Removable mudguards - Zefal or SKS?



bing181

New Member
Oct 23, 2004
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Anyone have any experience of the SKS Raceblades or Zefal Protektor? Both clip on "semi-full" mudguards for road bikes, but wondering if there's any advantage of one over the other?

Thanks
 
bing181 said:
Anyone have any experience of the SKS Raceblades or Zefal Protektor? Both clip on "semi-full" mudguards for road bikes, but wondering if there's any advantage of one over the other?

Thanks
I have a set of the Raceblades and two bikes that have full SKS fenders with mudflaps. The Raceblades are better than nothing in wet conditions, but they come nowhere near the protection you get from a full fender set. Raceblades keep your back from getting sprayed and the front keeps most of the spray off of your face - but, they do nothing at all for your feet (very important in cold, wet conditions!) and they offer no protection for someone riding behind you. I will say the the Raceblades attach easily and stay in place much better than I thought they would. If you use Raceblades and take on and off the bike repeatedly, it really helps speed up installation by putting ty-wraps (as position markers) on the fork struts and the seat stays. These will also help eliminate any slippage.

When I first got the Raceblades I discussed them with Sheldon Brown and his opinion of them was lukewarm ("better than nothing").

I have no experience with the Zefals.

After I uses the Raceblades a few times I decided that I'd build a rain bike with full fenders (check out the SKS "Commuter" series fenders - excellent!) and use the fenderless bike on dry days only. Yet another excuse for yet another bike ;-))))

Best luck staying dry!
 
I use Zefals & they are excellent. I made & attached a leather mudguard to the bottom of the front fender, which improves protection.
 
Here in the land of rain (Vancouver), the SKS's are very popular. The benefits are quick installation, easy adjustments, and ability to fit just about any frame without worrying about brake bridge clearance.

They aren't very long, so you pretty much have to make a fender extension for them. Typically an old water bottle cut in half, attached with a screw or zip ties does the trick.

Nobody around here finds that to be a burden because you have to put an extender on whatever fender you buy. Either that or you're forced to ride at the back of the pack all day.
 
I turned my oldest training bike into a rainy day bike - by putting SKS guards on it and adding part of a drink bottle to each one(I'm tall and so needed the extra length at the back). My feet still get wet and spray still come down the front of the back one onto the seat tube area.

They are very good.
I found that the plastic screw securing system wasn't very good so I glued them to the forks etc. If they were to be put on/taken off all the time the screws and female threads wouldn't last long - so that would basically be the end of their life:eek: .

I have a clip in rear mudguard(I modified it a little) for my normal training bike. I extended the end of that too. It's as good as the SKS rear guard and takes two seconds to fit/unfit.
At the front I fit a modified MTB guard to the down tube under the cables. It works well in that it keeps the spray off my face and off my drink bottle - it's all I need:)

I now(and for other reasons - like the first one mentioned is only an 8 speed) only use the bike with clip in guards in the rain.

A friend has the best guards:) I have come across. They're made by Philips(I think) and they clip into small steel mountings that are permanently(obviously can be taken off) attached to the brake calipers. Clipping in/off is easy.
They're nice and long and do a really good job.

If you're interested I could email him and get more info on them.
 
bing181 said:
Anyone have any experience of the SKS Raceblades or Zefal Protektor? Both clip on "semi-full" mudguards for road bikes, but wondering if there's any advantage of one over the other?

Thanks
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Single seatstay bikes may look cool but try fitting guards to them:eek:
Sometimes old ideas are better - for everyday riding.