The Two Bicycles of Varonha.

Please not bluemels.

What's the problem with Bluemels? Sure they're not the prettiest of mudguards, but they keep the spray and muck off my body and quite a lot of my bike when a set of flaps are added, and due to the way I have to store my bike, they are fairly flexible.

What's the problem with Bluemels?

They're for people who have no respect for themselves.

I had Bluemels for a while but I found they appart quite easily (although mine were very much bottom of the range). I'm a big advocate of metal mudguards.

Well I do have fairly low self-esteem.
For those self respecting types what is the go to mudguard?

Gilles Berthoud are the best - albeit a little boring - choice. Honjo if you can find and afford them.

Lovely frame and bike by the way. Some proper metal mudguards would really finish this off nicely.

I'd go for the hammered finish guards if they exist wide enough (but I don't think they do, hence assuming zeppelins)

Cheers, it was (for the most part) a joy to build up.
You've got me looking at metal mudguards now, not sure about polished, but VO do a 50mm snakeskin (polished) or 52mm zeppelin (polished or black), considering the snakeskins, maybe.
Honjos seem very difficult to get hold of, and I'm not paying the Sim Works money for black Honjos.

Snakeskin in 50mm, similar to hammered.

Honjos from freshtripe. But I'd get the VO snakeskin if 50mm is sufficiently wide.

Actually I'd go black guards, being afraid that polished would look a bit too much like an airstream caravan. It's A Vibe I suppose. Depends what you want.

The raw frame/polished guards does make me a little nervous, gonna have a proper measure up tomorrow, see if I can fit zeps.

For what it's worth I like the look but this is what came to mind.

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Just for illustration purposes, silver doesn't look out of place.....

I found some sks 50mm in black for £25, gonna give em a go to see how they fit, and if I have plenty of room will order metal guards for next winter, and put the sks mudguards on my dad's pottering around town bike.
My procrastinating was because I don't want to spend huge money on guards that won't fit, this way I only have to be slightly out of pocket and deal with forum abuse for a short period of time, more importantly I get a dry bum and a clean water bottle, which is essentially what mudguards are for.
I understand aesthetics are a key aspect, but practicality is more important to me.
Forgive me.

Forgiven :)

can I ask why koolstop pads vs swissstop in a standard shimano holder?

Ta, although I don't think you're part of the extreme faction of the metal mudguard brigade, some may be less forthcoming with their forgiveness.

You can ask.

Less glib answer, they were on sale when I bought my cables (half price, and put me just over £30 in total for free postage), so thought they'd be worth a try.

ah ok, I only used those with Paul racers but the 'bite' wasnt as sharp as swissstop in a holder

I had a set of Koolstop salmons in holders on the All City, they seemed to work pretty well, never actually tried Swissstop pads, which compound do you use for alu rims?

I use the BXP (Blue) one, they last long too.

This looks fantastic. Have you taken it for a mudguardless spin? Hope it was a delight.

FWIW re:guard colour. I reckon black guards with the black tyres. Silver guards would work better with tan walls though if you ever go that route.