Why don't people use mudguards on commuters?

Really struggle to understand why anyone wouldn’t have mudguards on a commuter bike. You know the sort of thing, hybrid/cheaper road bike, clearly only ever used to commute.

They protect you, your bike, and even other commuters. Why do so many people choose NOT to use them?

Fashion, that’s how shops sell them.

Cos it’s not cool innit.

Just like clowns on mtbs without them.

Cos it’s not cool innit.

Just like clowns on mtbs without them.

carry over from the sneers that guards on MTBs get? (not from me!)
Unless well fitted, they rattle, flap, and fall off?
as above, can be awkward to fit?

FTR, I had guards on my commuter; and when my MTB doubled up as commuter (in the 90s) I would take off the guards at the weekend.. still leave the pannier rack on though 🙂

yeah, they’re on there and they look a bit s@*t !!

I would say full guards are the most revelatory item you can put on your roadster bike.
Think mine looks ok

I hate mudguards, 10 years in the bike trade and never saw one that stayed where it was meant to and didn’t rub or rattle after a few rides.

my commuter has no guards but I’m in the lucky position of showers in work so I ride in kited up, if I was riding in work clothes I’d have to just put up with the irritating works of satan

Why do so many people choose NOT to use them?

Perhaps people commuting without mudguards have no idea how much difference it makes? Or maybe they don’t realise that by not fitting them they’re spraying crap all over my face when I’m behind them? On my commute it tends to be students so I can understand saving the £20 for something more useful (booze).

Think mine looks ok

lol

My commute is mainly off road and involves 2 sets up steps and I never get any rubs.
Perhaps set up is key.

ssimon:

I’ve had SKS bluemels on my commuter for two years. Only had to touch them after stupidly spraying the bolts with WD40 with the thought that it would protect them from road gunk/salt. Oddly enough they loosened off! 😆

Other than that they don’t make a noise, they stay where they are, they don’t break. It’s not the most technical job in the world to fit them.

I don’t think it’s a choice that people make. I think it’s simply down to people either not thinking about it at all, or not realising just how much difference they make (if it’s raining, I’m going to get wet anyway, right?)

I hate mudguards, 10 years in the bike trade and never saw one that stayed where it was meant to and didn’t rub or rattle after a few rides.

😯 I’ve got them on a couple of bikes and even with tight clearances, I simply don’t have this problem. They take a bit of time to fit, but do them up properly with a dab of threadlock and they’re just fine.

10 years in the bike trade and never saw one that stayed where it was meant to and didn’t rub or rattle after a few rides

Back to school! SKS fit fine.

i haven’t got round to fitting any on mine yet. it’s only been 18 months since i bought the bike too…

(i suppose i’ll do it this weekend, it’s actually long overdue and this thread has just reminded me about it!)

SKS fit fine.

ditto.

phatstanley – Member

SKS fit fine.

ditto.

Beth Ditto. My SKS have been on for years, no problems.

I’d go as far as asying that anyone who doesn’t have mudguards on their “commuter” is at best a fair weather cyclist. Just ridden 10 miles to work through rain with SKS P35s and 25c tyred. Arrived with a dry derriere and relatively dry feet. The bike looks pretty clean too. What is not to like?

Even on the proper road bike, SKS Raceblade Longs have been a revelation.

Off road, I have one of those british fangled Genesis bikes with downtube mounts for a proper crudguard. It works perfectly and when really muddy, the bike has a two-tone mud fade to the rear!

Lots of cycle commuters only commute in fair weather and get the bus/train when it’s wet. Hence don’t really need them.

If I was going to commute I would want showers, lockers and a drying room at work. In that case as the amount of water coming from the sky is normally substantial in the UK I’d not bother. I wouldn’t commute if I didn’t have the facilities.

Currently work does but it’s not worth using a bike to cross the hall from the bedroom to the office.

In the shop I see LOADS of folk as per the OP – riding in the wet without mudguards, often on really daft bikes for commuting.

Lots of cycle commuters only commute in fair weather and get the bus/train when it’s wet. Hence don’t really need them.

I disagree. I see hordes of them every day, all year round in all weathers, and many of them are out there all the time. So, it’s not that.

It must just be a mix of ignorance and some misguided sense of what’s ‘fashionable’. Commuter bikes, by their very nature, shouldn’t be about fashion, but about reliability and comfort, surely. In which case, get some mudguards on there!

mike, I have all that but proper guards still keep me, the bike and others drier and cleaner!

theflatboy – Member
mike, I have all that but proper guards still keep me, the bike and others drier and cleaner!

Well done, I guess you don’t see the other side then.

With the amount of rain this winter I’ve got used to having my SKS guards on my road bike. Took them off the other day as the weather was lovely, but can’t get used to the way my bike looks without them! They’re going back on and staying on – as others have said, never had so much as a rattle from mine.

Rainwater tends to be fairly clean and falls onto your front. With a rainjacket, only the tops of your legs tend to get wet. Road spray is muddy, oily and gritty and sprays up your @rse! (And all over your bike, shoes, legs etc). Hence I ride with mudguards on my commuter.

I spent ages sourcing carbon monocoque forks with mudguard eyelets (Enigma), and the SKS guards mounted to them have never let me down.

Many people have moaned about the reliability of fibre flare lights.
Mine has lasted years and not being covered in spray must help any lights longevity.

mikewsmith – Member

theflatboy – Member
mike, I have all that but proper guards still keep me, the bike and others drier and cleaner!

Well done, I guess you don’t see the other side then.

you’ve lost me…

+1 for SKS

Fitted them to my hybrid, my Mate’s hybrid, and the Brother-in-Law’s commuter – They can be a bit time consuming to fit, but once adjusted properly, they stay put !

some people just deal with the wet and don’t care about the bike. If you have dry gear to get changed into and a nice shower then why not.

Oh right, I do see that people can do whatever they like. I don’t attack people in the street if they don’t have guards on, just look at them with a mixture of pity and amusement.

The tyres on my commuter are so thin that the spray just hits the frame at the front. At the back I get a small amount on my ass but waterproof shorts so not an issue.

I have them on my bikes I use to commute, but I hate them with a passion – the benefits outweigh the negatives, but I find if there is one thing that needs working on, and it likely to end up slicing my hands open, then it’s mud guards, they end up snapped (toe overlap makes this inevitable with my crappy commuter) and generally all over the place no matter what I do to them.

I hate mudguards, 10 years in the bike trade and never saw one that stayed where it was meant to and didn’t rub or rattle after a few rides.

In contrast, I’ve fitted SKS guards to two of my bikes, and Mrs R’s bike. They’re all working perfectly after several years and thousands of miles.

I hate mudguards, 10 years in the bike trade and never saw one that stayed where it was meant to and didn’t rub or rattle after a few rides.

I have 3 different SKS guards on bikes (Bluemels, Commuter and Chromoplastics), and apart from the horrible ball ache to install them, they are all absolutely fine.

Did a sportive on Sunday and was quite impressed by the number of riders running mudguards. I don’t have them on the racer (as that doesn’t often go out in the wet) but I do have them on the hybrid – it’s all part of making yourself comfortable, as part of the “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad kit” theory.

Because I keep forgetting to put them back on.

there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad kit

I believe that there is bad weather – having completed the 600km in January Strava challenge I can say categorically that there is such a thing as bad weather.

When I read that LEJOGLE book I couldn’t help but think how much suffering would have been avoided by using guards.

It’s suprising how little time it’s actually raining though. I’ve been commuting (25 mile round trip) 3 days a week for ages now and I rarely get rained on. Even over the past month I only got properly rained on twice. The ground is usually wet though, (including run off from farms. Mmmm, slurrytastic) so the mudguards are really good for keeping me clean as well as dry.

I take pleasure in my commute and like to do it as fast as possible.
I use a couple of grands worth of carbon road bike, rather than a hack bike and don’t want to add unnecessary weight, drag and rattles.

I think you have to just accept that in this country, you will get wet.
I do have showers and washing facilities at work though…