All-plastic construction and tool-free fitting has made the 180g Roadracers wildly popular since their introduction at the end of 2009. Rubber rings at the seatstays and zip-ties around your brake bolts and seat tube hold them in place, and the clever brushes inside the stays keep them off your tyres.
Roadracers need patience to fit. At least 4mm of space between tyre and brake is essential. A video on the Crud website is packed with hints and tips – we’ve found the key is to rotate them around the seatstays and fork to pull them into place. Sometimes they just won’t fit, especially if you have very little clearance and want to use 25mm tyres.
The super-long rear extension and front derailleur shield do a great job of keeping spray off your chain and feet and riders behind you. Front coverage is good too, though we’d like an end piece that flares like the rear one to minimise spray. One issue: the rear is so long it hits the ground if you pop the bike up on the rear wheel.
The most significant weakness of Roadracers is that the ‘releasable’ zip-ties around the brake bolts always need cutting to get them off. That done, you can take the guard off the seatstay mounts for a sunny day.
This article was originally published in Cycling Plus magazine.