# Full mudguards/fenders pros and cons please?



## WhiteEagle197 (7 Jul 2012)

Hi,
I have a 700C hybrid road bicycle, presently without any mud protection. I pondering on installing some good old fashioned full mudguards (the ones that closely follow the tyre, not the plastic "clip on" ones). But the thing is I never had a bicycle that had them, so I have no experience with any mudguards/fenders. I see that approx half of the serious cyclists have them on their cycles why the other half does not, just bare tyres without any mud protection. So I guess that along the pros there are some cons as well, otherwise everybody would have them... Please tell me your experience, your pros and cons.
What I use my bicycle: 15 to 60 miles round trips alone or with friends, with approx 15 mph average speed (so I am not a pro, nor going on Tour de France or C2C :-)). Very often the weather is quite unpredictable in our region (East Anglia). How effective or ineffective these full mudguards/fenders are? Can you notice the extra weight of them? Do they cause any air turbulence? Is it easy to clean them (for example, wont the mud just dry inside them and block the gap between them and the tyres? etc.).
If they worth the money - any recommendation (brand/made/type) for a 700C road bike?
Thank you


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## HovR (7 Jul 2012)

Cons:
-Some people think they take away from the looks of your bike
-Increases toe overlap on the front wheel
-Improperly fitted, they may rattle
-Small amount of added weight
-Depending on the length of the rear guard, you may not be able to wheel the bike on the rear wheel alone (in a vertical position, bars by your head)

Pros:
-You stay dry on wet roads (if it isn't raining)
-Your bike will stay cleaner with full guards
-Less spray onto your drive chain can lead to longer service life of cassette/chain etc

SKS Chromoplastics are pretty well regarded. If your bike has no guard mounts, Crud Roadracers are ideal. I've probably missed some pros/cons, but those are the basics.

Edited to remove silly mistake.


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## gaz (7 Jul 2012)

Pretty much summed up well above. In my opinion the Pros out weigh the Cons massively, as such my commuter has full length mudguards on all year round.


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## WhiteEagle197 (7 Jul 2012)

HovR said:


> Cons:
> -Some people think they take away from the looks of your bike
> -Increases toe overlap on the front wheel
> -Improperly fitted, they may rattle
> ...


 
Thank you very much. I am not sure what you mean by "you may not be able to wheel the bike on the rear wheel alone (in a horizontal position, bars by your head)". Would you please explain this a bit? Tank you


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## Sara_H (7 Jul 2012)

I wouldn't be without my mudguards now. I've been using my mountain bike last week with clip on guards - nothing like as effective and quite an unpleasant experience in the wet weather.


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## MattHB (7 Jul 2012)

I quite often ride with a rear raceblade only in unsettled conditions. But I'd not ride in the rain without one.


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## deptfordmarmoset (7 Jul 2012)

WhiteEagle197 said:


> Thank you very much. I am not sure what you mean by "you may not be able to wheel the bike on the rear wheel alone (in a horizontal position, bars by your head)". Would you please explain this a bit? Tank you


Sometimes the easiest way to manoeuvre your bike in a tight space, like, for example, a kissing gate, is to lift it onto the back wheel - it turns very easily and takes up a fraction of the room. Full-length guards will stop you getting it fully vertical.


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## WhiteEagle197 (7 Jul 2012)

deptfordmarmoset said:


> Sometimes the easiest way to manoeuvre your bike in a tight space, like, for example, a kissing gate, is to lift it onto the back wheel - it turns very easily and takes up a fraction of the room. Full-length guards will stop you getting it fully vertical.


 
I see now, thank you very much


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## Spiky Simon (7 Jul 2012)

I have the sks chromoplastics mentioned above on my hybrid, which I mainly use for riding around town. Helps to stop me turning up at the pub with a muddy stripe up my back


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## HovR (7 Jul 2012)

WhiteEagle197 said:


> Thank you very much. I am not sure what you mean by "you may not be able to wheel the bike on the rear wheel alone (in a horizontal position, bars by your head)". Would you please explain this a bit? Tank you


 
I see deptford has already explained this well, but here's a picture anyway!

Like this bloke is doing:







If the rear guard was a little bit longer, or he lifted the bike to be completely vertical it may strike the ground, inhibiting the movement of the bike and possibly breaking the guard.

Also, I just realised I accidentally wrote "horizontal" instead of "vertical" in my original post.


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## MrJamie (7 Jul 2012)

They do make hybrids look instantly less cool, but I keep mine on all year around because I dont like having a brown stripe up my back and if you ever get caught riding in winter on wet roads without guards you can get very wet and cold very quickly. Fitting them always seems to be an utter pain, but worth it. 

If i had a second bike id probably make it a fair weather guardless bike, which is what i guess a lot of those guys you see without are doing. Others are just too manly for their own good


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## Gez73 (7 Jul 2012)

I've got full mudguards on both my bikes. The SKS Chromoplastic ones are very good but I would advise you to try before you buy as I have had to trim the front of the front mudguard on my Kona Dew Drop on account of not enough clearance and it touching the front wheel well before the highest point of the wheel. I also have to get into the habit of keeping the pedal cranks vertical when turning as there is very little clearance between foot and mudguard. Still worth having and once they're on they stay there all year round. Even on a sunny day there's always someone washing their car on the road you want to cycle on! Worth it but check the fit. Gez


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## Pat "5mph" (7 Jul 2012)

MrJamie said:


> They do make hybrids look instantly less cool


 
I respectfully disagree on this one: mudguards are cool, you can attach all sorts of reflective stuff on them to make your bike stand out


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## potsy (7 Jul 2012)

Pat "5mph" said:


> I respectfully disagree on this one: mudguards are cool, you can attach all sorts of reflective stuff on them to make your bike stand out


 
Oh yeah


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## lordloveaduck (8 Jul 2012)

potsy said:


> Oh yeah
> View attachment 10728


 

That bike is way to clean, for the summer we are having.....me thinks this is the work of Photoshop


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## Norm (8 Jul 2012)

potsy said:


> Oh yeah


That doesn't need the guards to look less cool, having your arse on it will do that whether or not it is wearing guards.


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## MrJamie (8 Jul 2012)

Pat "5mph" said:


> I respectfully disagree on this one: mudguards are cool, you can attach all sorts of reflective stuff on them to make your bike stand out
> 
> View attachment 10726


Youre a girl youre allowed pretty things


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## potsy (8 Jul 2012)

lordloveaduck said:


> That bike is way to clean, for the summer we are having.....me thinks this is the work of Photoshop


That pic is from March, it was Summer then 


Norm said:


> That doesn't need the guards to look less cool, having your arse on it will do that whether or not it is wearing guards.


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## Mike! (8 Jul 2012)

Full length guards on my commuter keeps the bike and my kit so much cleaner than not having them, wouldn't be without them.

I do have a "best" bike that is guard free for the better days.

If I had only the one bike (like I used to!) it would have full guards fitted without doubt.


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## wisdom (8 Jul 2012)

For my main commute on a hybrid i have fully fitted lightweight mudguards.I wouldnt expect them to create much wind resistance as they are a close fit.My riding however is 99% road/cycle path with only a little bit of rough track riding and have found them to be fantastic.the bike stays a lot cleaner and in the winter it stops the corrosive salts from covering the frame.
On days where there is only a chance of light rain or a shower i sometimes use the road bike which doesnt have any foul weather protection.But i wont use it in torrential or heavy rain as i would get soaked up my back


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## dave r (8 Jul 2012)

On the fixed I use for commuting I have full guards and mudflaps, on the best bike I have a skinny pair of Raleigh mudguards, I don't like a wet arse.


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## WhiteEagle197 (8 Jul 2012)

Thank you all. I am convinced :-)


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## Rohloff_Brompton_Rider (8 Jul 2012)

i had guards on my fixie, but tbh they were doing jack shoot in this weather. i agree about not having a wet arse but my new carradice camper and support frame stops that.


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## Nebulous (8 Jul 2012)

You're not really getting this cycling thing are you? My bike doesn't have mudguards, which I need for commuting ----> therefore I need a new bike! Simples.

On a more serious note many road bikes just don't have enough clearance to fit guards readily, meaning either leave them off or fit some of the clip on ones.

I have an allez roadbike, and commuted on a hardtail mountain bike, which went to the great graveyard in the sky. I then had a 80's racer, which wouldn't brake in the wet and has a buckled wheel. I was half-heartedly refurbishing a Carrera subway, which needed much more work than I thought, when I was presented with an Edinburgh Bike gift voucher. That and a 15% off sale was enough to persuade me to buy this.

It's only been a week, but so far so good. I expect I'll even use it as a trainer in wet weather. I used to carry my work gear in a backpack, and I also bought panniers, again so far I'm very pleased with them.


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## vickster (9 Jul 2012)

A dirty wet bum and back looks far less cool than mudguards


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## GrasB (9 Jul 2012)

HovR said:


> Pros:
> -Less spray onto your drive chain can lead to longer service life of cassette/chain etc


Actually this isn't necessarily so. Under the right, or wrong depending on your point of view, conditions water gets trapped between the guard & the tyre bouncing around in turbulent are which turns it into a fine mist which liberally douses your drive train in a fine mist of gritty water.


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## HovR (9 Jul 2012)

GrasB said:


> Actually this isn't necessarily so. Under the right, or wrong depending on your point of view, conditions water gets trapped between the guard & the tyre bouncing around in turbulent are which turns it into a fine mist which liberally douses your drive train in a fine mist of gritty water.


 
Fair enough. I suppose it depends on the conditions and coverage of the guard.


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## SquareDaff (9 Jul 2012)

One more Con: if you have quick release wheels having mudguards fitted negates the space saving if you need to take the front wheel off the put your bike in the car.

+1 for SKS Chromos though. I have them fitted to my bike


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## GrasB (9 Jul 2012)

HovR said:


> Fair enough. I suppose it depends on the conditions and coverage of the guard.


One thing you can do to help mitigate this spray build up is to attach a bit of scotch-brite to the mud-guard on the chain-stay edge. It doesn't have to touch the tyre but it does help just stop lose water bouncing about on the leading edge.


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