17 of the best mudguard-compatible carbon fibre road bikes

Do you want a carbon fibre road bike with mudguards? We’ve picked out 17 bikes that combine the performance of a carbon frameset with the practicality of mudguards.

• The combination of carbon fibre frame and mudguard-compatibility makes for true year-round performance bikes that’ll put a grin on your face whatever the weather

• The advent of disc brakes has enabled designers to combine high-performance materials with mudguards; it’s no longer necessary to try and squeeze guards under a rim brake caliper

• There’s a spectrum between bikes like the Cervelo C5 — very much an endurance race bike — and out-and-out gravel bikes like the Vitus Substance CRS-2. In between you’ll find versatile bikes like the Merida Mission Road 7000-E

• Check out our guide to disc-equipped aluminium bikes for a selection of cheaper rides that almost all take mudguards

17 of the best carbon fibre bikes that will take mudguards

• Merida Mission Road 7000-E — £3,600
• Orro Terra C 105 2020 —£2099.99
• Ribble Endurance SL Disc — from £2,199
• Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc — £2,799
• Vitus Substance CRS-2 2020 — £1,699.99
• Specialized Diverge — from £2,199
• Forme Monsal Rival — £2,600
• Orbea Terra 2020 — from £2,599
• Focus Paralane 9.8 2020 — £3,659
• Cervelo C-series 2020 — from £2,399
• Genesis Datum 2020 — £2,599.99
• Giant Defy Advanced 2020 — from £1,599
• GT Grade Carbon 2020 — from £1,499.00
• BMC Roadmachine 2020 — from £2,199
• Trek Domane 2020 — from £2,100
• Tifosi Cavazzo 2020 — from £1,839.99
• Whyte Wessex 2020 — £2,249

Your choices used to be very limited, but that’s changed in the last couple of years. A few years ago I wrote an article about mudguard-equipped carbon road bikes being The Next Big Thing. It didn’t happen quite as quickly as I expected but there is now a lot more choice if you really want a carbon fibre road bike that will take mudguards. Some of the world’s biggest bike brands — notably Giant and Trek — have something for you, as do many smaller companies.

Why might you want carbon fibre road bike that is compatible with mudguards? If you want the performance and weight benefits of carbon fibre for summer sportives, but don’t want to skimp on the practicality of mudguards for grinding through the winter weather, then you want a mudguard-equipped carbon road bike. Fit some mudguards for the winter, take them off for the summer.

>>Buyer’s guide: The best mudguards to keep you dry

One thing that’s helped manufacturers get on board with mudguard-compatible road bikes is the rise of disc brakes. To squeeze a mudguard between a tyre and a standard rim brake is tricky. The fork legs have to be slightly longer, or the seatstay brake bridge a little higher, and the brake pads lower in the caliper. It’s doable, but it means using up all the brake pad height adjustment. With disc brakes, it’s easy to make room for mudguards and fatter tyres.

There’s nothing to stop you fitting clip-on mudguards to a regular carbon road bike, but clearance can often be a problem, and they’re never as secure or reliable as proper full-length mudguards. Most of these bikes have hidden eyelets that accept proper mudguards and don’t ruin the smooth lines when no ‘guards are fitted.

The growth of adventure and gravel bikes is also having an impact because these bikes more than any other are really being designed for the demands of today’s cyclists. In many ways, adventure bikes are a modern update on the classic touring bike, with the benefits of bigger tyre clearance brought about by the disc brakes. These are bikes that are being pressed into service for weekend training bikes, sportive challenges, Audax, touring and even commuting.

>> The hottest disc-equipped road bikes

If you want a carbon road bike that can take mudguards, here are 14 options for you. Few of these bikes are pictured with mudguards because they’re an optional extra, but a set of mudguards is a relatively small cost and they’re easy to fit. A good bike shop will do that for you at the point of purchase.

Merida Mission Road 7000-E — £3,600

An endurance road bike with tha bility to take fat tyres for a bit of dirt road tomfoolery, the Merida Mission Road is quick and fun on Tarmac. It’s light, comfortable and very versatile, and of course it’ll take mudguards. And with guards fitted it still has room for 35mm tyres so you can point and laugh at just about any crummy road surface you encounter.

Read our review of the Merida Mission Road 7000-E
Find a Merida dealer

Orro Terra C 105 2020 —£2099.99

The new Orro Terra C 105 Hydro is a stable carbon bike that’s quick on the road, with the strength and confident handling required for heading on to gravel and other hard-packed trails with the appropriate tyres. Mudguard and rack mounts make this a versatile option that can cope with everything from commuting to adventure biking.

One of the most noticeable characteristics of the Orro Terra C 5800 Hydro is its stability, and that’s apparent whether you’re tackling uneven roads or negotiating busy traffic. I’ve been riding it a lot in both environments – for blasts out in the sticks and for commuting to the office – and it has a settled, confident feel with enough agility to handle more technical situations.

Read our review of the Orro Terra C 105
Find an Orro dealer

Ribble Endurance SL Disc — from £2,199

Ribble’s Endurance SL Disc is a bike that we’d happily ride and race all year round. It handles well, remains composed over broken tarmac, climbs quickly, and can hold its speed on the flat too. The customisable spec makes this an easy bike to get right for your riding aims and budget.

If there’s one development in road bikes over the last few years that’s made mudguard compatibility easier for manufacturers it’s disc brakes. Freed from the need to mount a brake just above the tyre, bike makers are able to provide space for both fatter tyres to better cope with the UK’s crumbling road surfaces and mudguards. Bikes like the Ribble Endurance SL Disc are our prediction that carbon bikes with mudguards would be a Big Thing finally coming true.

Read our review of the Ribble Endurance SL Disc

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc — £2,799

Boardman’s road bikes have been consistently good performers in road.cc tests over the years, and the SLR 9.6 Disc is no exception. It’s a really good bike that neatly toes the line between race and endurance, offering enough speed for the former while adding in plenty of versatility for the latter. If you ride quickly on tarmac and you want a bike to handle all your riding, it’s definitely one for the shortlist. Boardman has dropped the ‘Endurance’ tag, presumably to emphasise the fact that this is a quick bike that’s been aero-optimised, but it’s still a good choice for longer rides too.

The Di2 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes are superb in all conditions, and Boardman has sensibly added hidden mudguard mounts on both the frame and fork so you can winterise the SLR if you don’t want to swap to another bike when it gets cold and wet, or you just don’t have another bike.

Read our review of the Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc
Find a Boardman dealer

Vitus Substance CRS-2 2020 — £1,699.99

It’s a gravel bike, so of course the new Vitus Substance CRS-2 has room for mudguards, but there’s quite a lot more going on here too. The Substance CRS-2 comes with 650B wheels and 47mm tyres for bombing around on dirt roads, but it’ll take 700C wheels with skinnier rubber for Tarmac shenanigans. That’s a very welcome level of versatility that reminds us of swapping mountain bike wheels back in the 90s: skinny slicks for commuting, knobblies for playing at the weekend.

The Vitus Substance CRS-2 has Shimano’s GRX 2×11 groupset with a wide gear range and hydraulic disc brakes.

Specialized Diverge — from £2,199

Specialized characterises the Diverge as a gravel bike, but fit smoother, skinnier tyres than the stock rubber and it’s an extremely capable road bike too. There’s plenty of room for mudguards and if you want to switch between weekday Tarmac and weekend dirt, it’ll take 700C wheels with 42mm tyres and 650B wheels with 47mm tyres.

The Diverge has never failed to impress. When he reviewed the 2017 Diverge Comp Carbon, Jo Burt loved it so much we thought he was going to marry it. David Arthur called the uber-expensive S-Works edition of the current iteration “one of the best adventure bikes I’ve ridden … a sophisticated ride with buckets of capability for going fast and tackling big journeys over varied and challenging terrain … a comfortable, long-distance cruising bike on the road, with fantastic poise and cornering ability”.

Find a Specialized dealer

Forme Monsal Rival — £2,600

The Monsal from Forme Bikes is one of the new breed of bikes designed to take on a multitude of riding on a variety of terrain. There is obviously the old ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ risk, but the Monsal won’t let you down, it’s fun to ride pretty much everywhere and it excels away from the tarmac.

On the road, the Monsal has a sort of mild-mannered ride thanks to a high level of neutrality in the handling. That doesn’t mean it’s dull – far from it. You can still point this thing downhill and have a blast through the bends with its long wheelbase aiding stability.

Read our review of the Forme Monsal Rival
Find a Forme dealer

Orbea Terra 2020 — from £2,599

The gravel and adventure trend is ripping through the cycling industry at a rapid rate, and even the most race-focused bike brands aren’t immune to its appeal. Orbea has stepped into the ring with its Terra and produced a blisteringly fast and highly capable multi-terrain bike that is as fit for an adventure as it is for commuting and winter training with the addition of mudguards.

First and last impressions are: it’s bloomin’ fast! With a stiff and responsive carbon frameset, the Terra is one of the flightiest gravel and adventure bikes I’ve tested. The low weight and high stiffness help, giving it almost road race bike-like responses on the road, yet it’s stable and controlled on rough and loose surfaces.

Read our review of the Orbea Terra M21-D 19

Focus Paralane 9.8 2020 — £3,659

The Focus Paralane offers a fast and comfortable ride with a healthy dose of practicality and versatility. It’s crammed with all the latest technology and a host of interesting details, but what really matters here is that they all come together to form a very cohesive package that provides near class-leading performance. It’s not a gravel bike, but with space for up to 35mm tyres it’s can still handle a bit of the rough stuff.

On the road, the lightweight frame with its comfort-enhancing carbon layup and tube profiles, along with the skinny seatpost and 28mm tyres, provides a smooth ride that is up there with the best in this category. It isolates you from the worst road buzz but without completely detaching you from the road surface passing beneath the tyres. It’s a really nice balance and rewards the cyclist that wants some involvement in the ride but without being shaken to pieces.

Read our review of the Focus Paralane Ultegra
Find a Focus dealer

Cervelo C-series 2020 — from £2,399

The Cervelo C3 and its super-light big brother the C5 were the first ever Cervelos with mudguard mounts. Those mounts are fitted to full carbon fibre frames with space for up to 32mm tyres. They’re packed with the latest technology such as flat mount disc tabs and bolt-thru axles front and rear, and they’re light, at a claimed 850g for the C5. Cervelo says the C-series bikes are more endurance than gravel, but it’s clear they could lay a foot in each camp quite easily, dependent on tyre choice. They’re not cheap, though, with the base model C3 with Shimano 105 at £2,399 and the Dura-Ace Di2 C5 running at £7,499.

Read our review of the Cervélo C5 Dura-Ace Disc

Find a Cervelo dealer.

Genesis Datum 2020 — £2,599.99

The Genesis Datum bagged the road.cc Sportive Bike of the Year 2015/16 award. It’s a bike that straddles the fine line between an endurance bike and a gravel/adventure bike, with details that trace their way back to a cyclocross bike, particularly the tall fork with its huge tyre clearance. There’s space for properly wide tyres – 33mm will go in a treat – and even with proper full-length mudguards fitted there is space for 30mm tyres. If you want your cake and be able to eat it, this could be the one for you.

Read our review of the Genesis Datum 30
Find a Genesis dealer

Giant Defy Advanced 2020 — from £1,599

In 2017 Giant went all-carbon and all-disc for its Defy endurance bikes; the aluminium-framed models were renamed Contend. The 2019 range starts with the Defy Advanced 3 for £1,599, and goes right up to the luxury option, the Defy Advanced Pro 0 with SRAM Red AXS at £7,499.

Read our review of the Giant Defy Advanced 3
Find a Giant dealer

GT Grade Carbon 2020 — from £1,499.00

Now if you want a bike with disc brakes, massive tyre clearance and a carbon fibre frame, the gravel/adventure category is the place to look. GT’s Grade came along just as the style of bike was spreading from its birthplace in the US to the UK, and it’s a bike that is well suited to British roads and cyclists. And of course, the frame has mounts for mudguards and, depending on the exact choice of tyre, can be modified to suit your requirements, whether it’s weekend club training rides or the daily commuting.

Read our review of the GT Grade Alloy Tiagra
​Find a GT dealer

BMC Roadmachine 2020 — from £2,199

The BMC Roadmachine is an endurance road bike that offers some aerodynamic aids for the cyclist that wants a sporty ride. It’s only available with disc brakes and uses 12mm thru-axles, and the top version gets a nifty integrated stem and handlebar to keep all the cables tucked away. There’s space for up to 30mm tyres on the carbon version, 32mm on the aluminium frame, and mudguard mounts on the Roadmachine 02 and 03 models – the top-end model does without them.

However, take a look at the comments. From our reader shutuplegz’ experience, actually persuading mudguards to fit to a Roadmachine seems to be a job best assigned to a mechanic.

Find a BMC dealer

Trek Domane 2020 — from £2,100

Trek tucks away the mudguard mounts on its Domane endurance bikes so you hardly notice them, but they’re waiting unobtrusively until you need them. The cheapest model in the range, the Domane SL5 above, has the signature IsoSpeed decoupler in the frame with rim brakes. If you want discs, your carbon-framed starting point is the £2,350 Domane SL 5 Disc.

Find a Trek dealer

Tifosi Cavazzo 2020 — from £1,839.99

The latest version of Tifosi’s do-everything Cavazzo now has space in the frame for 45mm tyres, or even fatter 650B rubber, and is available in a ‘commuter’ build with mudguards. It’s tapping into the gravel/adventure popularity and the promotional spiel talks about it being a “multi-terrain carbon adventure road bike”. The bike has discreet mudguard mounts, maintaining the clean lines when they’re not fitted.

Read our review of the Tifosi Cavazzo
Find a Tifosi dealer

Whyte Wessex 2020 — £2,249

British brand Whyte has a good handle on the demands of the British cyclist. The Wessex is a lightweight carbon fibre road bike, with disc brakes and eyelets for mudguards. And with Shimano’s hydraulic disc brakes, 25mm tyres and sub-9kg weight, it’s a bike that combines comfort, control and performance in one very smart package. Here’s a bike you could commute to work on during the week, and tackle a hilly sportive at the weekend. Whyte has designed its own mudguards which integrate seamlessly with the frame and fork and cost just £30.

Read our review of the Whyte Wessex
Find a Whyte dealer

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