Sendhit Nock V3 MTB Handguards

Sendhit’s Nock handguards have been a story of consistent refinement. Now in their third generation, the brand has brought greater strength to its handguards and better deflection management. Although there are some compromises, the Sendhit Nock V3s remain a handguard force to be reckoned with.

Sendhit Nock V3 handguards -Technical details

Sendhit’s Nock V3 handguards mark something of a change from the brand, as they feature a primary focus on strength, rather than all-out adjustability, as we’ve seen on prior guards from the brand. As such, the bracket is shaped with fewer angles, and there’s significantly less adjustment, all in a bid to reduce breakage opportunities.

Available in three colours, black, grey and silver, the brackets are constructed of forged and CNC-machined aluminium, whereas the guards themselves are built of impact-resistant polypropylene.

What’s interesting here is that the shape of the guards has been carefully sculpted to encourage them to deflect towards the hand upon impact, so they can do their job. Then, a high-absorption impact foam pad, as always from Sendhit, has been added to soften the blow.

New for the handguards is the ability to mount them directly onto grips. It’s not compatible with all grips, but Sendhit has a list of grips they will work with over on its website. Even then, I’ve found grips not listed that work rather well.

With that, the mounting system has changed quite a bit. Now, it uses a dual screw system to clamp onto the grips, or directly to the bar when using special inserts. 

Last up, the handguards are supplied with 400-micron-thick decals for a touch of extra protection to the handguards, that is. Oh, and if you have a set of Nock V2s, the componentry found here is backwards compatible, so you can upgrade your previous gen handguards with some new kit.

Sendhit Nock V3 handguards – Performance

This isn’t the first time I’ve written this review. During my initial test, I came up against a few problems, the most serious being how easy it was to strip the threads on the mounting brackets. But having had a chat with Sendhit, I was told that there was a revision to these threads, so they’re now deeper, and they use longer bolts.

As a result, the handguards’ mounting interface is a lot more reliable. Before the change, the thread would strip before I reached the tiny torque rating of 2.5Nm, but now I’ve swapped them from bike to bike, and grip to grip, with absolutely no issues. I’ve even given up using a torque wrench; these threads are just that much stronger.

Speaking of strength, that’s what these handguards are all about, but it does bring a couple of compromises. But to keep with the good stuff for a second, there’s absolutely no shifting them. After crashes, the guard has stayed exactly where it should be, and with bolts tight enough, it doesn’t rotate around the bar.

As mentioned before, Sendhit has built the guard itself with varying thicknesses of plastic and a special design that’s shaped to guide its deflection in the right direction. So, when glancing trees, the guard bends into your hand, as it should. 

The third iteration of the Nock handguards uses a different mounting interface, which means that they can be mounted in place of a grip’s lockring, which, in my book, is awesome. It simply makes for a tidier cockpit. However, where the clamp… clamps, it is fairly bulky, so with some shifter and dropper remote setups, it can get in the way of their function a little. For example, I’ve been running Shimano’s latest Deore shifter, but I’m not able to use the two-way release, so I can’t pull on the lever to get into harder gears; I can only push on it. Though, for me, it’s a minor sacrifice, as the shifter can still do its job. I’ve also had to be careful with the placement of any SRAM Pod shifters, but I’ve always been able to find a comfortable happy place with them.

But what’s very clear is the improvement in build quality. Now, the handguards look a lot more purposeful, strong, and sleek. There are much fewer points for potential failure, too. All positive, here.

Now, while it’s great to see that these can mount directly onto a grip, it doesn’t work well with all grips. Namely, those are the grips that use an asymmetric tread pattern. Sendhit does have a compatibility list on its website, but because there’s no adjustment in the guard’s rotation on the bar, how you rotate your grip on the bar before clamping is the adjustment in the rotation. As such, I’ve had to compromise the position of my WTB Wavelength grips to a not-ideal rotation, and that grip’s on the compatibility list.

However, I have been surprised by the grips it does work with. For example. My SQlab 70X 2.0 Pro grips work perfectly, despite their more intricate and position-sensitive design. They also match the Cast Yum Yum grips I’ve been running more recently. 

But if you’re using grips that don’t work in a way that you would like with the Nock V3s, they can be mounted directly onto a bar thanks to an insert that sits between the guard’s mount and the bar. You’ll just lose some coverage.

For a good while now, Sendhit’s handguards have quelled some of the stigma that they faced once they started popping up on the enduro scene, because they’re rather good-looking. But the third-generation guards are the most attractive on the market, without a doubt. While competitors may be built more for functionality, Sendhit has managed to deliver better performance than others, in a package that looks even better than before, albeit with less adjustment.

Sendhit Nock V3 handguards – Verdict

Coming in at £60 a pair, the Nock V3s are a little spendier than others on the market, depending on the mount you choose. Take Crankbrothers’ Guardian handguards, for example. These get the adjustments that Nock has chosen to forgo, and in their integrated version, they offer rotation adjustment. However, these are fully built of plastic, so they’re bendier, they’re larger, and they’re just not as sturdy. Plus, their mounts aren’t interchangeable, so buy the universal mount if you want to mount directly to the bar for £50, or go for the integrated mount for £60. There’s no changing around here. There’s also no foam padding, which is a real draw of the Nock V3.

There are also Lewis’s Handguards, which will set you back £45. These don’t get any adjustment either, nor do they get an integrated mounting option. Interestingly, their brackets feature more angles, which Nock has decided to steer clear of in pursuit of durability. 

The Sendhit Nock V3 handguards are as set-and-forget as it gets. Although they’re not without some compromises, they’ve coped with everything I’ve put them through and are certainly living to tell many more tales. Though it would be nice to see some kind of rotational adjustment, which would open them up to use with a greater range of grips without compromise.