuts can work nicely as spacers for getting round disc brakes without bending the stays.

I have SKS chromoplastics on my winter bike, and they are pretty decent, last a winter or two, but have been known to break, either at the brake mounts, for which spares can be bought, or on the mudguard itself, in which case it’s a new set. PDW Full Metal do look pretty good. If you ride in a group, then for the sake of the person behind you, it’s best to invest in a mud flap. These are good: http://www.rawmudflap.uk/installation.html

CX bike has no guards, as they just get bunged up with mud. Occasionally stick a downtube crud catcher and an ass-saver on to keep the worst off on training rides, but still be able to get them off easily for races.