The humble mudguard, the forgotten hero of many a rainy or winter cycle. Important for a number of reasons – firstly, they keep the worst of the muddy road or trail spray off of your clothing and secondly, they keep a lot of the worst dirt off of your new bicycle 2025, meaning less maintenance and cleaning. Here, we will take a look at why mudguards are important for a number of different bicycle styles and the different options available.
We will take a look at road bikes, mountain bikes, gravel bikes and hybrid bikes and all the different mudguards such as; full length mudguards, clip on mudguards, mudguard sets, mountain bike mudguards and enduro guards. Each giving a different benefit depending on what you are looking for and your personal preferences. Firstly though we will have a look at what the correct size of mudguard you will need. Contents and Quick Links- Mudguard Size Guide
- Road Bike Mudguards
- Mountain Bike Mudguards
- Gravel Bike Mudguards
- Hybrid Bike Mudguards
- Mudguard Models
- Mudguard FAQ’s
Mudguard Size Guide
The correct size of mudguard will depend on a number of factors – the type of bicycle, the size of the wheels, the width of the tyres and the amount of clearance available, each of these we will explore in turn.Type of Bicycle
There will likely be specific mudguards for different bike types. Hybrid, gravel and some road bikes will have frame mounts that can allow full length mudguards for maximum protection. Mountain bikes do not usually have mounts for guards so a different type of mudguard would be required.Wheel Size
Wheel size is another factor to consider when deciding the best mudguards for you. When looking at bicycles, you will likely see numbers such as – 700 x 32, 27.5 x 2.2, 29 x 2.0. In each of these examples, the first number is the wheel size – 700mm, 27.5 inches (or 650b) and 29 inches respectively. Just make sure to match the correct number on your wheel to the number on the mudguard.Tyre Width
Tyres widths vary between different bicycles – road bikes, gravel and hybrid bikes go from 25c on road bikes all the way up to 47c for gravel and hybrid bikes. As road, gravel and hybrid bikes are much more likely to have full wrap around mudguards, it is very important to make sure the mudguard is wider than your tyre to avoid any rubbing while ensuring that the guard fits in with any available clearance between the tyre and the frame. Mountain bike tyres are measured in inches and go from approximately 1.9 inches up to ‘fat’ bikes at over 3.0 inches. As mountain bikes are more likely to have clip on fenders or enduroguards, the width is not as important as the wheel size or clearance.Clearance
The clearance we are referring to is the distance available between the tyre and the bicycle frame. This will dictate whether you can fit a full length guard or for one of the many other options available.Road Bike mudguards
Pure road bicycles are designed with efficiency in mind so it is not common for road racing bikes to have clearance or mudguard mounts for a set of full length mudguards. That being said, some endurance bikes are coming with extra clearance and mounting points to fit full length road bike mudguards.
Benefits to mudguards on a road bike
There are a number of reasons a set of mudguards are a benefit on a road bike. The best road bike mudguards keep the wheel spray off of your clothing, keep it out of your face and, if you ride in a group with other cyclists, it keeps the worst of the spray out of the face of the person behind you (which, if you’ve been on someones wheel on wet roads you’ll know this is not pleasant).Considerations to having mudguards on a road bike
A road bike is carefully designed to be as lightweight and efficient as possible and adding any unnecessary weight means you are less efficient uphill – it is up to you to decide if the benefits above outweigh this. Another argument is that road bike mudguards ruin the clean look of a sleek road bike (we have heard this argument more than once from the road cycling world). Also, as mentioned above, due to the lack of tyre clearance on many road bikes, the only mudguards you can fit are raceblade style (more about these later) which attach with thick rubber straps and because of this, they will never fit as securely as full length mudguards. The introduction of disc brakes on many road bikes allows for more clearance over more traditional rim brake bikes.Mountain Bike mudguards
Benefits to mudguards on mountain bikes
When descending off road on trails or cross country on wet rides, it can be very distracting to have the mud spraying in your face from the front wheel so an enduro guard or a clip on rear guard will stop the worst of this allowing you to concentrate on the terrain. For rear mudguards, these will either protect your bike frame from the mud (enduro guard) or protect your clothing (clip on mudguards). It is very uncommon for mountain bikers to fit full length mudguards unless the bike is only being used on roads and light gravel and has the necessary mudguard eyelets.Considerations of mudguards on mountain bikes
When fitting an mtb mudguard to a mountain bike, you need to be careful that the guards do not interfere with the suspension mechanisms especially with full suspension MTBs. Another thing to watch would be that you still have plenty of mud clearance with the guard attached if you ride when it is very wet as mud clogging up your wheel is not a particularly good thing on the trails.Gravel Bike Mudguards
A gravel bike is very similar in shape to a road bike but one of the main differences is that a gravel bike will have more clearance for tyre width or to add mudguards with almost all of them having the mudguard eyelets required for full length guards. Of course, you also have the option for the raceblade style or clip on mudguards, all depending on personal preference. Apart from some pure cyclocross bikes, most gravel bicycles will take full mudguards as one of the main uses we see for a gravel bike is as an all-weather commuter bicycle so mudguards are vital in the unpredictable British weather.
Benefits to fitting mudguards to a gravel bicycle
The benefits of fitting full length mudguards to a gravel bike are that they greatly reduce the road spray and muck that gets on your clothing and your bike. Full length guards also keep spray, muck and salt off of your gears and components resulting in less maintenance and cleaning.
The fitting of clip on guards or race blades will have a similar benefit but will not give you the full coverage of full length guards. The plus of the clip-on style is that they are easy to remove if you are going out on a dry day.Considerations to guards on a gravel bike
Depending on what you are using your gravel bike for will give rise to potential drawbacks to certain mudguards. Fitting a full mudguard to your gravel bike will reduce the potential maximum tyre width you can fit to the bike. If you are using your gravel bike off-road in muddy and wet conditions, you might have to allow for clearance to let the mud escape and not clog up as is common for full mudguards in muddy conditions.
If you are fitting raceblade or clip on guards to a gravel bike, it is best to do this when cycling on roads or light gravel as anything rougher and the guards will tend to bounce about a bit.Hybrid bikes mudguard options
With a hybrid bike, it is most common to fit full length mudguards for the protection of your clothing and bicycle but you absolutely can fit clip on guards if you are looking for a guard you can easily remove. We tend to see the vast majority of hybrid bikes leaving our stores with mudguards attached.
Benefits to fitting guards to a hybrid
Many of the above reasons apply here – the traditional full length mudguards will give the maximum protection to you and your bike’s frame and componentry. If you were to fit clip on mudguards, the benefit of these would be some protection to you and your clothes and they are easy to fit and remove from your bike. Of course, even if you prefer to cycle in the nice weather, living in Britain means a rain shower is only around the corner.Considerations of fitting mudguards to hybrid bikes
The only real considerations for most people is how mudguards affect the look of the bike – some prefer the clean look of a bicycle without mudguards. We suppose it is worth mentioning that you will be slightly less aerodynamic with mudguards fitted so you will be a little less efficient between A and B but the price of that is a nice line of dirt up your back.Mudguard Styles
As you have probably gathered from the above, there are a wide range of mudguards available depending on the bike you are riding, the type of riding you are doing and personal preference. Some mudguards will not be compatible with some bike types which we will detail here in the individual mudguard and above, the “compatible mudguard” section will tell you which ones will work with which bike style.Full length mudguards
Full length mudguards are designed to cover the majority of the bike wheel which results in the maximum coverage and the maximum protection for your clothing and your bike. Full length guards can be fitted to hybrid bikes, most gravel bikes and, now, some road bikes. Please note: there will still be a lot of road bikes that cannot accept full guards. Contact us if you are unsure.Giant Speedshield RGX Fender
SKS P-series Mudguards Wide Road
SKS Raceblade Pro Mudguards
SKS Speedrocker Mudguard Set
Mountain bike mudguards
The available mudguards for MTB’s are a little different to the full length mudguards above because of the design of MTB’s, particularly the suspension fork and, when it’s a full suspension MTB, the shock at the back. Depending on which mountain bike you are riding, will depend on which particular mudguard will suit your needs. Below are a few of the most popular MTB mudguards.RRP Proguard Rear Standard Mudguard
RRP Enduroguard Mudguard
Crud Racepac Mudguard Set
Other Mudguards
RRP Rearguard Road Mudguard
