Golden, Colorado custom graphics shop Victory Circle is branching out beyond custom decals onto your mountain bike bar with new VC Guards hand protection. Recently, MX-inspired bolt-on mountain bike handguards have seen a resurgence. And they’re not just for the EWS or DH racer, regular trail riders can get much the same benefit too, as could cold weather riders…
Victory Circle Graphix’s VC Guards mountain bike handguards
Victory Circle says their simple plastic guards on alloy mounts will protect tour hands from brush while riding wild trails, but also apparently help keep hands warmer, too. In winter riding, they say you can get away with a thinner glove, since the VC Guards offer a decent amount of cold wind blocking as you ride. They are also great for summer riders who prefer to ride without gloves, but have to contend with overgrown trails or aggressive flora.
The VC Guards are easy to mount and adjust (& quick to remove). The guards use a simple aluminum bracket with a hinged clamp that takes up just 12mm of width on your MTB bar, that means you can fit them either inside or outside of your brakes depending on how you have your cockpit set up. Then, a slot in the molded plastic shield has at least another 3cm of lateral adjustment so you get guards exactly where you want for optimal protection.
VC Guards says the curved shape of the injection-molded polycarbonate shield is designed to flex on impact (deflecting the blow), then return back to shape to maintain protection.
Victory Circle customization
Of course, since they come out of Victory Circle Graphix, you can also customize the look. VCG offers their new F5 mountain bike handguards for $65 per set in eleven standard graphics patterns, with several different color combinations on each, matte or gloss finish, and six different anodized washer colors. Included in that price you also get you name custom printed on the guards. (There’s also a cheaper $60 blank kit, if you just want the base white or black guards, with no decals.) Victory Circle will also do fully custom decals for shops or teams, with a 6-piece minimum order.
Victory Circle will also make you all the custom name stickers you’ll ever need for your bikes (just like they do for the pros), or helmet decal kits for a number of popular lids to give your helmet a refresh. SO you might want to check those out while you are ordering your handguards.
