Momsen Design’s first full carbon fibre mudguard has been tested and developed over the last year in their hometown of Port Elizabeth and once the final version has been signed off will be manufactured there too.
It is refreshing to see that not all carbon fibre products are manufactured in Taiwan, and that our humble shores can also produce some fine fibre weaves. I’ve had a near-production prototype Momsen Design carbon fibre fender for a couple of months and it sure did help with the summer rain we’ve had in Cape Town.
The general design is almost like a motocross fender, not the simpler rounded kind you see more often these days on mountain bikes. It has a rounded middle section to fit under the fork arch with a short front over-hang hugging the tyre and a longer rear that extends straight over the tyre. The front and back is a double rigged shape and is all angles.
It doesn’t only attach to the fork arch. It has half-circle attachments on either side that fit onto the fork lower and because of this the fenders are fork specific, with Rock Shox and Fox dedicated variants. At the moment there will only be 32mm stanchion options.
It was a fairly straight forward fitment. Because it was a pre-production model, I had to use heavy duty double sided tape to connect it to the fork lowers and had to drill holes in the top top thread a zip-tie through, connecting it to the fork arch. After a couple of months on my bike and a good couple of washes it is still 100% secure and hasn’t moved a millimetre. The production models will already have holes to connect it to the arch and the fork lowers. This was also a three-piece fender, where the production ones will be 1 piece. This will help keep the weight down.
Overall width finds a good balance between light weight and coverage, and the broad tail stops mud and spray from the back of the wheel being kicked up into your face and chest. It’s not long enough to keep your chest entirely clean, but that’s not the aim here. It covered my 2.2″ Schwalbe Racing Ralphs well enough. The main aim of fenders like this are to keep most of the mud out of your face and – secondary – chest. So in this regard, it does its job.
Final version will be one piece, full carbon fibre with dedicated Fox or RockShox design to make mounting a breeze. It will be available by the end of the month and should retail somewhere between R500 and R550.
For more info, pricing, final weight and confirmed availability keep an eye on their online store or send an email to info@momsenbikes.com.
I am sure bogus one can make us some