Mudguards - this season's must have

Mudguards suddenly seem to be acceptable this winter. For many attaching mudguards to your prize race machine was tantamount to labelling yourself as an Audaxer but with the arrival of Crud 'Roadracers' I've even heard of Weight Weenies fixing up. I've just fitted mine and will road test them on tonight's chaingang. These fit closely to the wheel and are consequently fairly inobtrussive.I think Audaxers advocacy of the mudguard stems from an altruistic concern for not spraying fellow riders with road muck. For the Roadie it's more a concern for avoiding the mud stripe on the back of the Assos shorts.

VERDICT: Easy to fit (although which is front and which is back??). Does require a bit of fiddling to get the right fit but did the job - road spray on to me and to fellow club members cut right back. Sarcy comments from club members about mudguards were at a minimum.

I've also just bought a Topeak saddle bag to replace the Specialized wedgie. The Wedgies look better but the 'waterproofing' zips have failed on the two wedgies I've owned. That's no good.VERDICT: Good. Plenty of room and seems sturdy enough. The strap to attach round the saddle is not ideally positioned for my Specialized saddle however.Also new, some IXS arm and leg warmers to replace my road savaged Endura ones. These are a Large but out the packet they look tiny!

VERDICT: Not bad. Cosy and very snug. They're more functional than a fashion accessory having no stitching detail or bold logos. The leg warmers have dangly zips rather than a recessed ones which I'd prefer. They also don't have left and right arm/leg designs unlike Endura. Is this good or bad, I'm not sure! There's always that nagging doubt though - should I have just bought the Assos ones...