Neoprene mudguard - advice needed

Miggins

Having read countless glowing reviews on the RapidRacerProducts NeoGuard mudguard ( http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... uard-29556 ), I'm pretty convinced it's a bit of kit worth having. But I have some questions:

1 - Should it be used in conjunction with a downtube mudguard?
2 - If "Yes" to above question, could you recommend one?
3 - Do you still get mud in your face when turning?
4 - Spray comes from the bottom of the wheel, so how does it work??
5 - Have you got one? If not, why not?

Also, could you recommend a rear mudguard that will take a hammering?

cat_with_no_tail

Personally, I'd go for a Muckynutz Bender Fender over a NeoGuard. Prefer the design mainly. However, the answers remain the same for both.

1. Yes if you are looking to keep shlt off your body as opposed to just your face.
2. Crud Catcher
3. No, the spray is coming off the wheel, and the position of the guard relative to the wheel remains constant.
4. They are designed only to catch the "overspray" which is what flicks out from near the top of the wheel goes through the stanchions and ends up on your face, in your eyes, nose, mouth etc (as you catch it up)
5. I use the Bender Fender.

Also..... Just get the Crud Racepack. That includes front and rear. Easy to mount to all different kinds of seatpost and downtube widths and shapes.

Carefull with the downtube mounted crudcatcher if you've got cables routed under the downtube though.

Miggins

Cat With No Tail wrote:

4. They are designed only to catch the "overspray" which is what flicks out from near the top of the wheel goes through the stanchions and ends up on your face, in your eyes, nose, mouth etc (as you catch it up)

A-ha! Sounds like it's mainly designed for muddy conditions when the mud sticks to the front tyre and doesn't let go until it's near the top of the wheel. So, for the full mud and water-free experience I'd be best to team this up with a downtube mudguard anyway ie. the NeoGuard won't keep water out of my face riding through, say, a shallow puddle on the road?

getonyourbike

I wonder how it'd work with a bender fender, crud catcher and neoguard all used together. Personally I use a crud catchwe and a bender fender 2.0 and I stay nice and dry. I've got a Crud rear mudguard too as I got the race pack.

cat_with_no_tail

Not sure there would be any point in both a bender fender AND a NeoGuard as they are both there to do the exact same job, and seem to do it very well.

I think you'd just find that the neoguard stayed clean because the Bender Fender caught all the stuff before it got that far.

blister pus

1 - Should it be used in conjunction with a downtube mudguard?
2 - If "Yes" to above question, could you recommend one?
3 - Do you still get mud in your face when turning?
4 - Spray comes from the bottom of the wheel, so how does it work??
5 - Have you got one? If not, why not?

The only thing that gives complete cover is a moto x style mudguard because it physically covers the areas that leaves you exposed to under and over spray, but even then they don't work if you're in wet trench conditions.

I've had them all and I use the NeoGuard for British 'Summer time' conditions and it's good, It does a fair job in these Winter conditions, not brilliant. Looks nice though.

Miggins

Thanks all. Sounds like the NeoGuard does a good job of doing what it's designed for but from the advice you've offered, I reckon the traditional mudguard type approach is probably best for what I'm looking for. Unless the downtube mudguards are available with enough width to prevent spray from reaching you. I'll check it out. Glad I checked with you guys first. 8)

peter413

I have both the neoguurd and Bender Fender and find the Bender Fender works better.

However, if conditions are VERY muddy, like they were this weekend at the Innerleithen Winter Series, it won't stop you going blind, or your goggles/glasses getting covered so you, again, blind. Only a guard that covers the whole of the wheel will stop this though so for general use, Bender Fender is the way to go. If conditions are worse, you want the Bender Fender along with a downtube guard and one that attaches above the wheel

bike-a-swan

Vote for Bender Fender 2.0 from me too.

bike-a-swan

Vote for Bender Fender 2.0 from me too.

unixnerd

Zefal do a front "proper" mudguard and it may not look cool but it works a treat. It bolts onto the fork bridge, to my great surprise my fork had a whole there so it all mounted perfectly.

Anonymous

Downtube mounted guards do very little to nothing. Fork mounted ones are the answer.

Miggins

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Form mounted ones are the answer.

What's that, Yeehaa? Standard mudguard mounting?

Anonymous

Oops, typo. I meant FORK. (fixed it now)

getonyourbike

the downtobe ones just keep a bit of crud from getting on your clothes from my experience.

Miggins

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Oops, typo. I meant FORK. (fixed it now)

Gotcha!

bike-a-swan

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Downtube mounted guards do very little to nothing. Fork mounted ones are the answer.

The difference in how muddy I am when I forget mine begs to differ.

richg1979

i used a neoguard a few years ago and it removed the piant from my fork crown and arch as the dirt gets traped between the gard and your forks and keeps grinding away as the forks are compressed.

do stop a lot of crap hitting you in the face at the expense of your shiney paint work

Miggins

So what would you all recommend as a set of mudguards? By that I mean the front one being fork-mounted (not too keen on a downtube mudguard) and the rear mounted with a clamp. Looked at the Crud Catcher but sounds like it's got a bit of a dodgy bracket bolt on the rear mudguard. I like the idea of a quick release type clamp as on the Cyra Guard, that would be a bonus. But as long as it keeps the mud off and won't snap off in a crash, I'd be happy. What about SKS? And I'm not too fussed about the price either - if they don't break easily it'll work out cheaper as I'll only have to buy the one set.

bike-a-swan

I've had a cycraguard set for a few years now- rear and downtube. They do the job fine- the qr on the rear isn't a qr though, it's so stiff! I think they may have changed the design since I bought mine though. If you're going for a fork mounted guard, you don't need to bother with any others.