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This is probably the easiest decision you can make surrounding fenders because your bike makes it for you; it will have eyelets for braze-on mudguards or it won't. Mudguards protect you from the water (and accompanying gunk) that gets flung off your wheels as they spin. They come in a range of different shapes and sizes from simple flaps to keep your bum dry, to full-length coverage designed to protect you, your bike, and the rider behind you. The correct length mudguard will depend on your circumstances, but if ever you plan on riding with others, you should aim for full coverage. The rear mudguard also mimics the fitting for SKS mudguards, with a hole to bolt onto the chainstay bridge, and a sliding bridge fixing onto the seatstay bridge.
Fenders – or mudguards – are seemingly going out of fashion. When I started riding a bike, it was a rule enforced on the club ride that mudguards must be used. Then, the ass saver started making appearances on weekly rides – and now even they are rare. It seems we’ve stopped caring about getting ourselves, our bikes and our riding buddies wet and muddy. Beyond that, the tyres are a weak point on many bikes. They’re an easy way for brands to cut costs and make a price point. Downgraded groupset components and wheels are really noticeable, but cheap tyres can slip under the radar. Changing to some of the best road bike tyres can improve handling, comfort, and speed. Clip-on mudguards usually don’t wrap as much of the wheel as full-length mudguards, nor have the sides or front rubber flap. This means they don’t keep as much rain and spray off your body or bike. However, they do keep most of the water off and can make a huge difference on wet roads. They can easily be removed and stored in the garage during the summer. Partly this is due to the dedicated ‘winter bike’ becoming a bit of a dying breed. Fewer road frames are being built with mudguard eyelets, while the move to bridgeless seatstays – facilitated by disc brake specific frame designs – means that this key other mounting point is being lost too.
The other advantage of these mudguards is that they offer the most protection to the bicycle. They keep all the water and mud away from the rim brake callipers (if your bike has them), which really don't like being dowsed in gritty water, and it's the same for the front derailleur. They also keep water away from a saddle bag and rear light that you might have attached to the saddle/seatpost, so that's another plus for mudguards. Utilising a similar construction to SKS ‘guards, each mudguard has two stainless steel bridges fixed to it for the 4mm diameter, V-shaped stays to attach to. If the items we have sent you are faulty, damaged or not as we described, we will cover the cost of collection and the delivery of the correct item. There are fenders / mudguards which do provide more coverage at a similar price - even within SKS’s own range, such as the SKS Longboards. If wet weather protection is most important to you, the choice between the two is pretty obvious. But there will be those who prefer the tidier looks of the Bluemels Basics.
I don't want to use 23mm tyres either.I don't get why there's mudguard eyes if you cant fit guards,and why they sell it with 25mm tyres if that's the cause. With that extra long coverage, our reviewer found that the Bontrager NCS fenders/mudguards offer more protection than many other ‘full-length’ mudguards. The rubber mudflaps at the ends of fenders further add to the length and help reduce road spray for your feet or friends, but these aren’t as long as we see on some other mudgaurd sets.
Finance is subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. Performance Cycling Limited FRN: 720557 trading as Tredz are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a credit broker not a lender – credit is subject to status and affordability and is provided by Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC. Terms & Conditions Apply. The Pacific Northwest is famous for its wet weather, so it's no surprise that Portland Design Works makes some of the best fenders out there. Made from anodised aluminium, the PDW Full Metal fenders offer full wrap coverage and laser-etched graphics. Clip-on mudguards don’t require the frame to have eyelets or long-reach brake callipers, or extra clearance. Instead, they attach to the frame using simple fastenings like rubber bands, Velcro or zip ties. This gives far more versatility than full-length mudguards as you aren’t hindered by bike choice, and it means you can keep riding your favourite road bike through the winter if you want to. Look for fenders that have some contouring or a rounded shape, if they are too flat they won’t offer all that much protection.
The fact that full-length mudguards can only be fitted to frames with the necessary mounts and clearance does limit them, but there are plenty of bikes designed to accept them. Most common are those that fall into the touring/Audax category, with a variety of frame materials including the most common: steel, titanium and alloy. It’s also possible to buy a carbon fibre frame with the necessary eyelets and clearance for these mudguards. You’ll be surprised at how much difference they make. Unless it’s raining hard, most of the wetness you feel when riding without mudguards is likely to have come from the road and your tyres. Mudguards keep you drier and more comfortable.If you’re planning to kit out your road bike with some mudguards, then you’re in the right place. We’ve rounded up our list of the best road bike mudguards, and divided them into those that braze-on, and those that clip on. Not sure which type of fenders you should go for? We’ve also included a handy guide to how to choose the best road bike mudguards for you. Cycling clubs and group-rides the world over will have differing policies when it comes to mudguard usage. Some clubs will flat-out ban riders from joining if they don’t have full coverage, with the argument that if Rider A invests time and money into fitting full-length mudguards for the benefit of the riders behind them, it’s unfair to then have to sit in the permanent-shower behind Rider B’s uncovered wheel.
Threading your mudguard through a rim brake calliper isn't always a simple task, and must be considered when investing in a set. Some fenders are designed to split at this point to offer full-length coverage on race bikes. Which length and shape mudguards do I need?If there’s a particular component that’s affecting your comfort, start there. If your saddle makes you numb half an hour into a ride, change to one of the best road bike saddles. Similarly, if your handlebar and stem are the wrong size, your bike won’t fit properly. You’re better off spending time and a little money getting the fit absolutely spot on before you start thinking about saving weight or making your bike more aero. To stop your toes from clashing with the stay end caps, the Full Metal fenders / mudguards use a single stay design that is kept higher on front fender than a double stay type. It made low speed manoeuvring easier, although there was still toe overlap on my bike but that's the bike and not the mudguards fault. Mountain bikes, because of the huge variety of design thanks to factors like suspension and huge tyres, need a mudguard fitted very high above the wheel. The solution is a rear mudguard that clips onto the seatpost so the height above the wheel can be adjusted, and a front mudguard that's attached to the down tube. The Bontrager NCS fenders / mudguards come in a range of sizes: from 18-25mm for old school road bikes and all the way up to 35-45mm for trendy new gravel bikes. The set we had on test was right in the middle, designed for 28-35mm 700c tires - which is typical for winter bikes these days. As the guards will be going on a bike that is also ridden ‘ sans fender’, the ease of fitting and removal is important, as is the speed and simplicity. We like a guard set to be easy to keep together off the bike. Too many parts to get lost or slide under the fridge are never a good thing. How we test
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