After seeing the Beaver Guard fender and the D.Fender around the same time, I knew I needed one for my bike. Out of the entire fleet, my fatbike is the most likely candidate to encounter mud, slush, salt water, and lately – a lot of dog poo. Having something to keep the spray out of my eyes and off the stanchions and seals seems like a great idea, especially when the trade offs are few and far between.
As the first RockShox Bluto fat bike fender available to us for review, we tied on a Beaver Guard and hit the trails for some not-so-muddy but telling riding…
As you might imagine, fenders like the Beaver Guard aren’t all that difficult to make. Take a piece of weather resistant plastic, cut it to shape and poke some holes for the zip ties. Done. But there is something to be said for a pre-made fender with a clean edge, and all the needed zip ties shipped right to your door for just $15 plus shipping. Even from Canada to the U.S. during the holidays, the fender arrived quickly in a sturdy envelope.
Cut to use 4 zip ties for installation, the fender arrived exactly as you see it here. Future models will be labeled with the Beaver Guard logo, but for early testing the all black version was sent. Owing to the large amount of plastic needed to bridge the gap between Bluto legs, the fender checks in at 45g and loses about 2g when you trim the zip ties.
Mounting is straight forward with two zip ties on the fork arch, and two on the lower legs just below the seals. The fit around the arch and the seals is excellent which should keep everything tidy in the long run and prevent the fender from moving or rubbing the fork. Even though the tail is much longer than the first prototype, so far it has been completely innocuous managing to avoid any problems on bike racks and staying completely out of the way during normal riding.
In spite of the completely frozen trails, a muddy patch in a field nearby provided an excellent indication of the fender’s efficacy. While the down tube, BB, and underside of the fender were coated in frozen mud by the time I was done, the stanchions, seals, and fork crown were nearly spotless. As for myself, while my lower half was speckled in mud, my jacket and more importantly my face were clean. What more could you want?
Bottom line – fenders like the Beaver Guard seem like a no brainer for fat bike use. Inexpensive, functional, and unobtrusive, their use should extend the life of your fork’s dust wipers and keep the mud out of your eyes!
Along with the Bluto fender, Beaver Guard is also working on a rigid fork model that will double as a rear render to keep the crud off your drivetrain. Fenders can be ordered by emailing beaverguardfatbike@gmail.com.
