When it comes to protecting yourself from trail slop, gravel riders probably fall into one of three categories – do nothing at all, fit some temporary plastic protection or go all out on full metal mudguards. Clive Parkinson would probably put himself into one of the first two categories, but after a winter of riding in atrocious conditions, he was tempted to switch to the dark side. Would a set of Kinesis Fend Off mudguards convince him to change his outlook? Read on to find out. 

The benefits of riding with the right type of mudguards in the wet are many. Warmth, comfort, respect for your fellow riders and being allowed in the café without having to sit on your jacket or clean the chair down afterwards are but a few. But, when it comes to the aesthetic question of fitting mudguards on bikes, especially gravel bikes, I’m not a big fan. I definitely fall into the less-is-more camp. 

Like many other gravel riders out there, this winter, my group of local riding friends experienced week after week of gravel rides in the rain. I’m not a huge fan of using mudguards, so my compromise was to fit temporary plastic protection, which shielded me from the worst of the muck. The problem was that on every wet ride, the mid-way café stop generally involved my face (and arse) being clean, but my friends were covered in mud which had come off my tyres. How could this be? Would they still love me after riding on my wheel? 

When the opportunity came along to try a set of Kinesis Fend Off mudguards, I was interested but slightly cynical about how well they would work.  

My first impression when I unwrapped them was the sturdiness of the construction. The Fend Offs are made from aluminium with stainless steel stays and fittings. With their robust construction, they weigh in at roughly 750g – quite a bit more than plastic options, but hopefully their secure fit makes up for the extra weight.  

The Fend Offs come in two width options - 40mm and 50mm - and can accommodate 700x34mm and 700x45mm tyre widths, respectively. Kinesis say that their “tyre width recommendation is purely for water spray protection. Any tyre wider than our recommendation may still fit, however, it is likely to throw water out of the sides of the mudguard as the tyre nears the width of the Fend Off guard. We suggest 45c for the Fend Off WIDE to be the maximum tyre width to provide adequate protection from water spray.” My tyres were 700x45mm and when fitted, the 50mm wide Fend Offs gave between 5mm/10mm clearance. 

Detailed fitting instructions were available from the Kinesis website and were relatively easy to follow. It took me a relaxed hour to fit them (with the music on and a cup of tea and a packet of biscuits to hand). I would advise using a pair of bolt cutters to trim the stays to the correct length and using threadlock as a matter of course. I would also recommend checking the nuts and bolts for tightness after the first ride. Although it took around an hour to initially fit the Fend Offs, subsequent removal and refitting (once all the adjustments were made) would only be a matter of 15/20 minutes at most.

The packaging material for the Fend Offs cleverly includes a set of mud flaps which can be cut out and attached to offer maximum coverage to you and anyone riding behind you. The flaps seem to be sturdy enough not to fold under the wheel on rough terrain, but you could always add a crease down the centre if you wanted to make them even more rigid.

The bottom line question is, do the Fend Offs protect you (and your friends) without interfering with the ride? I would say absolutely yes. In use, even on rough ground, there did not appear to be any noticeable rattle or noise. The stay for the front mudguard would occasionally briefly touch the side of the front tyre when I was riding on really rough trails. It didn’t cause any issues beyond creating some extra noise, but it did make me realise that the Fend Offs don’t come with any form of breakaway system. Some other mudguards (generally significantly more expensive) offer a breakaway system where, if something gets lodged in your front mudguard, the stay disengages, so there is no risk of the mudguard jamming on your front tyre. 

The Fend Offs come with a one-year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. Kinesis also offer a range of replacement parts which add to the longevity of the product. 3D printed light fittings are available, which integrate seamlessly with the mudguard profile to take a rear light, a lightweight front light or a GoPro-style action camera. 

Get Shorty?

As well as the standard Fend Offs, Kinesis sent me a Fend Off Shorty to try. They describe the Shorty as “ being designed primarily for gravel bikes”, but they go on to say that “Fend Off Shorty guards can be used whenever only a rear mudguard is required." They say the Shorty features “ the same aluminium profile as our award-winning Fend Off guards with stainless steel stays that attach to the rear dropout eyelets. The stays are rubberised at the contact points to help absorb the vibrations from gravel trails.”

The Shorty is impressively stiff, with absolutely no unwanted movement. The rubber coating at either end of the stays does a great job of minimising vibration. Although the coverage is much less than the ‘normal’ Fend Offs, fitting the Shorty was much quicker and I think it looks better too! I can see me leaving this fitted to my gravel bike unless conditions are really awful, in which case the full length Fend Offs will be going on.

Back when I was an enthusiastic schoolboy cyclist, if I turned up at the market square on a Sunday for the start of the club ride, there was someone with a ruler, a pair of scissors, an old washing-up liquid bottle and some cable ties. The club ride was basically a “no mud club” and if your mudguards didn’t offer enough coverage, you had to add on some extra plastic from the washing-up bottle to make sure you met the required standard! On the day of the clocks changing in the spring, it was almost like “gentlemen, you can remove your smoking jackets”. Like cattle that had been indoors all winter, we poured out into summer – free of mudguards. I could hardly wait… 

While I’m not 100% converted to the idea of running full-length mudguards on my gravel bike, now that I’ve tried them, I can definitely see the benefits. The Kinesis Fend Offs (and the Fend Off Shorty) are well designed, sturdy and although it’s hard to admit this, I actually think they look pretty good when fitted to my gravel bike too!

Kinesis Fend Offs cost £65 and the Fend Off Shorty costs £35. They are available direct from Kinesis or from all good bike shops.