Confused by Mudguards...

[portals]

View attachment 52315

I had a few spots of rain and wasn't happy....I'm a pussy...

 

[soundwave]

not as bad as a tornado made of hay and cow $hit

eMTB owners photo and ride thread.

new chain time 0.5. lets see how long this one lasts :p

www.pedelecs.co.uk

 

[StuartsProjects]

It appears then that even with full length mudguards you'll get sprayed.

I have used full length mudguards on all my cycles since about 1974. All bikes, from custom racing frames, dutch style, high end mountain bikes, Bromptons. Just about to fit guards to the eBrompton I am working on.

Ocaisionaly get a bit of splatter on the shoes, but nowhere else.

I do see quite a lot of people out on bikes without mudguards, but have never understood why so many cyclists dont use them, is it just fashion to be guardless ?

 

[guerney]

I never get any spray from my mudguards no matter how wet the weather, or how fast I'm going, that's something else Dahon got right with the Helios - it helps that the wheels are small, also the mudguards are close to the tyres so there are no wet heavy dense spray jets directed at me.

(not my bike, same mudguards)

But I need a front mudguard for the Espresso, so far none seem wide and long enough, or fit close enough to the tyre. It's rear mudguard is great, covers a lot of tyre. Vintage mudguards seem better designed for purpose.

 

[EddiePJ]

The Mucky Nutz short front fender is actually very good for it's intended use on a mountain bike used for off road use. That use being to keep mud and crud from hitting you in the face.

Beyond this, and for my main use, I am not really that fussed about Mudguards. They snag up, become clogged with mud, and just become an annoyance.
For road use and simple bridleway use though, I am very happy to use full Mudguards, and have frequently extended them further by splaying out the front added extension. The rear rack and panniers also add to a splash free ride.

 

[soundwave]

if there are any gen 2 cx motor bikes or ones with the yamaha motors up buy you eddie that are going cheap id grab them as can now get every thing fixed even the batts if required.

bar all this smart crap 99% of bikes are made in such a way you cant put bigger front chain rings on them.

id need a 52 lol.

and the bosch bearings are crap anyway peters custom ones are way better tho it took me like 150 miles to bed them in.

 

[saneagle]

I never get any spray from my mudguards no matter how wet the weather, or how fast I'm going, that's something else Dahon got right with the Helios - it helps that the wheels are small, also the mudguards are close to the tyres so there are no wet heavy spray jets directed at me.

But I need a front mudguard for the Espresso, so far none seem wide and long enough, or fit close enough to the tyre. It's rear mudguard is great, covers a lot of tyre. Vintage mudguards seem better designed for purpose.

Your front mudguard is the same as any bike. The faster you go, the higher the spray is from the front wheel. The centrifugal throws the water up from everywhere on the tyre that's in front of the mudguard and above the axle, and you're going forward, so you run into the spray. It's physics so you can't avoid it unless you go very slow.

 

[guerney]

Your front mudguard is the same as any bike. The faster you go, the higher the spray is from the front wheel. The centrifugal throws the water up from everywhere on the tyre that's in front of the mudguard and above the axle, and you're going forward, so you run into the spray. It's physics so you can't avoid it unless you go very slow.

I recall a lot of mud being thrown on my clothing from my racing bike in the 80s which had full mudguards (I expect similar from the 26" Espresso), but never from the Helios. I do a lot of riding in the rain, roads nearly always. My bike's magic.

I might just buy a Zefal front and lengthen it a bit, using a cut piece of black Pepsi Maxx bottle and rubber sheet, for the Espresso.

 

[saneagle]

I recall a lot of mud being thrown on my clothing from my racing bike in the 80s which had full mudguards (I expect similar from the 26" Espresso), but never from the Helios. I do a lot of riding in the rain, roads nearly always. My bike's magic.

I might just buy a Zefal front and lengthen it a bit, for the the Espresso.

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Next time you ride in the rain, watch what happens in front of the front mudguard. As your speed increases, you'll see a mane of water in front of the wheel. As you go faster, it rises higher and higher until it sprays you in the face. It's just a matter of speed. Maybe if you don't go too fast, it'll stay low. When you see what it does at what speed, you can decide what to do either to prevent it or to work with it. No need to panic yet.

 

[AntonyC]

Perhaps your front mudguard is set too high off the tyre? As a point on the tyre reaches 12 o'clock it's travelling forward, the water's flung forward and meets the mudguard at 10 past twelve if the mudguard's close or 1 o'clock if it isn't. So if your mudguard stops at 12 o'c but sits way off the tyre you'll enjoy the rising spray from 11 o'c

 

[guerney]

Next time you ride in the rain, watch what happens in front of the front mudguard. As your speed increases, you'll see a mane of water in front of the wheel. As you go faster, it rises higher and higher until it sprays you in the face. It's just a matter of speed. Maybe if you don't go too fast, it'll stay low. When you see what it does at what speed, you can decide what to do either to prevent it or to work with it. No need to panic yet.

I haven't experienced this. Because I have v-brakes, I tend to stay 15.5mph and below in wet weather - when it's dry and I feel up to actually getting some exercise, or if I'm in a hurry, I pedal between 18 and 20mph after assistance cuts off at 15.5mph. I can't keep that up for long with 52T>11T - near nigh impossible for me to do after my very long break from cycling 1991 - 2020, with the Helio's original 53T and no BBS01B.

Perhaps your front mudguard is set too high off the tyre? As a point on the tyre reaches 12 o'clock it's travelling forward, the water's flung forward and meets the mudguard at 10 past twelve if the mudguard's close or 1 o'clock if it isn't. So if your mudguard stops at 12 o'c but sits way off the tyre you'll enjoy the rising spray from 11 o'c

I think you're onto something. Maybe his front mudguard can be angled down a bit? I prefer mudguards with stays, for adjustment.

 

[AntonyC]

Mudhuggers fit without stays and have a useful downward-facing lip at the front.

@saneagle how have your stem levers worked out in practice? Have they seen much use, any unforeseen niggles? Are there weaknesses to look out for in some stems? They look OEM!

 

[AndyBike]

Bloody hell, another tropical storm has just hit...going to order mudguards this evening!

Soon as they arrive the rain will stop completely.

Bought a pair of spiked tyres for the ice we got one day. Ordered, looked forward to using them, and by the time they had arrived all the snow and ice had melted.

 

[Oldie]

I bought a set of the £9 Zefal Trail 55's which Saneagle kindly mentioned, primarily to keep the crud off the motor. I added a bit of extra protection at the bottom just to experiment with.

I actually installed them with the rear on the front wheel as it seemed to give better low down coverage and my first impressions are that they do, at least partially, keep the worst of the spray away. Definitely worth the 9 quid though.

I should add that I'll simply remove the front mudguard when I'm out on the hills (dry weather only) but it will be useful for our local wet/muddy cycle tracks.

 

[esuark]

That metal bracket may eventually break at the bend mine did. I shoved the mudguard in my jacket till I got home. Mines now fixed with a cable tie as saneagle shows previously in this thread and I`v also got stays as a belt and braces fix.

 

[saneagle]

Mudhuggers fit without stays and have a useful downward-facing lip at the front.

@saneagle how have your stem levers worked out in practice? Have they seen much use, any unforeseen niggles? Are there weaknesses to look out for in some stems? They look OEM!

In my last house, I kept my bike in the enclosed porch, so they were essential to give access through to the house. I've moved now and keep the bike in the garage so not as critical as before, but still extremely useful.

When I park my bike in a public bike rack, I always turn the handlebars. It makes more room for other bikes and also acts as a theft deterrent. I also use them when I chuck the bike in the van.

When you don't have them, you don't understand how useful they are, but when you have them, it's so easy to turn the bars out of the way, that you find a lot of reasons to use them.

 

[Dadam]

I use the Raceblade Pro XLs on my e-road bike, as it doesn't have lugs. They are really good but a little bit short. The front one only covers behind the front fork so at speed you get the spray back mentioned above. The rear one only covers behind the rear fork so the bottom bracket area and pedals (and the back of your feet and ankles) get sprayed.

Another thing to be aware of is tyre size. I've run them on top of 35mm tyres and they fit but I wouldn't want to use them on any larger tyres.

 

[AntonyC]

When you don't have them, you don't understand how useful they are, but when you have them, it's so easy to turn the bars out of the way, that you find a lot of reasons to use them.

They do look indispensable like locking brake levers, and ideal on a train. I was fretting about stems being fit-once parts and easily over-torqued, good to know it's withstood good use.