BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Yorkshire-based manufacturer Crud has unveiled details of its new mud guard range for race bikes – the ‘Roadracer’ Mudguards. Unlike many competitors, the new mudguards can fit into the smallest of spaces underneath the brakebridge-fork crown. With the tips and tails detachable, the packaging is reported to be the smallest of any on the market and when hung at the headercard, it takes up less space than a Crud Raceguard.
According to Crud, the guards turn design orthodoxy on its head, as MD Pete Tomkins told BikeBiz: “We reasoned that if you could ‘float’ the mudguard off the rim then you could do away with a lot of the traditional fixings. The ultralight ‘Roadracer’ mudguard (weighing 180 grams per pair) just hovers in place, so there is nothing to rattle or rub. The brushes instantly dampen any road vibrations, settling the mudguard into its central position.
“In extensive tests we have failed to wear the pile against the rim, and the friction involved is so light as to be unmeasurable.”
Safety was also a key factor in the design of the product, said Tomkins: “We have incorporated a simple breakaway point in the fixing between stay and mudguard. Anything caught in the wheel will cause the mudguard and stay to part. They can be re-connected by hand after you have come to a stop. The stays are manufactured from 15 per cent glass-filled nylon. If it found its way into the spokes, it would snap in half instantly, without damaging the spokes.”
Retailing around the £29.00 mark, the Roadracer Mudguards are available now.
