Blu Tack

[Mick F]

Moulton had a rattle on the rear mudguard since I first bought it.
The rear brake fits through the stainless clamp to secure the mudguard at the top. The bike came with a cheap black plastic one so I swapped it for a spare stainless steel one I had in a spares drawer.
The front end fits on the chainstay bridge with a clip and there's two stays that go to the rear dropouts.

All this is normal for rear mudguards of course.

Trouble is with a small-wheeled bike, the wheels bounce and jar a bit, so the plastic mudguards take some punishment. (The front one has already broken) The rear rattle was getting worse, so I played around endlessly to adjust the fit but to no avail.

I took off the stainless clamp and refitted the rear brake, but that left the top of the mudguard free and wayward, so I stuck a big blob of Blu Tack on the mudguard and squished it under the brake bridge to hold it all steady and to give it some resilience.

Been like that for a few weeks now, so I feel confident to state ...................... that it works!

[meic]

It seems to be multi use when it comes to mudguards, it is also poked into secuclips to make them behave better.

[Mick F]

So I'm not the first to think about this stuff then?
I thought I was being so clever and novel about it.

I now wonder what other uses on a bike it could be put to.

[Cyril Haearn]

Does it change over time when heated or cooled or moistened?

[NetworkMan]

It seems to be multi use when it comes to mudguards, it is also poked into secuclips to make them behave better.

Stop the 'guard rattling about in a metal bridge clip which is probably too big. Not tried it since I'm about to move the 'guard onto a frame with a threaded bridge.
Mrs. NM should write "1001 Mechanical Fixes with Blu-tack" - she uses it all the time!

[peetee]

You could use it as handlebar tape or brake hoods. Not sure about a saddle cover though

[rjb]

I use a small blob to stick screws on the end of a screwdriver to enable one handed operation.

[mig]

stuck a badge back on the back of a car with 'sugru' a while back and it hasn't budged one iota. seems to set hard.

[mercalia]

could b e a use for a glue gun?

[Brucey]

an LBS mechanic (who had set up hundreds of moultons, mostly whilst muttering "I hate these bleeding things" under his breath.....) put me onto a method for crimping stainless steel mudguard bridges. His trick was to use a set of large side cutters to gently 'crimp' the fold. This nips the bridge up onto the mudguard better and furthermore stiffens the fold so that it is far less likely to move again. It does make it virtually impossible to slide the bridge along the mudguard though, so it is something of a 'one time only' adjustment.

It is however incredibly swift and works like magic, curing annoying mudguard rattles seemingly permanently.

Blutack is a mixture containing oil amongst other things; hence it leaves marks on absorbent surfaces and dries out over time. Handy for stopping rattles though. It also works fairly well as a joiner/seal on things like plastic lights that clip together, when the clips have broken.

cheers

[Mick F]

I squeezed mine nice and tight (always have done) but it wasn't the SS bridge on the mudguard that was rattling - it was the mudguard and SS bridge together ratting under the rear brake calliper.

There's not much clearance under the brake, so the mudguard needs to be as high as it would go, but the brake calliper "lowers" as it operates, so there has to be enough but minimal clearance. The whole thing would vibrate and rattle and buzz SS metal on alu brake metal.

By using Blu Tack, not only did it secure the mudguard but it gave it a resilient mount.
I did try and do without any mount at all, but the mudguard flexed around a bit and was even noisier.

[9494arnold]

You can get Super Glue with activator that stays tacky till you spray the fixer which might help if you are 100% sure that the bracket is where you really want it. Not used it on Mudguards myself though.
How about a Gasket cut from a discarded tube between the Bracket and the Mudguard or the Brake and the Mudguard?

[landsurfer]

4 days after collecting my SPA steel Touring bike it was blown over denting the top tube.
Devastated.
I contacted SPA, sent pics and dimensions.
John contacted me .... "fill it with blutac and put a sticker over it."

Many thousands of miles later ....

[Gattonero]

You can get Super Glue with activator that stays tacky till you spray the fixer which might help if you are 100% sure that the bracket is where you really want it. Not used it on Mudguards myself though.
How about a Gasket cut from a discarded tube between the Bracket and the Mudguard or the Brake and the Mudguard?

Odd bits of bar tape are very effective for reducing vibrations inside mudguard bridges (especially if crimped with parallel-jaws pliers) and insid the brackets for lights/reflectors/accessories.