Preparing for Winter - central London commute mudguards & brakes

[ElCani]

Ultimately, if you’re going to be commuting in all weathers and seasons, and you don’t love relentless bike cleaning and maintenance, a dedicated commuting bike makes life a lot easier.

For me, this involves a drop-bar bike (Genesis Day One) with an eight speed gear hub (Shimano Alfine), fully-enclosed chain (Hebie Chainglider), full mudguards with an extra-long front mudflap, front generator hub connected to fixed front and rear lights, and disc brakes. If I could easily switch to drum brakes, I would. This basically means I don’t have to worry about the bike getting significantly dirty, requiring frequent cleaning and lubrication, or charging and removing/replacing battery lights.

There’s a long and interesting “supercommuter” thread on this forum somewhere, which discusses all this kind of stuff in great detail.

What is ultimately right for you obviously depends on your commute and your preferences and budget, but aiming for the most practical and resilient bike you can is time and money well spent.

[pq]

I know you don't want to buy a new bike, but that's what I'd do. I no longer commute but when I did, fat tyres, proper mudguards and a rear carrier were all essential items. I also prefer not to have derailleur gears - fixed or a hub gear is better for low maintenance. The thing is commuting by bike is saving you a stack of money in addition to keeping you fit and happy. That makes it worth spending some money to get it right. All this assumes you have somewhere safe to leave it - when I didn't I used to ride bikes found in skips, but even then they had mudgards, a carrier and fat tyres.

[James Up Hill]

What a wonderful thread. Thank you all for your generous contributions.

My bike cost me £60 off Gumtree, the new tyres cost more than the bike... this is my cheap winter bike; I'm tight, and I'm afraid I'm not going to spend £1500 on a new bike that gets parked outside friends houses in London! I'm not going back to 22mm, the joy of not fixing (snake-bite) punctures weekly is too much. The difference between uncomfortably hard, and punctures, is too small to get it right without a load of regular faff; I'm not in love with my bike I'm afraid!

A pair of Giant Defy mudguards might be just the trick.

[pq]

OK, the tightness I get. One of my skip bikes did more than 10 years - I probably spent no more than £20 on it in that time. But if you only paid £60 for the bike on gumtree, why don't you hit gumtree again and try to find something more suitable at a similar price? Then put your old bike on gumtree to recoup some of the cost. You seem to be spending too much money trying to turn this bike into something it isn't. There must be loads of commuter bikes for sale in London which will do the job properly and not be the expensive bodge this bike will become.

[ElCani]

Sounds like a good plan. Extending the front mudflap so it’s nearly touching ground is highly recommended, it’ll make a massive difference to the cleanliness of your drivetrain and feet. Truck inner tubes, damp proof course and plastic folders seem to be the main materials suggested for homemade flaps, but they can bought ready-made. E.g. https://rawmudflap.uk/

[pwa]

There's nothing wrong with being tight. But I agree that it might be worth keeping an eye open for a cheap second hand bike that will take mudguards more easily.

[mcshroom]

They wouldn't protect the brakes or the front derailleur (see the mud spray visible on the seat tube), but some Raceblade XL clip ons should fit over your 28mm tyres, and at least keep a lot of the water/muck off of you. They only fit behind the fork and rear brake like I've got them here

Fixed full guards are better, but these wouldn't need new tyres as well

[The utility cyclist]

To the Op, if the brakes are 57mm then you may well be able to get guards underneath, if they are 49mm then buying new calipers may well enable you to fit guards over the 28mm tyres.

I don't get that. Whatever the callipers, the crucial measurement is the one from the brake bridge hole to the top surface of the tyre, which will be the same whatever callipers you put in there. If short reach callipers are what the bike was made for, putting longer (mid) reach callipers in there would just have you ramming the blocks up to the top of the slot, with the interfering top section of the callipers in exactly the same place as the short reach callipers they replace.

One of my bikes has short drop brakes, when I fitted a 57mm to see if I could get a larger tyre in, this seemed to give more space above the incumbent tyre, I've only tried with one bike/set of brakes but thought in the OPs case it might have made enough difference if the restricting factor is NOT the height of the brake bridge.

[pwa]

To the Op, if the brakes are 57mm then you may well be able to get guards underneath, if they are 49mm then buying new calipers may well enable you to fit guards over the 28mm tyres.

I don't get that. Whatever the callipers, the crucial measurement is the one from the brake bridge hole to the top surface of the tyre, which will be the same whatever callipers you put in there. If short reach callipers are what the bike was made for, putting longer (mid) reach callipers in there would just have you ramming the blocks up to the top of the slot, with the interfering top section of the callipers in exactly the same place as the short reach callipers they replace.

One of my bikes has short drop brakes, when I fitted a 57mm to see if I could get a larger tyre in, this seemed to give more space above the incumbent tyre, I've only tried with one bike/set of brakes but thought in the OPs case it might have made enough difference if the restricting factor is NOT the height of the brake bridge.

Ah, I see. So what you have there is the shape or sculpting of the top of the calliper giving a bit more room, rather than how far down the slots the brake pads can go. It does help if the profile of the mudguard is a good match for the underside of the calliper so that you can get them close together without fouling the action of the calliper.

[gregoryoftours]

What a wonderful thread. Thank you all for your generous contributions.

My bike cost me £60 off Gumtree, the new tyres cost more than the bike... this is my cheap winter bike; I'm tight, and I'm afraid I'm not going to spend £1500 on a new bike that gets parked outside friends houses in London! I'm not going back to 22mm, the joy of not fixing (snake-bite) punctures weekly is too much. The difference between uncomfortably hard, and punctures, is too small to get it right without a load of regular faff; I'm not in love with my bike I'm afraid!

A pair of Giant Defy mudguards might be just the trick.

If you go that route just toothbrush under your brake pivots regularly and oil them often too.