Mudguards for Road Bike with eyelets

[CirrusDesAigles]

So in my quest to slowly turn my road bike into a light touring bike, I need some mudguards.

I am shamefully not very savvy when it comes to the mechanics and maintenance as I have a very good bike mechanic round the corner.

I bought a set of the Krud Roadracer Mk2 guards and they're god awful despite the reviews. Very flimsy, flail around when cycling and they keep coming loose and need clipping together again. Not to mention they do nothing to protect the people cycling behind you (Mrs was not best pleased). The local mechanic who fitted them for me also said when he fitted them they're terrible.

I've ordered a pannier rack which will attach to the eyelets but will I still be able to fit mudguards to the bike as well using the eyelets? If so, what are the best ones for a road bike? If not, any alternatives to the bits of sticky back plastic I'm currently sporting?

 

[ColinJ]

The Cruds are not intended for bikes like yours - they are for bikes not designed to take proper mudguards! Always fit proper ones if you can.

If you can't fit proper guards on the bike, then Cruds are worth trying. I used them for several years until I finally destroyed them by riding over some twigs which got thrown up into them.

People complain about them being flimsy ... They are designed to be flimsy. It is easy to make strong plastic, for example, Coke bottles. What you don't want is something jammed up between an unbreakable mudguard and your forks. People have died after their front wheels have jammed in such circumstances!

SKS mudguards have a very good reputation. They have special safety clips which come loose if something gets jammed in the guards.

 

[Gez73]

Second for SKS guards, fit and forget too although they can be a little fiddly to fit first time, I have needed to trim the stays on all mine. The Chromoplastic ones are very good as are the Longboard version which I use on my hybrid/tourer. Should be no problem to split a rear eyelet between a rack and mudguard, you might need a longer bolt but be careful on the drive side if you do need a longer bolt to hold both rack and mudguard stay. The 'Secu-clip' as mentioned is also very useful to prevent front wheel jamming.

 

[Mike!]

SKS Chromoplastics are the best, can be fiddly to fit the first time but I find them a breeze now after several bikes!

You will have no problems fitting a rack and guards to the same eyelets but the rack is probably better being the one on the inside due to the extra weight.

My commuter has the SKS longboards and they are fantastic!

 

[Venod]

+1 for SKS mudguards, I was a dedicated chromoplastic user and they are excellent guards, I now prefer the longboards.

 

[mcshroom]

SKS Chromoplastics again here - though even these need a mudflap added at the back to really protect the person behind you (I make extra flaps for my commuter using cerail box cardboard and duck tape, but other methods include rubber sheeting and even leather ones.

Permanent guards are much better than the clip on varieties IMHO. However you need to have the clearances to fit them.

No problems with using the same holes for guards and rack, I've done it in the past. Also I think you'll end up with the mudguard stays inside the rack stays as it's difficult to fit them the other way round. This shouldn't be a problem really.

out of interest, what's the bike?

 

[HorTs]

I have SKS Chromos - here they are fitted to my bike, you might get an idea how they would work on yours - http://bit.ly/1sBL4Zj

 

[Kestevan]

SKS again - are you starting to see a pattern here?

But, if you're not handy with a spanner and prepared to spend a considerable amount of time swearing at the damned things then get the LBS to fit them.

 

[KneesUp]

I have some £12 Halfords own brand ones. They were easy to fit and do everything I'd expect of a mudguard - they stay where they are and stop me getting splashed, and have a quick release mechanism for if something gets jammed in them. What do the SKS et al ones do over and above that to justify being about twice the price?

 

[fossyant]

+6 for SKS

 

[CirrusDesAigles]

Cheers folks, will get ordering, should have mentioned it's a Raliegh Airlite 1000.

Want to try it with mudguards and pannier for a weekend to see if it's up to the job of a couple of lightish weekend trips rather than splashing the cash on a new steel framed tourer.

 

[ColinJ]

Hmm, quite timely after what I posted above about jammed mudguards - is a 'letter' (email) in this month's Cycling Plus from a reader who suffered that and woke up in hospital. Witnesses said that his front mudguard had jammed his wheel and he had been launched over the bars and face-planted on the road!