When it gets wet out, your bike’s tyres will collect mud and fling it over the front and back of your body and into your face. While the former is pretty harmless, aside from requiring a good wash, getting mud into your eyes isn’t just super uncomfortable, but it can get pretty dangerous. To keep crud away, you’re going to need some good mudguards, so here are the best we’ve tested to make buying your next easy.
At first, buying a mudguard can seem pretty straightforward, and really, it is, but they come in a large range of sizes, fitments, styles, and constructions. Most are able to be bought separately, which is great if you’re looking to spend your cash wisely while benefiting from protection in certain areas, though others can be bought at front and rear packs, offering all of the coverage with a single spend.
But before you commit your hard-earned cash, consider the size of the mudguard you’re after. Larger mudguards provide more coverage, but they may not be as stable, and some might not appreciate the aesthetic. Smaller mudguards are less intrusive to your bike’s looks, so you might consider using them year-round, and as there’s less material hanging off your bike, they’ll be more stable. However, they don’t provide such complete coverage. The same goes for rear mudguards, where large products are built for maximum coverage, whereas smaller alternatives may merely be built to protect your full-suspension mountain bike’s linkage bearings.
As technology advances and brands introduce more integration with their suspension forks, so too do the fitment options grow. Mudguards can be fixed to your bike in three ways: using cable ties, hook-and-loop straps, or front mudguards can be bolted directly to your fork. Cable ties are great because they’re very secure, but they’re more permanent, and if you’re fussed about using more single-use plastics, they may not be for you. That’s where hook and loop straps come in. They’re reusable and easier to remove. Plus, they won’t scratch your bike’s paint as easily. Bolt-on mudguards integrate seamlessly with your fork’s arch by bolting into it. While these are often very stable and good-looking, the interfaces that join the mudguard to your fork are specific to that fork, so if you’re swapping one mudguard from bike to bike, you might be better off buying multiple mudguards.
