I got the Mudguards today after a visit to the local royal mail depot, where they have a nice collection of Mailstars parked up*
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| Nice and shiny with some go-faster stripes. |
They didnt come with the various fitting bolts I would need since they were a cheapo (ish) set off ebay. But I knew the tin of bit'n'bobs in the garage would easily solve that issue.
Fitting mudguards is easy and they weigh barely nothing. So it amazes me sometimes when I see people cycling along in the wet, sending a huge splatter of mucky road water all over themselves and anyone behind them. Seems to me its yet another symptom of how cycling is viewed in this country compared to say Holland or Denmark - i.e. over there most biycles with come with mudguards already fitted.
This being a big fat 65mm wide set of mudguards means that a set for skinny tyres must weigh less than nothing.
The only tricky bit was getting the line of the circumference of the guards to match the tyres closely. the stay are adjustable to help you do this, but there was still a huge gap between guard and tyre down near the bottom bracket. So I hacksawed a little aluminium spacer in half to give a slightly better profile.
*Mailstars are under threat of extinction if the previous head of Royal Mail gets his way as I found out from posts on Manchester cycling.
Have you considered something like the Hebie Chainglider as well to completely insulate yourself from the filth?
ReplyDeleteI have, but any thoughts about that will have to wait until I've got the front and rear sprocket sizes sorted out. (the gear inches I think I'd be happy with require a rear sprocket that is too small for the nexus hub to accomodate, so a larger front ring might be required)
ReplyDeletePlus, after years of unthinking usage of a drop of 3-in-1 oil every so often (and having oily, filthy horrible chains as a result) I've discovered spray on chain lube. I've been amazed at how the chain stays so clean and doesnt pick up any road dirt even in miserable weather.
Hebie Chainglider
ReplyDelete...they're clever aren't they? They look discrete too rather compared to a full on chaincase.