Author Topic: Mudflaps - Leather or homemade? (Read 10310 times)

Mendips Marauder · « **on:** 12 November, 2015, 11:29:39 am »

?? I'm in the process of speccing a new steed and I'm considering buying leather mudflaps. Are there any major advantages over the traditional homemade bodges?
Thanks
MM

Ningishzidda · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 November, 2015, 11:51:32 am »

Car floor mat. Scissors, poprivets.

Chris N · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 November, 2015, 11:52:28 am »

Steed? Leather mudflaps.
Bike? DIY.

Ningishzidda · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 November, 2015, 12:32:54 pm »

Bike, - an assembled collection of metal, plastic and rubber components that a person rides from A to B.
Steed, – The older bloke in The Avengers who drives a 1920s Bentley, wore a bowler hat and carried a brolly with added trick armaments.

robgul · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 November, 2015, 12:49:36 pm »

I have a number of bikes with "Brooks lookalike" leather mudflaps - I made a template with the hard plastic cover of a notebook and then cut leather flaps out of an old music case I bought on ebay - bolting to the mudguards (using aeronuts) is better than pop-rivets with less chance of cracking the plastic.

Once they are wet I find that leather causes much less spray than the traditional Fairy Liquid bottle or car mat versions.

Rob

L CC · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 November, 2015, 01:12:34 pm »

A you a leather kind of guy/gal or a rubber kind of guy/gal?

Mr Smith & I are into Rubber.

velosam · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 November, 2015, 02:08:42 pm »

I would prefer rubber or even leather but being tight I just cut up some clear plastic binding sheets.

No rivets for me, just a single bolt and nut.

Otto · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 November, 2015, 02:42:20 pm »

I made my own leather ones for both my bikes that have guards.. it isn't difficult

Kim · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 November, 2015, 03:45:06 pm »

I'm a PTFE kind of gal. Wonder if that's any good for mudflaps?

Wobbly John · « **Reply #9 on:** 12 November, 2015, 07:35:41 pm »

Leather & homemade bodge in my case.

Via cutting out and etching on the work laser-cutter.

I haven't actually ridden that bike in the wet yet, so no idea how well they work.

andrew_s · « **Reply #10 on:** 12 November, 2015, 07:52:52 pm »

Homemade for me. I've yet to see any commercially made leather mudflaps that are anything like long enough.

I fail to see the point of short flaps,especially at the back.
Short ones like Wobbly's still leave any following rider getting a face full of spray, and an un-flapped full length rear mudguard is enough to keep spray off your own back. At the front anything is better than nothing, but a flap needs to get fairly close to the road to keep your feet from being sprayed. Bear in mind that water comes off the wheel in a tangential direction.

Ningishzidda · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 November, 2015, 10:33:05 am »

There's a DIY splash flap.

sojournermike · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 November, 2015, 06:06:12 pm »

I quite like the sky long rubber flaps that you either pop rivet or bolt to your guard. They're cheap and made of soft rubber. Bodging an old car floor mat is probably similar in effect.

Crumbling Nick · « **Reply #13 on:** 13 November, 2015, 08:36:43 pm »

You probably need to think about what you expect the mudflaps to do. Simplistically a front mudflap keeps you drier, & if it's long enough keeps some of the water & abrasives off your transmission. A rear mudflap is primarily to avoid spraying muck onto following riders. If it's long enough to work, then it'll hide the rear tyre well enough that you may well fail to notice that the tyre's worn out.

andrew_s · « **Reply #14 on:** 14 November, 2015, 08:12:23 pm »

Quote from: Crumbling Nick on 13 November, 2015, 08:36:43 pm

it'll hide the rear tyre well enough that you may well fail to notice that the tyre's worn out.

BTDTGTTS
First puncture for the tyre, and find fluffy patches all round. Fortunately the bike shop in Carterton was open.

Crumbling Nick · « **Reply #15 on:** 16 November, 2015, 01:47:12 am »

Quote from: andrew_s on 14 November, 2015, 08:12:23 pm

Quote from: Crumbling Nick on 13 November, 2015, 08:36:43 pm
it'll hide the rear tyre well enough that you may well fail to notice that the tyre's worn out.
BTDTGTTS
First puncture for the tyre, and find fluffy patches all round. Fortunately the bike shop in Carterton was open.

It's the sort of problem that utitility riders learn to live with. I suspect that Audaxing requires a bit more self-sufficiency than I needed to ride 20 miles home from a day's hedging.

Withal, it's a digression from the basic question: OP wants to fit mudflaps - why?

Mendips Marauder · « **Reply #16 on:** 16 November, 2015, 05:42:32 pm »

Because the bike will be a daily commuter. All year round. Aprox. 25 miles a day. Urban/Country route - Knowle/Portway/Bridge Valley/Kings Weston/Hallen/Over Lane/Aztec West. Want to minimise Belgian toothpaste build up on drive train from front wheel. Also want to show 'nuff respect' to fellow riders on the Sunday club run from my back wheel.

Thanks for all replies, haven't decided yet...probably homemade...
MM

Crumbling Nick · « **Reply #17 on:** 19 November, 2015, 01:58:38 pm »

I think it would be hard to find commercial flaps that are long enough to do a reasonable job, especially for the rear, unless you have unusally long mudguards. Also all that I've seen are a lot wider than necessary to catch the muck coming off the back tyre.

andrew_s · « **Reply #18 on:** 19 November, 2015, 03:12:06 pm »

All the commercial flaps I've seen in the UK are shaped and sized as a front flap, and some are actually big enough to be useful.
The only good commercial rear flaps I've seen have been in the US, from Buddy Flaps and Rainy Day Biking (it rains in Seattle, unlike much of the rest of the US).

zigzag · « **Reply #19 on:** 19 November, 2015, 09:35:23 pm »

these ass-saver type mudguards are made of plastic that looks suitable for mudflaps, they come in many different colors too.

Tigerrr · « **Reply #20 on:** 19 November, 2015, 09:44:06 pm »

Nothing like the smell of leather mudflaps.

Mike Conway · « **Reply #21 on:** 20 November, 2015, 12:52:40 am »

Quote from: zigzag on 19 November, 2015, 09:35:23 pm

these ass-saver type mudguards are made of plastic that looks suitable for mudflaps, they come in many different colors too.

I used one for a while in this way - worked well.

Somnolent · « **Reply #22 on:** 20 November, 2015, 06:24:18 pm »

They don't need to be as wide as the Brooks kind.
A strip cut from an old leather belt works well.

mattc · « **Reply #23 on:** 20 November, 2015, 08:17:09 pm »

Has anyone mentioned the damp course membrane stuff?

Super light, cheap, easily cut-up, flexible enough to avoid breakages. Looks terrible - but nowhere near as bad as cut-up bottles!

Fab Foodie · « **Reply #24 on:** 21 November, 2015, 01:01:34 am »

Quote from: Somnolent on 20 November, 2015, 06:24:18 pm

They don't need to be as wide as the Brooks kind.
A strip cut from an old leather belt works well.

.... almost seems to obvious to mention ....

Author Topic: Mudflaps - Leather or homemade? (Read 10310 times)

Chris N