Mudguards for Road Bike

Maidhci

Any recommendations please for a good set of mudguards for a roadbike - interested in good quality, clip-on/clip-off type that will not damage/mark the bike frame. I had a set of 'Mighty' mudguards on my Trek road bike which I sold some months ago and which had not been removed prior to sale - 'Mighty' would not be my 1st. preference again if there are better ones on the market. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ednwireland

seen these recently look pretty good
http://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=product&r=mudguards&i=11014&RACEBLADE%20LONG%20BLACK

(our new local shop has them cheaper than CRC as well)

Hmmzis

I have raceblades on my bike and they do seem to do the job of keeping the muck off my clothes. They do seem to strike the tires on occasion when out of saddle and they wont keep the guy/gal behind you dry or clean (valid only for group spins). For general commuting they're fine.

dfdream

I had looked at several sets for my road bike. I wanted something simple and removeable.
In my LBS I saw these for 20€ and really liked them.
The bracket bolts on to the brake assembly.
The guard then slides on and off by releasing the lock mechanism on the guard.
I had to do a bit of doctoring on the front one to get it to fit but the rear one was my priority anyway.
The spray off it doesnt seem too bad.

Maidhci

Thanks for responses - just wondering whether the main purpose of mudguards is to save the cyclist from getting wet or saving the bike components from water/grit. Perhaps this sounds rather stupid to some but as I don't cycle in a group and usually do not cycle in very wet conditions, I'm just thinking that I may be better off without them, having read reviews re. fitting etc. etc. Thanks again for reading and responding to my query.

Hmmzis

It's actually both. Mudguards stop you from getting all wet and dirty from road spray and if they are long enough then also the gets a lot less dirty. Full mudguards with mud flaps make a massive difference.

Darkglasses

I got a pair recently myself in the lbs, brand was called hebie if I remember correctly. Awful awful awful. Avoid at all costs.

doozerie

It's difficult to get mudguards that clip on and off easily but which don't mark the frame. If they rest against the paint anywhere, then the paint will be removed eventually as the mudguards move around a little bit due to vibrations from the road going through the frame. You can protect those parts of the frame using tape though (use clear "helicopter tape" or similar, or just plain electrical tape will do too).

Beware too that some of the more popular mudguards may not work with your bike, or may not give you the protection you want:

* SKS RaceBlades protect you to a large extent but because they are short they don't protect your calipers, your chainset, or your seat tube (so water from the rear tyre will still hit the seat tube and maybe your feet too). They are convenient to put on and off though.

* SKS RaceBlade Long will give fuller protection but the calipers and chainset might still be subject to spray. Also, your frame dropouts need to be "flat" to be able to mount them - if you have cowled dropouts where there is a raised lip around the dropout, then those mudguards won't fork on the frame.

* Crud RoadRacers Mk2 protect the calipers and your chainset well but they might not work with tyres wider than 23mm, depending on the clearances on your frame. I use these and like them, but I expect it to be a bit of a headache to fit 25mm tyres to that bike.

Some people have a strong like for, or aversion to, various of the above, mudguards are a product that seems to generate strong opinions. There are other options too, of course, but for "temporary" mudguards the above are the ones that tend to get mentioned most often. One variation that I looked briefly at recently is Cycra Guard Road Mudguards - I've not seen them in the flesh but I get the impression (perhaps incorrectly) that they fall somewhere between the SKS RaceBlade Long and full-blown "permanent" mudguards.

Seweryn

doozerie wrote: »

* Crud RoadRacers Mk2 protect the calipers and your chainset well but they might not work with tyres wider than 23mm, depending on the clearances on your frame. I use these and like them, but I expect it to be a bit of a headache to fit 25mm tyres to that bike.

I use these and like them, but I have one major problem with these mudguards - all the parts are made of plastic including the eyelets for the cable ties and they simply do not last a full year on my bike. But I cover a good bit of mileage.

Seaswimmer

ednwireland wrote: »

seen these recently look pretty good
http://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=product&r=mudguards&i=11014&RACEBLADE%20LONG%20BLACK

(our new local shop has them cheaper than CRC as well)

Do you need to remove the quick release skewers to remove the wheel in the event of a puncture for example. I could see this being problematic on a dark winters night if you drop the bits.

Surveyor11

ednwireland wrote: »

seen these recently look pretty good
http://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=product&r=mudguards&i=11014&RACEBLADE%20LONG%20BLACK

(our new local shop has them cheaper than CRC as well)

Sorry to raise an old thread, but a bit of a nightmare over the weekend with SKS Commuters. They worked lovely with a pair of 23C Panaracer Race A's - but these tyres weren't up to the daily hardship of commuting in Dublin. So replaced these with some Conti GP's - which are obviously slightly deeper, because they're rubbing really bad on the mudguard at the front. No end of adjustment will sort it out. Looks like butchering the mudguard is the only option.

Are the Race blades linked above specifically for tight clearance bikes- they seem to have a transition piece that allows for the tight clearance under the brakes, where the problems lies with the Commuters.

Edit - just watched the animation on their website which is really useful, it appears they do....

MB Lacey

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Sorry to raise an old thread, but a bit of a nightmare over the weekend with SKS Commuters. They worked lovely with a pair of 23C Panaracer Race A's - but these tyres weren't up to the daily hardship of commuting in Dublin. So replaced these with some Conti GP's - which are obviously slightly deeper, because they're rubbing really bad on the mudguard at the front. No end of adjustment will sort it out. Looks like butchering the mudguard is the only option.

Are the Race blades linked above specifically for tight clearance bikes- they seem to have a transition piece that allows for the tight clearance under the brakes, where the problems lies with the Commuters.

Edit - just watched the animation on their website which is really useful, it appears they do....

I use sks raceblades with conti gp4000's and they're fine - but mine are the sks clip on /off ones (which by the way, leave Really bad marks on the frame), so cant say about the fixed ones - but I'm sure they would be equally fine for tyre clearance.

Surveyor11

Yeah, thanks for that MB Lacey. Had a pair of clip-on-clip-off race blades and they wrecked my lovely paint work as well. Looks like the Raceblade Longs avoid this, so will check it out. It's for a commuter, so they'll be a permanent solution, but I suppose handy to have for the weekend bike as well, especially after the weekend we just had

leecurlywurly

I'm also looking around for clip on/off ones for my roadbike as I don't have eyelets to have fixed mudguards. I've joined a cycle club so need to protect the people behind me in winter months!

Liked the sound of the Crud RoadRacers although there are mixed reviews, some say it fits on 25mm tyres, same say they don't..
I'm using gatorskins 25mm on Moser bike.

Will have to look around more

ednwireland

Surveyor11 wrote: »

Sorry to raise an old thread, but a bit of a nightmare over the weekend with SKS Commuters. They worked lovely with a pair of 23C Panaracer Race A's - but these tyres weren't up to the daily hardship of commuting in Dublin. So replaced these with some Conti GP's - which are obviously slightly deeper, because they're rubbing really bad on the mudguard at the front. No end of adjustment will sort it out. Looks like butchering the mudguard is the only option.

Are the Race blades linked above specifically for tight clearance bikes- they seem to have a transition piece that allows for the tight clearance under the brakes, where the problems lies with the Commuters.

Edit - just watched the animation on their website which is really useful, it appears they do....

yep 23 mm tyres only

http://www.sks-germany.com/?l=en&a=product&r=mudguards&i=5289300000

raceblade xl take wider tyres allegedly

dont seem to do the longs in a wide size

leecurlywurly

Thanks @ednwireland

Anyone used this one?

SKS Race Blade Mudguard http://www.amazon.co.uk/SKS-Race-Blade-Mudguard-Set/dp/B000X5YIJG/ref=sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1378817490&sr=1-2&keywords=mudguards+for+road+bike

ednwireland

leecurlywurly wrote: »

Thanks @ednwireland

Anyone used this one?

SKS Race Blade Mudguard http://www.amazon.co.uk/SKS-Race-Blade-Mudguard-Set/dp/B000X5YIJG/ref=sr_1_2?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1378817490&sr=1-2&keywords=mudguards+for+road+bike

i have the xl version of that at the moment works great those rubber straps dont look like they would work but they do, very easy to take on and off as well

Surveyor11

Just watch your paintwork! Stones and debris eventually work their way into the space between the clamp and the stays / fork edges and will mark the paintwork.

cdaly_

leecurlywurly wrote: »

I'm also looking around for clip on/off ones for my roadbike as I don't have eyelets to have fixed mudguards. I've joined a cycle club so need to protect the people behind me in winter months!

Liked the sound of the Crud RoadRacers although there are mixed reviews, some say it fits on 25mm tyres, same say they don't..
I'm using gatorskins 25mm on Moser bike.

Will have to look around more

I'm using cruds over 25mm gators without problems. there's some fiddling to do in the initial setup but after that they're pretty much excellent. Spare parts available too for when you break something 'cos you left them on when you took the wheels off and dumped the bike in a car...