Review: Mudhugger Mud Guard

I have a sort of love hate relationship with mudguards. I went for so long without anything that worked properly I just started to wear black kit and resigned myself to the fact that I would always have a muddy backside after a ride.

Bruce Gardiner was also sick and tired of mud and getting in trouble with the landlord at his local pub as he stopped in for a post ride drink with dirty shorts!

Instead of admitting defeat like me he got out the pen and pad and start drawing a design that he actually thought would solve the problem.

Credit - Stuart Manley @SM2 Studio

He came across the age old problems that we have all had with traditional rear mud guard designs on full suspension bikes and the use of a dropper seat post. There’s nowhere to actually mount the bracket!

Bruce realized that a guard for a full sus mountain bike with a dropper post was going to be impossible unless he was to mount it on the seat stays of the bike! Hey Presto the Mudhugger was born!

First Impressions

It’s not exactly a looker but if you can think of a mudguard that makes your bike actually look better you’re a better man than me!

The Shark fin like Mudhugger certainly isn't the most stealthy guard available!

The Mudhugger is a bit of a monster but consequently it offers pretty much 100% coverage of the back wheel and will keep you clean.

It arrived with us with a slight crack in the end (No thanks to Royal Mail) which is probably down to our prototype being made from a far more brittle plastic than the final production model. It was supplied with a handful of zipties to fit it onto the chainstay and that was it! No messing, just great functionality.

Fitting

Fitting the guard was a breeze. Simply sit the guard on the Seat stays resting on the tyre and then pull it back about 5mm or so to ensure that there’s ample clearance for the tyre, pull the zipties through the applicable holes and your good to go!

Credit - Stuart Manley @SM2 Studio

The production model will even be supplied with some heli-tape to put on the seat stays to stop paint rubbing off your pride and joy!

Performance

Our Prototype mud hugger arrived with us about 3 months ago but due to a highly uncharacteristic dry spell down in Devon we didn’t have enough mud to require a mudguard! Time after time I would set out for a ride looking for the wettest gloop to get some real testing done with no avail!

Eventually I found some puddles and mud to give the mudhugger some testing and to be honest I wasn’t surprised that it kept me 100% clean. Anything that big mounted on the back of your bike will inevitably keep all the mud at bay but what I was surprised about was quite how firmly it was in held in place even on some pretty gnarly terrain and how quiet it was when in use!  No flapping plastic to be found here!

Credit - Stuart Manley @SM2 Studio

Conclusion

I can give you a personal guarantee it will keep 100% of mud off your best trail shorts but you will pay a price in the fashion stakes. The mudhugger is definitely a substance over style product but it gets the job done and will only set you back just over 20 quid when it goes to retail in the very very near future!

Certainly not a looker in our books but if keeping the mud off your shorts is essential look no further than the Mudhugger!

A big thanks to Bruce at www.themudhugger.co.uk for sending us the guard for review!