Not so obvious reason to fit mudguards

[IT_Dummy]

Decided to strip down the old MTB to give it a service. The bottem head tube bearing was full of gunk instead of clean grease. The front wheel was kicking up grit and dust and straight into the bearing as it was slighty open to the air (you can see the ball bearings)
Fitted mudguards after renewing the grease. Problem solved.
After a Google search on the subject, should of read Sheldon Browns Site a long time ago
as the subject is covered there. Sheldon calls them fenders.
It appears the bottem bearing normally fails first

 

[Brommyboy]

My cycles have extended front 'fenders' coming down to nearly 2" from the ground. This also keeps the chain dry in the wet, as otherwise the water off the road hoses the chain, BB and all! It also keeps legs cleaner, as the rear 'fender' stops the 'brown stripe' effect down your back!

 

[kishan]

mudguards are great piece of kit to get fitted its a mugs game not having them

 

[IT_Dummy]

My cycles have extended front 'fenders' coming down to nearly 2" from the ground. This also keeps the chain dry in the wet, as otherwise the water off the road hoses the chain, BB and all! It also keeps legs cleaner, as the rear 'fender' stops the 'brown stripe' effect down your back!

Interested in the extended front fender
Can you fit it when it rains and put it in your pannier bag when dry- or is it one piece

 

[IT_Dummy]

mudguards are great piece of kit to get fitted its a mugs game not having them

+1

 

[GraeX]

Are these the kind you mean?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chromoplast...G162/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1328366832&sr=8-4

Those are SKS P65, for a 26" 1.6-2.3 size tyre, if you're on a road bike with a 700c size tyre you should get the SKS P45 which are not as wide and are made to fit 700c tyres, I believe Amazon has them in stock too but other places should have something similar, I'm not in the know with online bike shops

After a good while of research these are the ones I've ordered for the Carrera Subway I'm picking up this week, these have a widened bit at the back end of the front fender which would protect the chain and the back one goes all the way around, I think this is what Brommyboy means by "extended?" It looks removable but I can't see why you'd take it off not to mention they look pretty snazzy

 

[timmyeatchips]

Given the amount of shoot that gets thrown up by the front wheel directly at my chainset, I'm surprised a full length front guard isn't the standard for every general purpose bike.

 

[Brommyboy]

The Brommy mudguard has a floppy flap which blows about in the breeze. I replaced this with a 6" piece of old guard and then added a stiffer bendy bit. This extends to about 2" from the ground and keeps a lot of spray off the chainset and BB.

 

[BalkanExpress]

The Crudcatcher people used to do a bung that fitted into the bottom of the headtube to stop the crud. I use a champage cork instead: only the best for my Cannondale