The constant spray of dirty water from a mudguardless bike on a wet road is worse than being rained on. Unless you ride in full cycling kit and are happy to soak it, you'll want guards any time it isn't dry. You or your bike shop can fit some sort of mudguards to any bike.

Updated July 2019

The constant spray of dirty water from a guardless bike on a wet road is worse than being rained on. Unless you ride in full cycling kit and are happy to soak it, you'll want guards any time it isn't dry. You or your bike shop can fit some sort of mudguards to any bike.

What Do Mudguards Do?

Road mudguards keep your clothes clean in all kinds of weather, with full-length frame-fitting mudguards offering the best spray protection. 

You only really need a rear mudguard as your back wheel is generally the only one that throws water and mud up onto your back. Clip on mudguards are readily available at pretty much any bike shop, and they do make a big difference.

Fitting Mudguards

To fit mudguards, your bike ideally needs threaded eyelets at the dropouts and enough clearance between the tyres and the frame, fork and brakes. There are workarounds, however, and special guards are available for close-clearance race bikes. 

Bicycle mudguards need to be matched to the diameter of the wheel and the width of the tyre, otherwise water will splash out at the edges. Frame-fitting mudguards fit to eyelets at the dropouts, and to the fork crown or the chainstay and seatstay bridges. You can use P-clips and cable-ties if your bike lacks the necessary holes in the frame.

If the frame eyelets for the mudguard are shared with a pannier rack, fit the rack struts closest to the frame and the mudguard stays on the outside. 

If your bike has disc brakes, you may need to bend one of the mudguard stays or uses spacer washers to make it clear the calliper.

Take care that the bolt attaching the guard at the drive-side dropout isn't so long that it touches the chain when it's on the smallest sprocket.

Mudguards and Safety

If anything gets jammed under a front mudguard, the guard can fold up behind the fork and jam, stopping the bike dead. Some mudguards have 'safety release' stays to prevent this from happening: they snap free when force is applied.

Of course, the more space there is between tyre and mudguard to begin with, the less likely anything will jam in there. The mudguard shouldn't almost skim the tyre or road grit won't rattle through. Disc, cantilever, and V-brakes don't significantly limit mudguard clearance, while deeper drop sidepulls (57mm) provide clearance on road bikes and sporty hybrids.

Check that the front mudguard doesn't catch on your toes when you turn the wheel side to side. Stand over the bike and put one foot on the forward pedal with the cranks at quarter to three. If your toe blocks the mudguard, you will need to take care when making tight turns at slow speeds. At higher speeds, you steer by leaning, so it’s not a problem.

Adding road mudguards to your bike can change it from being a piece of sports equipment into something suitable for daily commuting us, but are mudguards necessary? Mudguards will not only keep you and your clothing clean, they’ll also keep your bike a lot cleaner too. They aren’t necessary, per se, but if you don’t have any road mudguards then you must be prepared for what may come. 

There are a number of different types available suitable for a wide range of bikes. Let’s take a look.

Traditional full-length mudguards

Full length mudguards offer the best protection for you and your bike. SKS are renowned as the best available, made from a laminate of plastic and aluminium, and featuring stainless steel fittings and special quick release safety tabs to prevent twigs jamming the front wheel. They’re well designed and last well. The only downside is that they can be tricky to fit and can make transporting the bike in a car a pain.

Will my bike accept full length mudguards? Not all bikes have the necessary tyre/frame clearance for full length mudguards, or the fixing points to attach them. Separate ‘p-clips’ are available from good bike shops to attach guards to bikes with no attachment points, but if your bike doesn’t have enough clearance you’ll have to use one of the other mudguard types. If in doubt, check with your local bike shop. 

'Crud Catcher' style mudguards

These are front and rear mudguards designed to fit onto bikes which don’t have the clearance or fitting for full length, traditional mudguards. The front guard usually attaches to the downtube with zip ties (some bikes have dedicated mounting bosses) and the rear attaches to the seat post. 

This type of guard affords some protection but cannot rival the effectiveness of a full length, close fitting mudguard. However, they are easy to fit, offer basic protection, and are compatible with practically any bike. That means if you want to put your mountain bike into commuting service, you can.

Clip-on 'Raceguard' type mudguards

German accessory manufacturer SKS began marketing short, clip-on, close-fitting guards for road bikes with minimal tyre clearance. Designed primarily for road racers adapting their bikes for winter training, they’re also eminently suitable for roping your road bike into commuting duty. 

They attach to the seatstays at the back and the fork at the front, and are quickly removable if you want to go racing at the weekend. Since SKS brought out their ‘Raceguard’ design, a number of manufacturers have begun to produce their own variants.

Here are some of the better bike mudguards out there: