[email protected] (Alan) writes:
> Simon Brooke <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<
[email protected]>...
> >
[email protected] (Alan) writes:
> >
> > > My son is getting a new bike from Santa with both front and rear suspension. Inevitably it
> > > comes sans mudguards - My question is, are there any available that will truly keep him clean
> > > and dry? There is an added conplication that initially at least he will have the saddle at its
> > > lowest most position so if the rear guard attaches to the seat post it must be adjustable
> > > allowing fixing below the bit of the frame where the seat post goes in. (This obviously has a
> > > name but I don't know what it is!)
> >
> > What's he going to ride it on? If roads and hard-surface tracks then possibly; if seriously off
> > road then no, he's going to get muddy whatever you do, although some judicious mudgarding will
> > leave him less muddy. I don't believe you'll find a rear mudguard that will actually work on a
> > full suspension bike which does not attach to the seatpost - remember, if the mudguard fouls the
> > wheel at full suspension travel that's going to be at best a serious nuisance and at worst
> > actively dangerous.
>
> Mainly hard surfaces - the occaisional gentle off road sojourn so what did you have in mind when
> you said possibly? I've seen one from SKS at various webstores that appears to be very adjustable
> having 2 pivots but none of my local stores have it so it would mean ordering on faith.
What I didn't ask and obviously should have is how old is your son? If he's sort of five or six and
you're living in a suburban area with fairly manicured parkland then it should be possible to keep
him clean, but if he's ten or twelve and bombing in and out of the local woods then it's not, and
that's pretty much irrespective of the mudguard issue. There's also the issue of whether mudguards
are 'cool' in his social circle. I'd honestly be inclined to try him without and see how he does,
and fit mudguards later if it really seems to be a problem. I'm not aware of a mudguard for full
suspension bikes which doesn't attach to the seatpost, although that doesn't prove there isn't one.
--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke)
http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
to err is human, to lisp divine ;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough.
Having said that there are guards that at least keep flung dung off the face