Crud Road Racer 2 Mudguards....review

Its been a wet winter, most of the rides this year have been through small rivers running down the sides of the road, even if its not actually raining I have been getting a good soaking with the road spray, and I am pretty sure the fizzy spray mist like stuff gets breathed in .
One of my bikes has a set of sks race blades on 'long term attched' using cable ties. so swapping them over hasn't been easy. But now that the racing season is over its back to base riding. and this time of year that mans commuting and lunchtime riding on my track bike with its little Ass Saver guard.

such tight clearances and no eyelets means regular guards are no chance.. so i started looking around for whats available.
First choice was the long version of the sks race blades. while they would fit I was put off by the relatively high price ( £41) and the rear guard doesn't come all the way around behind the chainset towards teh chain stays.
Next along was another pair of the shorter Race Blades.. they have been pretty damn good on my Lemond, but I want a full length solution.
So these then:

Relatively cheap ( I got mine for £21 from an Ebay shop)
They look pretty good and sit close to the wheel
They can be easily removed (?)
They cover the back of the chainset area.

 So they ticked the boxes really..




They arrived pretty quickly and on opening the all bits were in a few plastic bags. a selection of short ends were a bit weird, but no issues. No tools needed as all the bolts are Nylon thumbscrews. (hopefully wont rattle loose)
the instructions are a bit vague, but easily enough..and it took less than 20 minutes to fit front and rear. That was including a blunder where I used long screws for fitting the mudguard ends together ( small flush screws are supplied)
The cool bit is these tiny brushes that stick on the inside of the guard near the rim. Their purpose is to hopefully to fend of an approaching wheel and keep the guards sort of centred.
Fitted , tightened and a quick test run up and down the lane. The result is that they look pretty tight, especially the front under the brake bridge. ( I am running 25mm Contis)
Its been 2 weeks. and I am pretty pleased with them.. they do rub a bit out of the saddle, but with such tight clearance I cant really complain. the spray up the inside of them makes a similar rubbing sound that takes a bit of getting used to.
Nothing has loosened yet, but I did have a thought about wheel removal on my rear facing dropouts .. may be a bit tricky but i will deal with that when it happens.
How they hold up to a bit more of my abuse remains to be seen. ( I may have to hold off the gravel tracks a bit of light single track) The stays seem strong but the guard material looks like a decent twig of stick or stone will shatter it ( maybe that intentional.)
They only have to last a few weeks. This time of year its all on my track bike , fixed gear riding to get the most out of my meagre riding opportunities. once I move onto the road bike I can see them going in the cupboard until next winter.
So far so good.

January Stats

Pretty crap really.. My 13 months without a cold, well and truly caught up with me, with two colds giving me a hard time this month.
New year riding seems so long ago, but the last Wessex league at Fairthorne was a fantastic race.
Ten days rest under the thin guise as a seasonal end of season break followed that, a tiny blip where I started a bit of base work. Then a second much heavier cold came steam  rollering in and kicked any hope of  a good base in January. Its February now and I am still blowing bizarre coloured snot out in copious quantities.. A week of Roller racing in Chester was meant to be a mini training camp . 3.30 finish , only 20 miles from the welsh border .. a great opportunity..But snot , weather, hotel beds and 500+ kids racing put paid to any hope so I let it go.. February is going to be a Ctrl+Alt+Del of 2014... reboot and try starting base work again.
Just take a look how quick CTL plummets if you do nothing.
I did have a few good runs in between bouts of sickness though.

For what its worth here are the stats
233 miles
3 runs ( including a new PB on my regular loop @6:37)
38 hours
Lets see how February goes.

Blingy Stuff

I am not a blingy type of person. I like functional tough stuff, prefering quality and function well over form, but when a candy skull stem cap popped up in my Tumblr feed, I just immediately knew that my bike was missing one.

Your bike is such a personal thing, why not treat it.

So that's where Kapz comes in.. A fresh easy to use website, run by Khush Jabble. 

Offering custom etched stem caps at a very reasonable price ( £19.99), Kapz offers a subtle personalised tweak for everyday riders wanting something a wee bit special for their bike.

I emailed Khush some pics and within minutes I had the proof back. He gently advised me against my 'tweaks' and was very responsive and helpful through design and ordering.

The Stem capo arrived a few days later...And I must say I am very pleased how it turned out. I have installed it on my BLB track bike, and with an all stealth black look it is a very subtle addition. The anodised bolt was included which has saved a load of hassle trying to source one independently.

A big Ten out of  Ten.. Helpful, fast dispatch and a great product. . Go take a look and see what you can come up with...