Talbot Fixed Tourer

One of the bolts came undone suddenly on a very bumpy section while touring which probably weakened it, then the sections of cobbles during the london classic finished it off.

Perhaps plastic mudguards would be better for you?

lol

Wider rims and lower tyre pressure on cobbles?

Can't help thinking that your plastic fork was a bad idea, remind me what the point of that was?

How'd you get on with your attractively retrogressive gear setup? I always thought it sounded wonderfully nutty. When you were getting oily at the bottom of a hill somewhere, did it just seem a bit too nuts?

I'm all for plastic mudguards though.

Sven;

I got white SKS. Nothing ever makes me think I want better mudguards than that.

There are better mudguard than that, and actually stop you from getting wet.

Yeah, so you keep saying. But they're white. Deal with it. H8ers gonna h8.

You could get a decent pair of mudguards powder coated Skully?

The point was a light tapered fork with mounts. This may end up being a bad idea but I can always get a steel fork made down the line.

The majority of time you'll be riding it without front pannier anyway (apart from touring of course).

Seems a lot of big talk in here tonight, am I missing something or did dammits "decent" mudguards on the time machine fail, and laners decent guards here have failed... And yet rattly, ineffective SKS soldier on, year on year... Wet feet, dry arse, full wallet.

His mudguard fail because of fork modification not standing up well.

Laner, well, no idea, could be installation error.

ineffective SKS does soldier on, you can bend it 120 degrees and it'll still spring back.

Mudguards on the Time Machine are fine, nothing wrong with them. The mount/eyelet on the left hand fork leg however is held on with a zip tie at the moment.

Not like it's worth perpetuating, but: why are sks so disliked?

I don't dislike them, I've used them - I think I have a couple of pairs in the garage.

They are cheap and fairly robust.

However, they are really good at ruining any good looks a bike might have had before being afflicted with them, especially in "soon to be grey" white.

I admit I like my bikes to be aesthetically pleasing, therefore SKS can GTFO.

:(

Not like it's worth perpetuating, but: why are sks so disliked?

On top of what Dammit said, they're also heavy and quite ineffective despite covering your wheels.

Water still spray out from the side due to no channel on either end of the mudguard;

The stay also allow water to spray out onto your feet;

They're also too short (with the exception of the Longboard which provide long enough coverage to keep your feet and drivetrain clean, also keep your friend behind and in front of you free from water splatter).

The other problem is that it doesn't extend beyond the chainstay thus result in a dirty chain.

The only main advantage of the SKS is that they're cheap, easy to fit and disposable.

easy to fit

That's debatable... Always found the stay attachments a nightmare, especially when you fit them then have to remove, trim, cover and then refit them, all while not springing the little bolts off half way across the room...

I think it definitely depends on the size and model. I have some bluemels in 65.. They've kept me dry in some ridiculous weather (although the bike isn't particularly clean), and they're way lighter and more durable than the VO's I tried and sent back.

I think the solution is to either do light touring in dry weather or HTFU.

It usually does, I I found the Bluemels slightly more flexible than the Chromoplastic, making it a little tricker to try and get it to stay in shape (35mm).

Booooooooooooooooorrrrrrriiiiiinnnnggg........

@laner - your bike is awesome. Hope it gets fixed soon!

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