Dan what about carbon wrap might be better than paint.
I think you may well be right, jags. I have reservations about the paint; it looks so bad when it chips and a lot of stones hit the mudguards. I am thinking about a toughened black vinyl, stretched and then heat-set in place. I'm looking into this further.
that front mudguard...when you hit the rough stuff especially on a rain sodden track will it give you grief with muck building up under it
Another good thought, and one that occurred to me as well, so I tested a lot in local mud during some recent rains. The 'guard clears the front tire by a bit "extra" as you can see from a sliver of daylight coming through between 'guard and tire in some of the earlier photos -- clearance is a generous 20mm minimum, with a bit more at the lower rear. Of course, when one is in heavy mud or clay like Il Padrone showed in his photos, any mudguards will clog, and this is why you sometimes see world tourists without mudguards -- they can't clog if they're not there! I agree, it will be a horrible mess if I run into wet playa; that stuff sticks like clay and builds up terribly. A lot of mass and weight can soon accumulate and the wheels lock right up, stopping all forward progress.
It is horses for courses here; I'm hoping for the desert conditions I'll encounter, all will be fine. There will be a lot of paved road-riding to get there, and if it rains, these longer 'guards will help a lot. One of my concerns is the crushed lava used to sand the roads and provide traction in winter snows. There's still buckets of the red stuff on all the shoulders of the mountain passes, and without 'guards, it will get thrown right on the chain, where it acts like grinding compound. It is a tough call, but I figured mudguards would be a good idea on this trip. If not...I may need to remove and carry them till I reach better conditions, just as Il Padrone Pete did.
Some years ago, I experimented and found good luck spraying the underside of my mudguards with PAM cooking spray, made with canola oil:
http://www.pamcookingspray.com/ It isn't suitable for all conditions, but can make a real difference when riding in the sort of thing that can build up. You wipe off the excess so it won't ran down and grease the tires and rim braking tracks. The accumulated goo just sort of sloughs off, rather than sticking. The PAM can make a terrible mess if one is careless when applying it and it needs to be reapplied from time to time, but surely can help, depending. I first used it to keep grass clippings from building up under the decks of lawnmowers. It worked better than products intended for that use, was less expensive, and didn't have the chemical concerns. I've also waxed the underside of the mudguards from time to time, and that worked surprisingly well at keeping the accumulation from sticking as much.
Dan please do a video of that whole set up
I will! I will have three video/video-capable cameras with me, so I should have some to show you. I plan to do a video walkaround of the bike as well. Just need to stretch those days!
Best,
Dan.
