- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Tubeless valves
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
OPINION
SKS Bluemels Road Mudguards
Matte black goodnessThese are great mudguards until they break. And they always break.
Always.
The front one is fine. Unfortunately it is tainted by association with its partner, which can't handle the stress of its job and eventually cracks. How long it lasts might depend on how much money your council has to keep the roads in good repair.
Search party looking for cyclist last seen near western rim
My distaste for planned obsolescence aside, as documented here and in more detail here I actually like fixing mudguards. They're not too complicated. I can understand them. A broken guard gives me the opportunity to feel handy, which happens infrequently enough to approach the job with some enthusiasm. They aren't always salvageable, but it's fun to try.
Mudguard recycling is on Wednesdays
Not everybody cares for mudguards, even if they can fit them, tyre clearance increasingly being measured in microns. Some claim they are too ugly to be allowed on anything as beautiful as a bicycle. According to one authority, "They're just slowing you down by being there." But if, like me, you feel vulnerable to the universal solvent without them,
Water hazard
you're advised to keep looking.
Rating out of 10
5. Fair's fair, they keep you half dry. If you're prepared to bodge a fix you might rate them higher out of pride or prejudice.
More Opinion
Latest Comments
- anke2 9 hours 12 min ago
I thought the X was for the Elon - which doesn't make things any better...
- thax1 11 hours 55 min ago
Double points for that photo backdrop Mark1a, and for anyone that has a shelf bracket for their air duster canister.
- mattw 12 hours 24 sec ago
This risks turning me into a hanger and flogger....
- wtjs 16 hours 26 sec ago
In SE London, psychopath riders are the majority of people on bicycles Oh dear! another festive stealth anti-cyclist ☃️
- wtjs 16 hours 5 min ago
Well, you know the BMW drivers' saying: knock that house (hospital, social housing, care home, hospital...) down, could save 30 seconds on the trip!
- Spangly Shiny 17 hours 40 min ago
I had the pleasure of owning two of the featured builders here, in my history. When I joined the Army in 1971, I took with me my curly Hetchins:...
- Username 18 hours 45 min ago
Could Siobhán paint it red and noone would notice it?
- Spangly Shiny 1 day 9 hours ago
To paraphrase Field of Dreams, "Build it right and they will come: and use it!"
- Rendel Harris 1 day 11 hours ago
And a Happy Christmas to you, road.cc staff!
- Rendel Harris 1 day 12 hours ago
The odds of not being able to find a single pedestrian - just one, note, "any pedestrian" - in an area containing more than about ten of them who...
Add new comment
11 comments
Can't beat Mr Crud Road Race 2, IMO.
What about the Crud Roadracer mk2 ?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/crud-roadracer-mk2-mudguard-set/
I just got a new road bike and put these on, and have to say they are very good. They seem to cope with the bumps pretty well but I hope never to encounter a pothole!
For their primary purpose, they work:- I don't get wet bum, stripe and my white back stays relatively clean and it's relatively easy to get off when you don't want it.(Just have a stack of cable ties at hand when you need to put them back on).
You have the choice of attaching various tips to build up the whole arch and they don't look too bad on my bike. However, one lesson I have learnt is to tighten the little plastic nuts once a day as they seem to get loose.
Mine snapped as per picture 2, and then halfway between that point and the rear mount, all within 4 months. Weren't even screwed to the seat stay bridge, either. Araldite and duct tape until I can be bothered to get some metal ones from Velo Orange or Gilles Berthoud - commuter bike, so not worried about the weight penalty.
Been running mine for over a year, no problems, but I did take the time to fettle them in correctly, and used a neat rubber gromit arrangement on the rear center fixing, bombproof.
On my way back from a ride the other day I passed a car that had rather dramatically flipped over. (No injuries.) I told you the roads are bad around here.
Latest idea: leaving the rear guard unattached in the middle, to introduce as little stress as possible. A ring of foam wrapped around the brake bolt lightly holds it in place and keeps it from rattling. Seems to work.
But after a minor interlude of bodging satisfaction I took the guards off again. The danger of removing them in the first place and riding around with the naked bike for a few days is that I fell for the increased simplicity, this already being a simplespeed. My other main bike has different and uglier if much sturdier guards (been on there for a dozen years) and may take over all wet weather duty.
This fiddling with guards was a mere warmup to a much longer session of Find the Source of the Noise. Tick tick tick with each turn of the cranks. Crossed off pedals, shoes, chain, rear sprocket, and bottom bracket from the list of culprits before it finally occurred to me to remove the front chainring and clean all the bolt holes. Clicking gone. And there was yet another noise drama folded into this: changing the chain, which needed retiring anyway, introduced an aggravating bumpy whirr until I realised it might be a good idea to change the sprocket, too. Bikes: love them, hate them, love them.
Photos of my repairs here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarr3n/sets/72157634550022622/
Never had them break on me over thousands of miles including tours, ferry and train transfers etc.
Though I think I'm using the next size up, on a fast hybrid. Which some people would rather rake their eyes out then ride.
Spent the morning waiting for these. I never learn.
The Haribo aren't vegan, either.
Some mornings when I leave my bike outside while getting ready for a ride, I find a spider has hopped on board and started spinning without me. Here's a thought:
Might there be applications here for bike components such as mudguards? They already tried saddles.
As it happens I had to do a fixing bodge on my set of these last weekend. Random piece of holey metal from bottom of toolbox. Couple of random nuts and bolts saved from who-knows-where in a "these will come in useful one day" moment. Two zip ties. Sorted.
If they were stronger they'd be heavier wouldn't they? I've got a pair of solid metal 'guards kicking around in the shed somewhere which are no doubt unbreakable but they're not getting anywhere near a bike I'm likely to want to accelerate to over 15mph.
Wot? No pop rivets? They were invented for fixing mudguards!