All Mountain Style (AMS) Frame Guard Road & Gravel offers plentiful protection against stone chips and scuffs. It's really easy to apply, and looks great, though it's a bit expensive.
The Frame Guard is designed and made in Barcelona, and comes in 12 parts, giving you enough to cover off most areas of your gravel or road bike, including the down tube, fork or seatstays, top tube or seat tube, as well as areas where you might get cable rub or where a tight tyre might contact the frame.
The protectors are properly beefy at 200 microns thick, and with a neat honeycomb texture which AMS says offers high impact and rub resistance, though it's light at 22g in total. It also looks and feels a little bit special. For reference, the mountain bike version of the kit is almost twice as thick at 380 microns, with a subsequent slight weight penalty.
The style on test is Sterrato, though it also comes in various other monochrome designs, including Bikepacking and Coffee, as well as a clear option. AMS has loads of designs on its website, including some amazing colour options. It says the protectors are guaranteed not to yellow over time.
Though this kit is intended for gravel or road bikes, I actually applied it to my all terrain Bombtrack Beyond+ and covered all the aforementioned areas. It took about 30 minutes in total, including the time spent cleaning and prepping the frame with isopropyl alcohol.
Fitting the pre-cut protectors was surprisingly easy compared with other protector kits I've used, and ones I've made using 3M helicopter tape, the results of which have always looked a bit, well, rubbish.
In this case, I applied them using the usual technique of working from the middle section outwards, applying lots of pressure. I didn't use any special technique of spritzing soapy water underneath first, or using a hairdryer to help them conform.
There were no air bubbles, and the pieces conformed to any bends, bumps or curves without issue. The chainstay on my Bombtrack frame is particularly curvy, needing to accommodate a 3in tyre, and I was amazed how easily the Frame Guard just wrapped around the steel tube.
Though the gravel/road protector kit is thinner than the mountain bike version, it still feels substantial enough to me. I tackled the Black Mountain in the Brecon Beacons a few weeks back and encountered many miles of very rough off-road. The frame took a bit of a battering from loose rocks, and as well as dropping the bike several times, I also had to drag it through some particularly nasty and thorny brush. The areas that were protected look untouched, while the rest of the frame has picked up quite a few scratches.
Value
At £42 for the kit, it's definitely on the expensive side – more so than any we've featured before. The Exoguard Intelligent Bike Protection is £4 less, and easy to install, though the kit we tested is designed for road frames.
Effetto Mariposa doesn't seem to make the Shelter Off-Road pack that Matt tested for off-road.cc in 2021, but you can buy rolls of its tape starting from £26 for the 58mm x 1m, and a pre-cut kit for around the same price, but there's about half as much as you get with the AMS Frame Guard kit, so I'd say the reality is that it isn't much cheaper.
The most basic option is a roll of protective tape, such as the Viking 3M Polyurethane Protective Tape, which costs £21.36 for the 25mm x 3m size and should cover at least one whole bike.
Conclusion
If you do a lot of gravel riding or bikepacking, I'd highly recommend the AMS Frame Guard Road & Gravel. In fact, I'd say it's pretty much essential if you want to keep your paint in good condition. Yes, it's expensive, and I'm not sure how much more protection you get over a regular frame protector kit, but the ease of application is certainly worth it in my mind.
Verdict
Brilliant frame protection for bikes that take a licking, that's easy to apply
Make and model: All Mountain Style Frame Guard Gravel & Road
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
AMS says, "An evolution from our successful mtb honeycomb frame guards but with a new thinner and lighter material better suited for the specific protection needs of gravel and road bikes. Protects from cable rubbing, scratches and minor impacts, keeping your frame fresh and ready."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
AMS lists:
Impact and rub resistance micro-honeycomb 200 microns semi-rigid PVC.
Minimum weight (22 grams / 0.77 ounces).
Cool look&feel semi-matte material.
Easy to install.
Automotive-grade materials. Won't yellow over time. Guaranteed.
12 parts for a universal protection system: 1 big part for the downtube, 2 long arrows for the fork or the seat stays, 1 big part for the top tube or the seat tube, 8 arrow parts for cable rub protection and areas where tire fits tight with the frame.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
10/10
No marks or damage in high-traffic areas.
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
Rate the product for value:
5/10
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Easy to apply and offers substantial protection.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Easy to apply, without any issues.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
It's quite expensive – a slightly cheaper option is the Exoguard Intelligent Bike Protection, but it's not exactly an apples to apples comparison. The Effetto Mariposa Shelter Off-Road protection can be purchased for around £26, but only comes with about half the number of pieces, so it's not much of a saving. The only way to get cheaper protection, I believe, is by going the protective tape route – the Viking 3M Polyurethane Protective Tape 25mm x 3m is £21, and that will go quite far.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
Great protection, easy to apply and looks great. My Bombtrack is very happy!
Age: 39 Height: 6'4 Weight: 175lbs
I usually ride: Condor Italia RC custom build My best bike is:
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: A few times a week I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, mtb,
I don't know the area. Here I believe....
I loved Squirt when I had discovered it - it worked far better than any oil I used before. Since then, I have moved on to "Effetto Mariposa Flower...
More than happy seeing people being individuals, not being a team player and whinging publicly about being dropped is indeed unprofessional. Feel...
Maybe we've got them all wrong: maybe someone at the council thinks you can only take a bicycle across the road at a toucan crossing, regardless of...
Problem is Shimano will have deeper pockets than most LBS' so they will win.
A new Reform "contract" is out. I just thought it might be worth another visit as the Conservative Party seems to want to destroy itself. They're...
At least.
HEY! WHY YOU RUNNIN' WITH A HAMMER?
Those handlebars don't look particularly special....
Punishment is required. The Conservative and union party supported motorists so the motorists must now be punished....