Musguard’s original roll-up fenders were mostly about keeping urban fixie riders dry, but the new Musguard Omni was redesigned to offer better coverage designed for more adventure on modern gravel, bikepacking, and mountain bike rides. The same original concept remains – a simple rollable design that stows out of the way until you need it, then installs in seconds to keep your butt & feet dry.
Musguard Omni: more versatile roll-up packable fenders
The new Musguard Omni is still not meant to replace a set of permanent full-coverage fenders for daily riding in foul weather. But Musguard figures that most of our rides happen in fair weather, so most riders would be best served by a fender solution that stays out of the way (and out of mind) until it actually starts to rain. At that point, Musguard Omni promises to keep the bulk of road & trail spray off, so you can better enjoy the ride.
Strap-on Fender Inspiration & What’s new here?
We can’t look at these new Musguard Omni roll-up fenders without seeing clear inspiration from Ass-Savers. These both look strikingly similar to their more rigid Speed Mullet & Fendor Bendor strap-on fenders. Packability is the most obvious difference, with the Musguards designed to roll around a frame tube when not in use. The benefits to stowing them away being: they don’t get in the way on sunny days, don’t get knocked out of alignment, don’t flap in the wind, and are less likely to be damaged by regular wear & tear.
Tech details
The Omni roll-up fenders are made from 0.8mm thick recycled polypropylene (the material & thickness as Ass-Savers’ standard fenders, the longer Fendor Bendor is 1mm thick). The Musguard Omni gets a new 2-strap attachment design, with silicone-coated velcro straps that keep the fenders from twisting around, and paired with the new folds let you use the fenders with or without support from seatstays or a brake bridge.
A new double crease design at the clamp allows you to pick from two angles to best align the fender close to the wheel for max coverage.
Musguard actually explains that it’s best to keep their fenders rolled when not in use, as it keeps a shape tension in the plastic so that when you do unroll and fold them into shape, they stay more rigid and hold their extended shape best.
Front & rear Omnis can be rolled together or separately. You can roll them up and stow them in a bag, or simply coil them around your toptube or seattube out of the way. Just roll up and close together with the built-in slit lock
Omni Sizes
Three Omni sizes are available. The Musguard Omni Rear Standard is a 57cm long, 8cm wide rear gravel fender suitable for 28-47mm tires (54g). Musguard Omni Rear Wide is the same 57cm long, but 9cm wide for 45-76mm (up to 3″) mountain bike tires (56g). The single-width Musguard Omni Front is a 38.5cm long, 8.5cm wide front fender that hangs off your downtube, best for 28-71mm tires (37g).
Musguard Omni – Pricing & availability
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/musguard/musguard-omni-rollable-bicycle-mudguards
The new Musguard Omni rollable/packable fenders are available in black for pre-order starting today through a Kickstarter campaign. More colors will be part of a stretch goal. You might ask why a low-cost, low-tech item like a roll-up fender from a company established since 2013 needs crowdfunding to get off the ground?
But Musguard is still a tiny company and this helps them gauge interest in how many people will buy and then ramp up production. And all Musguards are made in Slovenia, from locally recycled polypropylene.
Super Early Bird backers can pick up a limited time (48hrs-only) of Omni fenders sets (1-front & 1-rear) for $44 / 39€, then limited number of Early Bird sets at $55 / 49€, and unlimited Kickstarter set pricing of $63 / 56€ until the campaign closes February 21st. Retail pricing will be $66 / 59€ for the pair. Pledge your support now, and Musguard will ship you a set of Omni roll-up fenders by the end of March 2022, just in time for April showers to make way for May flowers.
