Just about every pair of jeans I own has some faint chain tattoo on the right leg.

Seems to me that if you are going to be using your bike for transportation, a chainguard would be a "must have".

Yet... chainguards aren't that common on bicycles.

It's yet another retrofit item for cyclists, along with fenders, lights, racks, etc. You'd think the bicycle industry would figure this out.

I don't much care for chainguards, even though I never had one.

For me the main worry is getting the pants cuff caught in the chainwheel. Very quick and effective way to go down.

I use a reflective ankle strap with a velcro closure. On the rare occasions I've not had an ankle strap with me, I just rolled up my right pants leg. I tried cuff clips once and didn't like them.

A chain guard was a big deal for me when I picked out my bike. Conventional wisdom is you get better gear if you buy separately, but with a chain guard or hub generator you really are much better off picking out a bike that has what you need. Fenders tend to be cheaper if you can get them with the bike too.

We're finally going to spring for my partner's new bike... and it will have a chain guard and fenders stock. We can't get a generator hub stock on the model that fits best, but it was *really* worth waiting and hunting for the right frame. It won't have a rack either, but he uses my "old" Jandd Expedition anyway, so that isn't a big deal. (and realistically, I can't convince him to budget for a generator hub right now... he wants one, but not enough to insist on it for his daily ride. he still thinks of himself as "not a cyclist", and has a reflexive feeling that spending money on his bike is wasted.)

I've not had any serious scares with clothing being caught in a chain. My partner has, and won't commute without bands to keep his pants out of the chain. It's just one more thing to keep track of. The part that makes a chain guard a must in my eyes is cleaning the drivetrain tho. His bike needs a cleaning about once a month at this point. Mine has had perhaps as many as 3 cleanings over the last two years. We don't ride in particularly dirty conditions, and I use his commute route for a lot of errands, so the difference is pretty much solely the chain guard.

The first bike I bought when I decided to go car light had a chain guard
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/lifestyle/941/28459/?collections_id=2
Most comfortable bike I have ever had but a bit slow and heavy. I have a friend who wanted to get his wife back into cycling and she simply can’t put any weight on her wrists so I let her try the Revive and she loved it. Giant doesn’t make the revive any more so seeing the smile on her face at being able to ride again made me sell it to them.

See the thread on Dutch bikes. The bike industry has figured out that they can make more money selling you a relatively inexpensive bike with a bunch of add-ons than a complete, more expensive one.

PS. Chain guards are good.

All but 3 of my 8+ bikes have chain guards. ALL of them have fenders, most have generator powered lights. The only ones without chain guards are the ones with the multiple chain rings. The Europeans have some derailleur equipped bikes with chain guards but they don't make it to the US very often.

Interestingly enough I do use a leg band on occasion, but usually on my left leg for visibility in traffic. I use a Planet Bike BRT Strap, it uses the CR2032 battery but lasts a good long time when I remember to turn it off.

Aaron

Full coverage chaincase for my city bike.
Pros: No pant stains. Chain/sprockets last for ages. Chain lube 1X per year on outside-parked bike.
Cons: Does not look race.

Pants in the socks for me. I once had a chain guard, but it got smashed when I started riding off-road, and I've never bothered getting one since. Although the full coverage one would be nice for really grimy roads.

I use rubberbands instead of fancy ankle straps.

"Just cuff 'em up and go!!" as my son said when impatiently waiting for us to start a ride.

Not I. And these bash/chain guards are a lot cheaper than Spot, Salsa, etc.

I bought a roll of cheap two-sided velcro. I'm thinking about getting a chainguard of some kind, though.

Even a good bash guard would help me. I get tore pants or tattooed even while wearing cycling pants. Luckily most of these are already black so you don't notice the grime.

And I guess I can't blame them either. I'm guessing they need every trick in the book to stay afloat and probably not many will want to spring for the full kit... fenders, chain guard, racks, lights. Plus add-ons usually have a higher mark-up.

I was thinking about these from Velo Orange.

I'm not one for chain guards, but that looks clean. Especially the way it mounts.

I'm all about practicality. Chain guards, kickstands, and wald baskets.

Yes it does seem practical. Often for me, the issue is not wanting to spend more time tracking down bling for the bike. However, after messing up a couple of good pairs of jeans, I figure I need to do something.

The two guards pictured above seem suitable only for single chainrings. I have a triple but almost never use my large chainring except to snag my pants and shoelaces. I saw a "how to" on grinding the teeth off the big chainring to make it a bash guard. I don't want a solution quite that irrevocable. I have been mulling on some sort of soft tubing that could be pressed onto the teeth to make it snag free but would be easy to remove if I wanted to join a paceline or some such.

SKS makes a couple chainguards that have gaps to accommodate derailleurs. I think their large size is meant for a 48t front ring, though, so 50t and bigger won't fit.

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried something last night. Electric tape folded over the teeth, four inch strips going all around after cleaning with alcohol first. So far so good.

Here in the UK, almost all of the commuter bikes have chainguards. Just another reminder of the "specialists / sporting" status bikes have in the US. But full chainguards work with a single chainring, front and back, and internal hub gearing, which is an unusual setup in the states, so already that option is off the table. SKS are the only ones to accommodate front derailleurs.

I have three bikes with chaingaurds for when I have to be "dressy" (2 singles and a 3 speed) or for "cruising"

Only one of my present bicycles have a chainguard. I use a "pants clip" to protect my pants from getting marked or even damaged by the chain. Far more importantly, my pants clips prevent my pants from being "sucked" into the chain and causing a accident. I sew my own pants clips:

Chainguards get to be a problem if you have a triple crank. Love my reflective velcro leg bands.