Valvert mudguards front
The clock has well and truly struck mudguard o'clock now, and there's plenty to choose from out there. Vavert is a brand you may not of heard of; they're fairly new to the game and their product range revolves around accessories that you can colour code to your bike. As such, the Fixed mudguard comes in five colours. Whichever you pick, you can be assured it'll do a good job at a low price.
I had a set of the brown ones, which were a decent enough match with my Charge Spoon saddle and Brooks leather bar tape. There's two widths, of which we had the 35mm version suitable for tyres up to 28mm. There's a wider 45mm version too. They're plastic construction with metal fittings, and you get a rubber spray flap at the rear (and rubber end cap at the front) and a rear reflector thrown into the bargain. If brown's not your thing you can have black (with blue or lime green piping), white (red piping) or silver. I like brown though. There, I've said it.
Fitting the Vaverts is easy enough; you don't get fancy-dan quick releases at the front or the miniature fixing bolts of SKS but the Nyloc nuts do the job just fine and it's a simple job to get the 'guards on. A pair of bolt croppers is handy for cutting the stays to size, and there are rubber covers for the sharp ends.
In use they're solid and dependable. The guard itself is plenty strong enough that it doesn't bend or rattle across the rougher surfaces, and the solid stays keep them from rubbing and they're simple to adjust. It's pretty easy to get them close enough to the wheel and they're long enough to to cut out just about all the road spray. Your winter-riding friends will appreciate the extra length of the mudflap on the rear too, when they're sucking your wheel.
Verdict
Nicely made 'guards that come in a range of colours and sizes.
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road.cc test report
Make and model: Vavert Fixed Mudguard
Size tested: n/a
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Polycarbonate mudguards - lightweight, flexible and incredibly impact resistant.
Mud flap provides additional splash guarding
Stylish reflector
Available in 5 colours to suit all tastes
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
No problems here, a good quality set of mudguards.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Easy to fit, good looking.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Pity there's no room in the budget for a QR front fitting.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Yes.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.
About the tester
Age: 40 Height: 190cm Weight: 102kg
I usually ride: whatever I'm testing... My best bike is: Genesis Equilibrium with SRAM Apex
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track
Dave is a founding father of road.cc and responsible for kicking the server when it breaks. In a previous life he was a graphic designer but he's also a three-time Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling world champion, and remains unbeaten through the bog. Dave rides all sorts of bikes but tends to prefer metal ones. He's getting old is why.
7 comments
(I've cut the stays down since those pics
)
front guard looks a bit short at the back - surely going to see a lot of surface water spraying straight onto your shoes?
That's because its mounted at front of the fork. Mine is further back as its not a recessed allen bolt.
The reflector is at an odd angle but it works. Plastic clip snaps onto mudguard that attaches at rear brake bridge,no bending of metal required.
it could bear being longer at the front. but my experience is that the length of the mudguard doesn't affect spray from the road surface onto your shoes that much, as that water's getting thrown up from the contact patch, not spun round the wheel. a nice wide flap can be a help though
Seriously? QRs are not for convenience, they are a pretty important safety feature for the front mudguard. You can do some nasty damage if you get something jammed and the front wheel locks up. I really wouldn't risk bolting guards directly to the forks like that.
I have these in 35mm and silver which is quite dark and matches a Ti bike nicely. I've been really pleased with them. I used a 'problem solver' nut to get the front one mounted correctly on my carbon fork. Not tried 28mm tyres - think they'd be quite tight. Good for 25mm though. In 20+ years of London commuting which includes long tow path sections I've never had an incident where I wished I'd had QRs on the front.