Chris Boardman is no stranger to igniting debates on social media, nor finding himself at the centre of one – most famously, perhaps, when he went for a bike ride on BBC Breakfast with presenter Louise Minchin, resulting in a flood of complaints about the fact he wasn’t wearing a cycle helmet.
> Complaints over bare-headed Chris Boardman’s helmetless BBC Breakfast bike ride
However, at the end of this most unusual of years, it was a Boxing Day Twitter post from the former Olympic and world champion turned cycling campaigner on the subject of mudguards that has sparked what he termed the “most controversial” debate he’s been involved in this year.
17 of the best mudguard – find out how to stay dry on any type of bike
Posting a picture on the social network yesterday of a Boardman ADV 9.0 adventure bike, he asked: “To fit mudguards or not to fit mudguards? That is the question. It’s a heart v head call.”
> Boardman updates ADV 9.0 Carbon bike for UK gravel adventures
Subsequently, Boardman tweeted: “In 2020, I’ve posted on the climate crisis, pollution, health crisis and transport justice. This one on whether to fit mudguards has proved by far the most controversial.”
In 2020, I’ve posted on the climate crisis, pollution, health crisis and transport justice.
This one on whether to fit mudguards has proved by far the most controversial.
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) December 26, 2020
And boy, did his original tweet polarise opinion. Here’s a selection of some of the 400-plus responses he received, starting with cycling commentator Ant McCrossan and Velocast’s John Galloway succinctly expressing views at opposing ends of the spectrum.
Nope don’t fit them
— Anthony McCrossan (@antmccrossan) December 26, 2020
Fit. Always.
— John Galloway (@VelocastJohn) December 26, 2020
I think Raceblade Pro XLs (painted matt black) look pretty good. pic.twitter.com/uYce8kfY0u
— Bill Hulley (@billhulley) December 26, 2020
I have three bikes with and one without. The three with would actually look quite daft without them. In Scotland I can’t see the point of not having them.
— Blythe Storm (@girlonabrompton) December 26, 2020
By the way, the Boardman ADV 9.0, which comes with Shimano’s GRX gravel-specific groupset, is designed as much for riding on muddy towpaths and bridleways as it is for cycling on the road – and although you can’t see them in the pictures, it does have hidden mudguard mounts.
Although not every owner realises that, apparently …
Honest Alex, hidden mudguard mounts, you use tie wraps.
I don’t know why I bother. ? pic.twitter.com/BlwcXmG1V9
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) December 26, 2020
So, where do you stand on the issue? Are mudguards an essential fitting during the wetter months to keep yourself and fellow riders free from the mud and splashing surface water, or is there more of a “heart versus head” thing going on, as Boardman says, with a trade-off between keeping the lines of your bike clean at the expense of getting everything else dirty? Let us know in the comments below.
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41 thoughts on “Chris Boardman’s most controversial post of 2020? Mudguards, he says”
A big yes for mudguards.
A big yes for mudguards. Unless you have a servant to clean your bike
And the same servant could
And the same servant could clean one’s back passage!
An intriguing idea.
An intriguing idea.
Wouldn’t be without them. I
Wouldn’t be without them. I understand why some might find their aesthetics challenging. However, they are infinitely preferable to looking like one has shat oneself.
I’ll take the slightly ruined
I’ll take the slightly ruined look of the bike over a soaking wet arse, muddy face and wet shoes.
I have mudguards on my Winter
I have mudguards on my Winter Bianchi and my Boardman CX which is gravel spec’s…the Summer Bianchi….no way….. I’d rather have mudguards and a dry arse….plus clean kit…as you can never get some of the road debris stains out, with some kit costing what it does….worth the mudguards, unless you only ride in the dry summer outdoors & indoor train the other 8 months of the year….
Mudguards all the way for me,
Mudguards all the way for me, I use my winter bike all year round, I refuse to get my best bike out in summer if its pissing down. There’s nothing worse than a wet arse. I use Flinger Deluxe on my Enigma, fantastic quality and look good too.
I have a similar mudguard
I have a similar mudguard/rack setup and like yours I think the bike looks very smart with them. Not that I care how it looks because they’re superb when the road is soaking since the water being kicked up the bike can be much worse than the actual rain.
Easy get 2 bikes, I have a
Easy get 2 bikes, I have a winter/rain/gravel-bike with mudguards and a lightweight bike for the good months and climbing.
Velo Orange, Honjo or Gilles
Velo Orange, Honjo or Gilles Berthoud mudguards for us. Fine with the aesthetics with a steel frame.
Even in summer, during dry days, it’s easy to pick up stone chips on enamel paint,.
Cleaning bikes is a lot easier & they protect not only you but the bike too, when the rain is around.
If you enjoy muddy water
If you enjoy muddy, animal shit laden water chaffing your arse crack and being sprayed in your face on wet rides, then sure, don’t fit mudguards.
Mudguards protect following
Mudguards protect following riders too and show that you are a considerate person.
Mudguards, obviously. We
Mudguards, obviously. We live in the UK.
Although I finally have a “summer bike” without, the usual steed has mudguards.
‘Clean lines’? That’s a
‘Clean lines’? That’s a defence that is catapulted through the window on any bike with disc brakes – and knobblies.
I always find it strange that
I always find it strange that people cite aesthetics as a reason for not running mudguards. Do they not look in the mirror? Seriously, it’s not a good look!
Unless the mudguards pretty
Unless the mudguards pretty much go all the way to ground level and you select a tyre with a pattern which doesn’t pick up and fling water in a roostertail then you are really only fitting them for your own benefit.
Yes I agree!
Yes I agree!
I used to worry that
I used to worry that mudguards would spoil the look of my bike. But once I’d felt the chill of icy floodwater spattering up my arse crack, I was cured.
And there is something very liberating about being able to ride through wet farmyard slurry and sloshy roads without worrying about it. And without getting permanent oily splattermarks on your jersey.
I honestly fail to see why
I honestly fail to see why this is so controversial: we spend oodles of money on clothing trying to stay warm and dry over the British winter, so why wouldn’t we want to fit mudguards to keep us and our bikes a bit drier and cleaner?
My deep winter bike has worn SKS chromoplastic ‘guards for 13 years and these have just been replaced for this winter with some alloy ‘guards from Kinesis. The latter have proved outstanding over the last three months and I am especially pleased with the mudflaps fashioned from the plastic headcard they came with. So not only do I stay relatively dry, my bike is saved from vast amounts of muck thrown up from Yorkshire’s roads.
I wonder if some riders shy away from ‘guards as they feel less ‘pro’ using them.
MichaelWinnerRIP wrote:
Implicit disregard for Rules 5 & 9…
Reading the comments below
Reading the comments below fills me with shame for Britons. A once tough and resilient people, renowned for time trialing and track, turning soft and stooping to the use of mudguards on road bikes. All I can say is toughen up while you still can. What is the UK coming to? Almost time to emigate.
BlindFreddy wrote:
Please tell me your tongue is firmly wedged in your cheek as irony doesn’t really work when written
If not…
I will quite happily hammer out 300k in the most atrocious conditions with these ‘flappy’ mudguards ( mine don’t in case you’re interested) safe in the knowledge that my compatriots are not getting a faceful of muck.
That my bidon isn’t being sprayed with slurry and oil ( a friend ended up with a nasty gastro bug on one occasion)
That my feet will be relatively dry as opposed to being saturated.
That my kit will be pristine.
And most importantly my components will last longer.
I don’t have money to burn so I will do anything to protect components and kit especially as I cycle all the year round. I will happily deal with all the elements choose to throw at me knowing I’m reasonably protected. If you care to be sans guards, ditch them for racing. Otherwise. Just leave them
Here here.
Here here.
I hate mudguards. They’re
I hate mudguards. They’re ugly flappy things that come loose, rattle, get in the way or break.
But they serve a purpose. Riding in the wet with a wet stripe up your back isn’t much fun.
Buy better mudguards/get them
Buy better mudguards/get them fitted properly. Mine don’t flap, haven’t come loose or rattled in over ten years of use, never get in the way of anything except water and mud, and only broke when I suffered a seatpost failure allowing the saddlebag to tip backwards and press the mudguard onto the tyre. As for looks, something like the PDW fenders look fantastic (but don’t fit my front forks, unfortunately),
The Flinger Deluxe are in my
The Flinger Deluxe are in my opinion the best looking, best made mudguards.
Jolly good point. I suppose
Jolly good point. I suppose its well and fine if you use a utility bicycle equpped with mudguards over winter and store your lovely racing machine ummarred by ugly, flapping mudguards for the next summer .
Um, you’ve heard of “false
Um, you’ve heard of “false dichotomy”?
You need to learn how to fit
You need to learn how to fit them correctly. I did 70,000 miles on my recently retired bike. Not once did I have to adjust or tighten the mudguards up.
Oh I know.
Oh I know.
Definitely mudguards – if you
Definitely mudguards – if you ever ride anywhere near other people. Back in the day, when I used to commute to the office, I would often be stuck behind slow cyclists just because the cloud of spray they put up was so large I couldn’t overtake without ending up looking like I had wrestled a pig.
No mudguards is just anti-social.
I guess Chris doesn’t have to
I guess Chris doesn’t have to worry about maintenance as he can whistle up a new bike pretty much any time he likes
Yes indeed. I expect the
Yes indeed. I expect the lucky devil also has a person to wash and maintain his bikes for him as part of their duties.
I will not like to spray
I will not like to spray coronavirus on my face.
It’s the rainwater /
It’s the rainwater / drainwater / dognhorseshit mix that leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.
I’m actually quite shocked at
I’m actually quite shocked at the dearth of bikes sold with guards as standard. No matter what bike shop you go to. Very few will have them. Even hybrids are sold sans guards! Used to be that all bikes sold had guards as standard. The only exception being a race specific bike!
Used to go to school with a guy who raced with his club. His guardless bike only came out for races and TT’s or when weather was guaranteed to be dry all day. Otherwise everywhere he went was on a bike with guards.
as with many things around
as with many things around bikes, it would help if the bike manufacturers standardised on things for more than a season or two, on things like mounting points, its as bad as Specialized having a system called plug & play, which actually means you drilling holes and hacksawing bits off their “fenders” to get them to fit your bike.
And ironically with my Boardman hybrid, which has no mounting points for mudguards at all, consequently fitting mudguards is a right fiddly pain of trial and error, even when set up correctly, a careless knock in a bike shed can turn something solidly attached to a rattly nightmare, so I can see exactly why bike shops dont bother at all as theyd no doubt spend all their time dealing with customers complaining about them.
I got some mudflaps after
I got some mudflaps after reading a recycled article here (don’t tell the ed). Made a difference to the bb.
My wife has sks mudguards which wrap round really well and no need for a flap.
‘Nuff said………
‘Nuff said………
Definitely mudguards for me.
Definitely mudguards for me.
Have been soaked and claggied too many times on bikes that didn’t have them.
Otoh, I can see the point of discarding them in an effort to get rid of weight, but I’m not in that class of rider.
Yes, mudguards are essential
Yes, mudguards are essential on a bike you use every day. Not on the ‘best’ or ‘discretionary use’ bikes. I’ve been trying a set of Curana C-Lite mudguards on the Brian Rourke, since it was upgraded to everyday bike, as it has very tight clearances. So far, so good, though the rear brake bridge fitting is proving problematic, as there’s not even enough clearance for a pop rivet head over the 25c tyre.
