SKS Edge Aluminium Mudguards

The SKS Edge Aluminium mudguards are nicely made, easy to fit and good looking. They're fairly expensive, but certainly worth a look if you're after a fit and forget set of mudguards for a bike with bigger tyres.

• Pros: Look classy, sturdy, design will release in an emergency, don't rattle
• Cons: Expensive, could be longer, seatstay mount is a bit ugly

Fitting the Edge mudguards is a pretty simple job. The stays are in one piece and clip onto the mudguard. Make sure you read the instructions properly and add the clear plastic bit because otherwise they'll rattle. Probably. Not that I'd know.

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The stays attach to the bike with a plastic section which has a clamping bolt to hold the stay in place. The design is such that if you did pick up something that got stuck in the guard, the force of that would be pulling those two bits apart, so it'll act a bit like a quick release in an emergency. If you're worried about the stay not releasing I'd just back off the Allen bolt half a turn once you've got everything set up.

The seatstay mount isn't an especially lovely thing, but it does the job. It contains a foam cushioned pad to stop the guard rattling against the mount, but this makes it hard to slide once you've attached it, so make sure you know exactly where it's going before you pop it on. You can see in the photo that the foam pad has come a bit unseated from my attempt to move the mount.

Once they're fitted – and they're a lot easier than most – you can pretty much forget about them. They look pretty good (for mudguards) and they don't rattle at all; they don't seem to suffer for having just one stay instead of two, because the extra rigidity of the full alloy mudguard keeps things from wafting about. And of course they'll keep you a lot drier than you would otherwise be.

SKS claims a maximum tyre of 42mm but that'll depend on the frame; on the Carrera e-bike I fitted them to the 32mm Kenda tyres filled the available space and anything bigger would have rubbed at the seatstay bridge.

They're not so wide that they'll look out of place with a 28mm or 30mm tyre so they're an option for a commuting bike, but again it depends on the frame; I had to pinch in the bottom mount on the rear mudguard to fit it inside the chainstays.

Length is okay here, but they're not especially generous. The rear will still flick surface water up at the rider behind you in a group, so if you're going out with friends you'll probably want to add a mudflap at the back. I fitted the front mudguard behind the fork crown to maximise its length and fitted like that it's okay; a flap would still help, though, and you'll need one to keep your feet dry if your fork only has a mounting point at the front.

> Survival tips for riding in the rain

At £55 they're certainly not what you'd call cheap, but they're on a par with other full alloy mudguards like the Kinesis Fend Off, although those do come with flaps, at least flaps that you can cut out of the packaging. You'll have to add flaps here if you want them, but they're a nice set of mudguards for the money, and simple to fit.

Verdict

Classy-looking full-metal mudguards for your bigger-tyred bike