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Its Easter so it must be spring! Oh wait... anyway, its certainly still the winter outside judging by the weather forecasts. These past few months have been sone of the wettest on record, yet still the sun keeps trying to poke out. What this means to us mountain bikers is that it feels like we should be out riding, but its all muddy and stuff. Great hey! So you like getting dirty, but how do you protect yourself? Getting it in the eye just isn't the one. Goggles? Steamy! Full fender protection? Fragile. Innertube and Crud Catcher? Yup, us too, which is where RapidRacers have stepped in and tried to make life a little better, a little easier, a little neater, with their NeoGuard. The NeoGuard is basically a mudguard with a twist. RapidRacer Products have taken a simple idea that DH pro’s have been using for a while and turned it into a useful product. The NeoGuard is simply a piece of reinforced neoprene that has been designed to fit between your fork brace and crown to stop the mud flying forwards between the two. The theory is that normally you would then ride forward into that mud and the guard stops that. RapidRacers offer 4 sizes to suit most forks. We've been running a couple of NeoGuards for a while now. Simon Adams has one strapped to his 888's and I've had one on my Totems, which has also been borrowed by a few others to try.
Here is what Simon had to say: Fitting is pretty self-explanatory but the instructions are clear and concise with good diagrams to help you out. It is slightly fiddly to get some of the straps through the holes but it still only took 2 minutes to fit. I tried the Large Neoguard on various forks - Boxxer, 888 and z150’s and it fitted all easily. The guard is a bit stretchy and surprisingly adjustable so should fit just about any long travel fork. To test the Neoguard I decided to get a bit scientific and rode a wet section of trail first with out the guard and then re-rode it with the guard and then re-rode it again using my standard Marzzochi guard. I then compared how mud splattered my face was. Unsurprisingly the NeoGuard worked. It definitely stops a load of mud flicking up and into your face. It should be noted that it gets more effective the faster you are going. The only real difference between it and the standard Marzocchi guard was that the Marzocchi guard stopped more mud from hitting your chest area. What didn’t I like? Well the logo is a bit big and bold for my liking and you can sometimes here the guard touch the tyre on big hits but that is it. You could argue that you get a bit of extra wind resistance with it fitted but I think you would only notice that on the road. Overall, I really like this product. It is simple, effective, well priced, it is way better than using an old cut up inner tube and easier to fit. Everyone should have one. So do I agree with Simon? Yeah, pretty much. Rob Lewis noticed the same tyre rubbing noise that Simon mentions, indeed it drove Rob to distraction so he took the guard off. On my Totem's, because of the arch shape and such, I never noticed any tyre rub. As to the protection offered, I've been running an old Filthy Products Mud Sucker for the past few winters, which may rattle but stops just about everything from being thrown up. Moving to Totems this winter though, means the Mud Sucker won't fit (1.5" steerer, butted tube) so I had initially been running an innertube. The NeoGuard does the same thing, you won't notice any difference in protection. You still need your goggles, but you can still see at the bottom.  NeoGuard Front |  NeoGuard Back |
So why not use an old innnertube? Well, you can. As I have said, it works pretty much the same. The NeoGuard though is neater and easier to remove, which when you have spent so much on your bike to start with, makes it worth the 14quid asking price. I'd still run a full mudguard if I could though. Where I'd really like to try one is on my XC bike...
NeoGuards are available direct from RapidRacer Products and from Chain Reaction Cycles . |
