Instead of the usual SKS mudguards, I quite fancy some metal ones for this renovation project I've got going on. I'm nervous that they will be rattly or otherwise cause me lasting regret! Does anybody have experience of specific models?
Thanks
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help
Metal mudguards?
(14 posts)- Started 1 month ago by Dave
- Latest reply from amir
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Posted 1 month ago #
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@David Stark of Law Wheelers had these I recollect should you have an avenue to his mind? If not @Bill will
Posted 1 month ago # -
The Aluminium ones by Kinesis look nice:
https://kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/kinesis-fend-off-mudguardsAs long as they're well fitted I can't see metal mudguards being any more/less rattly than plastic ones.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I have some Velo Orange ones, purchased from Freshtripe: https://freshtripe.co.uk/
I installed them myself, which was a little bit fiddly but nothing too challenging. Absolutely no rattling to report. they come with little leather washers to dampen vibrations. They look great and feel very robust.
I definitely prefer them to the SKS black/grey plastic look. After two years of abuse I just recently cleaned and polished them up, and they're still looking lovely (albeit with a few dents for added character).
Posted 1 month ago # -
Kinesis Fend-Off as @mcairney says is what I have and absolutely love. Installed about 3 years ago (after many SKS breakages) and never looked back.
Put some bar tape between the clip and the mudguard when you install the rear one they they will be very quiet.
Have them on both my commuter bike and my Ti Audax bike.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I just lugged two full panniers of shopping up from Longstone Sainsbury’s. The Brae panniers i favour hav an adjustable Clip you just twist to unlock and reposition. I was using old Tricross for the shopping [oh how the mighty tumble]. and its rack has different alignment than the rack on the new Tricross. No matter how I finagled THe clip took the rack and the mudguard spoke together. Now THAT is what I call a rattle.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I’m slightly worried that the Kinesis mudguards don’t seem to include any mudguard-stay-wrap-up-problem connectors. These should be a weak link at the connection of the stay to the front fork. This is so that if something catches in the wheel, the mudguard detaches, rather than wrapping into the wheel and throwing the rider over the handlebars.
Also cannot believe manufacturers seem to have forgotten that such a failure mode exists.
Having experienced this, and by pure luck managing to leapfrog the handlebars, I wouldn’t feel safe riding a bike without them
Posted 1 month ago # -
Some nice examples of mudguard stay wrap up here:
Posted 1 month ago # -
I think looking at the later photos of the Kinesis ones they have something between the fork and the stay. I too have had one or two experiences of sticks getting up into the front guard
Posted 1 month ago # -
I switched to metal mudguards four years ago as I was finding my commute home from Grangemouth to Duddingston was effectively making plastic mudguards an unexpected consumable. I have had the Kinesis for the last four years. Once set up, they do not rattle, apart from when a pebble is picked up by the wheels and flung around inside the mudguards when it does make quite a noise. They have lasted well and are doing their job; even the mudflaps have endured which I suspected at purchase might not.
I did find there was very little clearance between the mudguard and rear tyre and required a fair bit of adjustment to get it clear. It may be the bike/tyre combination. Even now when it is wet and tyre picks up a bit of grit there is sometimes a bit of rub.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I break most things but have only broken two pairs of plastic mudguards or maybe three. Log wedged between wheel and fender was a bad one. Since 2001.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I've procrastinated bigly on this but by coincidence the front mudguard broke at the fork crown on one of our ebikes in the week, and so I ordered up a "wide" kinesis fend-off. It isn't wide enough for the Big Apple that I'd crammed into the fork but I figured it wouldn't hurt to downsize to a 40mm tyre.
They seem nice enough, quite solid compared to the older SKS. I would note that as mentioned above they don't have any kind of break free mechanism. As I've already had a stick completely total a front SKS mudguard in the past perhaps I've dodged that bullet already, but can confirm it's possible to fit the Kinesis stays into the SKS break free clips, of which I have a box of about 500
Posted 1 week ago # -
Late to this party, but I have a set of Gillies Berthoud. They last quite a long time before breaking. The first to go are the poor aluminum stays which corrode in the salty Edinburgh air over winter. But I used a set of Zefal stays and they are much better.
To avoid rattling I used rubber washers from a tap between metal parts. Plus swap out the std nuts for nyloc.
Posted 1 week ago # -
For plastic ones, I found the Topeak full mudguards far longer lasting than SKS. The SKS ones always broke on the (rear) bridge.
Posted 1 week ago #
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