Mudguards

[ehelifecycle]

Hi All,

How is a mudguard measured? see the image is it measured at line A or Line B? In other words, when buying a set I would think B has more correlation to the size of tyre you are running.

mudguard cross section.jpg (7.95 KiB) Viewed 1144 times

thanks

[NetworkMan]

Hi All,

How is a mudguard measured? see the image is it measured at line A or Line B?



mudguard cross section.jpg

thanks

A on all mine.

[ehelifecycle]

Hi All,

How is a mudguard measured? see the image is it measured at line A or Line B?



mudguard cross section.jpg

thanks

A on all mine.

In other words, when buying a set of mudguards, I would think B has more correlation to the size of tyre you are using with the mudguard, but your saying they are all sold as measured as A?

[meic]

They are normally sold with guidance as to what size tyre they are suitable for.
Using the actual mudguard size gives you an idea of what you can possibly fit under the guards.
On one bike I have 35mm SKS bluemels which are sold as suitable for up to 28mm tyres.
I can and do squeeze 37mm Hypers under them when I feel like doing so but it is close, so very close that it occasionally touches tyre to staybolts.

[Brucey]

IIRC some folk sell some (e.g. Gilles Berthoud) mudguards by quoting a third measurement which is the 'wrap round' measurement of the mudguard section, i.e. if you lay a flexible tape measure around the outside of the mudguard, that is the measurement you get.

Thus a mudguard that measures 37mm wide using a set of calipers might be described as '60mm' or something like that. Highly misleading.

cheers

[Cugel]

The A-measurement is useful to help decide if the mudguard will fit in the frame. The B-measurement is sort of useful re the tyre width but in practice the widest part of the tyre is not always within the mudguards concave space, especially if you leave a sizeable gap between the guards and the tyre, as I do with the 28mm tyres in the cross bike set up for the summer roads, leaving plenty of room for the 32 or 35mm tyres I often put on for the winter.

As others have said, it's more useful to have the manufacturer give the maximum tyre size the mudguard will work with, which is not necessarily the B-measurement.

Cugel

[foxyrider]

Just to complicate things further, many mudguards have fittings riveted in place or bolted on which can affect the internal dimensions considerably. My usual advice is go @ 10mm bigger than the largest tyre you want to use. I can get 32mm slicks in the 37mm guards on the crosser, i'd struggle for anything over 25 under the 28mm guards on the audax.

Often it's the profile of the guard which will determine what tyres they are okay for (and of course whether they will fit your particular brake/frame set up.

[reohn2]

SKS,the only mudguards I personally use are measured at 'A'.

[Debs]

Bicycle mudguard technology is so sadly lagging behind the times IMO.

Lots of differing designs marketed today, from simple clip-ons that are usually compromised by not enough coverage or just too darn flimsy, and full mudguards like SKS / Bluemels that require a certain amount of tweak and faff to fit and if/when clogged up with mud are another whole ball game to clean.

Plus the bike itself is far more difficult to clean when fitted with full rigger mudguards.

If i were a bicycle manufacturer [ or bicycle designer ] i'd develop a frame that is purpose made to accept [and come supplied with] a full mudguard set that can be easily unclipped from the bike in seconds to to be cleaned, then the bike cleaned without the mudguards in the way, and then the nice clean mudguards very easily refitted in a few seconds back on the nice clean bike

[Redvee]

I'm running 35mm SKS/Blumels guards which are good for 28c Continental tyres which is handy in case I need to take a wheel off my other bike at the last minute cause of a late notification of a puncture and don't have time to repair it before I leave for work.

[reohn2]

Bicycle mudguard technology is so sadly lagging behind the times IMO.

Lots of differing designs marketed today, from simple clip-ons that are usually compromised by not enough coverage or just too darn flimsy, and full mudguards like SKS / Bluemels that require a certain amount of tweak and faff to fit and if/when clogged up with mud are another whole ball game to clean.

Plus the bike itself is far more difficult to clean when fitted with full rigger mudguards.

A bike will stay far cleaner for longer with properly fitted full length mudguards,it also takes no longer to clean and needs cleaning far less frequently than a bike without.
Not only that but the rider remains far cleaner too.
With access to a hosepipe underside of mudguards are easily cleaned with a quick squirt.

EDIT; I prefer SKS/Bluemels mudguards as they're quite cheap,look good and are easy to fit with the correct tools.
Once fitted with an appropriate front mudflap,they look OK and go a long way to keeping me and the bike clean and dry.
I sometimes look in dismay at the state of some people who ride without 'guards especiaĺly MTBers in winter,Ive witness them shaking uncontrolably covered head to foot in muck and wet whilst I've remained dry as a bone on the same routes
I also like plenty of clearance between guard and tyre 10 to 12mm is an absolute minimum but I prefer 20mm+ viewed from the side if I can see daylight between tyre and 'guard I'm happy.If I could find falt with SKS' it's the flimsyness of their stay bridges which would be better if thicker and after a while the rivets become loose and need replacing with SS dome headed bolts.

[Cugel]

These days the common or garden variety of mudguards, even those of SKS and some others once highly regarded, have become dross. I went through 3 sets of different SKS mudguards, for example, before finding some that wouldn't soon split or crack - something they never used to do a decade or so ago. I had some of those Bluemels with the aluminium sandwich on the old winter bike for two decades with no problems.

Eventually I found these:

https://www.edinburghbicycle.com/sks-bl ... dguard-set

which I can just get in the new winterbike frame and which have now done 18 months with no sign of crack, wear or rattle. They do cost a bit more than most others.

*********

Here's another of them Jan Heine blogs in which he explains why the mudguards he flogs are better than anyone else's. Them Yanks do push their products, eh? But the blog nevertheless contains some interesting points about mudguards.

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/10/ ... nder-news/

Cugel

[reohn2]

SKS/Bluemels story alert.
I hang my bikes up from the workshop ceiling by stem and seatpost to work on them.
Lifting my Vaya down(fitted with 53mm Bluemels)I usually unhook the front end first,but on this occasion unhooked the rear first.
The rear of the bike slipped out of my grip and fell causing the rear mudguard to hit the floor first folding the 'guard up under the rear rack.
To my complete amazement I was able to loosen of the stay bolts and with the aid of a hot wet towel unfold it and get it perfectly back to it's original shape save for the slightest suggestion of a kink at the top stay bridge nearest the seatpost.
That was some 12months ago and there's no sign of any further issues or cracks'etc.
The m/guards are approx 6years old.

[Debs]

Bicycle mudguard technology is so sadly lagging behind the times IMO.

Lots of differing designs marketed today, from simple clip-ons that are usually compromised by not enough coverage or just too darn flimsy, and full mudguards like SKS / Bluemels that require a certain amount of tweak and faff to fit and if/when clogged up with mud are another whole ball game to clean.

Plus the bike itself is far more difficult to clean when fitted with full rigger mudguards.

A bike will stay far cleaner for longer with properly fitted full length mudguards....

Hold your horses - i'm not criticising the merits of having full mudguards - only the present design offerings, the time it takes to remove/put back on, and general practicality of fitment, often not having enough clearance between mudguard & tyre, and not integrating well with modern bicycle frames, or disc callipers, plus modern bikes generally seem to be becoming less tolerant of good design mudguard fitment.

And it has to be said; full mudguard do get in the way at bike cleaning time, it would be appropriate to to have better designed mudguards that are purposely made to fit the frame with perfection, and have a easy quick release method, and very quick easy quick to put back on again

Hence:

If i were a bicycle manufacturer [ or bicycle designer ] i'd develop a frame that is purpose made to accept [and come supplied with] a full mudguard set that can be easily unclipped from the bike in seconds to to be cleaned, then the bike cleaned without the mudguards in the way, and then the nice clean mudguards very easily refitted in a few seconds back on the nice clean bike

[peetee]

Year on year mudguards seem to get shorter. The biggest issue with this being spray on your feet from the front wheel. My advice would be to buy something like the SKS longboard.