Slop season is approaching on the Minnesota tundra. In the past I’ve fitted full fenders for the week or two of really wet roads but my current CX bike has no space for these. This leaves me looking for a rear clip-on.
Prerequisites:
Needs to be a strap design for fitment to a non-round seatpost
Lots of adjustability so it can clear a mono-seat stay arrangement
Not be a piece of crap that constantly falls out of adjustment
I’ve seen the Ass-Saver, SKS X-Blade and the Topeak Defender RX. I’m not certain any of them are going to fit/do the job. So, looking for suggestions for others I may have overlooked.
I had good luck running something like this mucky nutz butt fender. Wedges on the rails under the seat. Questionable if it passes the must “not be be a piece of crap” bar or not but it worked reasonably well for me. Depends on how clean you are trying to stay I suppose.
I’ve got one and rate it. My rear light is on my saddle bag and previously would be covered and require wiping down, after fitting the wing it stays clean.
For £25 it’s brilliant. Lightweight and very easy to fit.
Second speedrocker user here (on a Giant cx) and they are very good, and covering most of the wheel. Taking on and off is fairly quick and there is no rattle in my experience. You still get some splash in the bottom bracket area from the rear wheel, but that is the hardest part to cover on a carbon cx bike without mounts. And the difference from an ass-saver is momumental, spray from the front wheel is a big issue.
So the question is: do you have room for them or not?
I use the Asssaver, the model that attaches to the seat tube. Works perfectly on my gravel and road bikes. Tested in rainy, muddy conditions and not a drop of mud on my backside.
The ass savers I have had I have had fold round the saddle rails so stay in place, on road they’ll keep the worst of muck off you (even the wide ones dont have enough coverage for off road) but they’ll do nothing to protect your mates on road or off.
I’m looking for fenders/mudguards for a trend-appropriate, fat tired gravel bike (Lauf Seigla with RaceKing 2.25s.) Tricky as most gravel-specific fenders are too narrow, and many MTB options offer limited coverage or or designed for use with a suspension fork.
I’ve had some success with an SKS X-blade clipped to the seat post; a bit unwieldy but it works. A buddy has the WinWing and it seems comparable, though he gets a bit of spray from the area between the fender and the seat stay. X-Blade Dark Rear Quickrelease Fender – SKS USA