flake99please
We all scream for ice cream
- Location
- Edinburgh
I’ve literally abused bikes fitted with SKS mudguards without incident. Cobblestones will not affect the fittings.
Buying fixed mudguards
- Thread starter Newbiebikeman
- Start date
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OP
OP
Newbiebikeman
Regular
- Location
- Edinburgh
Hi @alicat Thanks so much for the information! I followed the link you sent me and it seems the shop has some SKS Chromoplatic guards in the right size for my bike (https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mudguards/26-x-55-sks-chromoplastic-mudguard-set-26-silver/ ) ! I think I will get these ones as they should fit fine and have the safety features.
I cant thank you all enough for the help and advice. Now I have to wait 5-8 days until they arrive 😬!
Fab! That sounds like just the right solution. They are a bit of a fat to fit so be prepared for some swearing and don't cut the stays until you are sure they are the right length. 
I am confident they will arrive sooner than 5 days based on my experience with SJS pre Covid.
I am confident they will arrive sooner than 5 days based on my experience with SJS pre Covid.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
I've also used the cable tie trick, and it stops the usual problem of either a mudguard hook bracket cracking and falling off, or a fixing bolt being vibrated loose so it's nut falls off! I would also recommend adding a bit of vibration damping at the chainstay bridge by wrapping it with some old tyre inner tube, or even using a small piece cut out of a really skinny section scrap road bike tyre. Mudguards that don't vibrate like hell give you a more peaceful ride and they last longer too.
Lovacott
Über Member
I've used a cable tie to hold the front of the rear mudguard against the seat tube and a 100mm slate hook to support the tail end on the pannier rack. My ABS guards are for a 26" wheel and I'm using them on a 27.5 so I've had to make a couple of mods to keep them away from the tyres.
I heated the front one with a paint stripping gun just enough to change its arc and I've forced the arc out on the rear with the slate hook.
I like my rear guard to go all the way down as far as possible to protect the drivetrain from road splash.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
So do I at the seat tube end. However, I have repositioned guards slightly at the back, so the front end is lower and finishes just below the chainstay bridge by drilling new holes slightly higher up and cable strapping it. The reason I do it is to bring the rear tip of the guard upwards just enough that I can tip a bike up on it's rear wheel and walk it through tight doorways etc. I don't want the end of the rear mudguard touching the ground when wheeling. I realise it reduces the effectiveness of the guard, so I only move it the bare minimum necessary.
With the sort of unbreakable guards that @Lovacott (and I have got on MTB's) they are short enough that walking the bike stood up on its rear wheel is not an issue.
Lovacott
Über Member
I'm thinking of adding on an extension to my rear guard so that it deflects the stickiest of the mud which gets carried around on the tyre.
My guards work great in the rain because most rainwater detaches from the tyre low down at about 4 o'clock. But mud tends to stick and it's 2 o'clock before it starts to come loose (looking at the rear wheel from the non drive side and picturing it as a clock face).
Although the mudguard deflects about 80%, the 20% that gets through makes me arrive at work with sticky mud up my back and all over my rear lights.
I need something semi rigid like a thick vinyl to add on about 150mm at the back whilst still being bendy enough to not foul in doorways and such.
I keep my bike indoors in work in a storeroom and I have three doors and a set of steps to negotiate twice a day. I also have the same thing when I get home when I have to carry the bike though the house to the lean to at the back and like you, I also have to stand my steed on it's hinds to negotiate tight doorways and corners.
cyberknight
As long as I breathe, I attack.
- Location
- Land of confusion
i ran sks beavertails when i had a bike with 26 " wheels
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sks-beavertail-mudguard-set/rp-prod25804
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sks-beavertail-mudguard-set/rp-prod25804
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Dont worry about safety release guards - debris can bang into the rear of the fork crown very effectively. It doesn't take a front mudguard to cause that problem, and the only certain avoidance tactic is not to ride across twigs and stuff. Just make sure that whatever mudguard you get is fitted properly and securely.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
To me the critical safety factor is frame clearance rather than the mudguard stays. Recently, I had a flattened out small throwaway plastic mineral water bottle get launched into the front wheel of my Raleigh Royal by a gust of wind.
I only use this bike as a fair weather ride, not for it's intended purpose as a tourer, so I haven't got any mudguards on it at all. Rather than jam in the guards, the bottle got carried around by the spokes until it hit the back of the fork, where it got forced through and ejected on the other side. It still gave me a nasty jolt all the same, but there was enough fresh air either side of the wheel to allow the bottle to pass through when bent into a U shape.
If it had been a modern road frame with only fag paper clearance around the tyre, it probably would have jammed solid and had me taking a flying lesson.
I only use this bike as a fair weather ride, not for it's intended purpose as a tourer, so I haven't got any mudguards on it at all. Rather than jam in the guards, the bottle got carried around by the spokes until it hit the back of the fork, where it got forced through and ejected on the other side. It still gave me a nasty jolt all the same, but there was enough fresh air either side of the wheel to allow the bottle to pass through when bent into a U shape.
If it had been a modern road frame with only fag paper clearance around the tyre, it probably would have jammed solid and had me taking a flying lesson.
Lovacott
Über Member
I've had mudguards ever since I was a kid and I've never heard of a stick being picked up and wedged between the mudguard and tyre so tightly that it threw the rider off the bike.
Was it some kind of scare marketing campaign?
It happened to me two years ago. I had my bike powder coated and had the mudguard lugs moved higher up at the same time to avoid the need for secu-clips. A couple of rides later I rode over a stick while chatting and was thrown off. Fortunately the main injury were to the mudguard and my pride.
Lovacott
Über Member
The front of the drive train is in front of the rear guard so the rear guard will not protect the drive train.
I've encountered this problem over the last week with the roads being very muddy.
I've spent the best part of this morning inventing this.
It's basically a carved up plastic milk bottle held on with some cable ties and spray painted black. It works a bloody treat.
Ajax Bay
Guru
- Location
- East Devon
Feel scared. Feel very scared! Seems a entirely sensible safety feature to me.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/technical-guide/mudguard-safety
A comprehensive resume of this potentially lethal danger and the ways the risk can be mitigated.
By having a fitting which breaks away at the fork end, there is a much greater chance that the interfering item will fall away to one side or the other before it reaches/jams in the fork crown/down tube nexus with the resulting endo.
