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review

SKS Edge Aluminium Mudguards

7
£54.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Classy-looking full-metal mudguards for your bigger-tyred bike
Weight: 
543g

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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.

> Find your nearest dealer here

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.

SKS Edge Matt Black Aluminium Mudguard - stay.jpg

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.

SKS Edge Matt Black Aluminium Mudguard - bridge mount.jpg

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 Edge Matt Black Aluminium Mudguard - stay mount.jpg

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.

SKS Edge Matt Black Aluminium Mudguard - profile.jpg

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.

SKS Edge Matt Black Aluminium Mudguard - rear.jpg

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

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road.cc test report

Make and model: SKS Edge Aluminium Mudguards

Size tested: 46mm wide, 700C

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

SKS says, "Add wet weather protection to your commuting or trekking bike with the supremely stylish Edge AL aluminium mudguards. Suitable for tyre widths up to 42mm, the angular profile and matt black finish are complemented by a clean 3 point fixing system with black stays for a discreet appearance."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

SKS lists these details:

Wheel size: 700C

Suitable for tyre widths: max 42mm

Mudguard width: 46mm

Weight: 543g incl. fittings

Sizes Available:

46MM 28"

Colours Available:

MATTE BLACK

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
6/10
Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Good mudguards for general use on bigger-tyred bikes.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

They look good, they don't rattle, they're easy to fit.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

They're quite expensive, they could be longer, the bridge mount is ugly.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

Same as Kinesis' Fend Off alloy mudguards.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

Good overall: they're fairly expensive and they don't stand out in terms of performance but they're simple to fit and they look good. And don't rattle.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 45  Height: 189cm  Weight: 92kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Kinesis Tripster ATR, Merida Scultura

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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10 comments

Avatar
aOaN | 4 years ago
0 likes

 I don't particularly like the profile: I prefer a more organic, rounder shape. Agreed: mudguards can rarely (if at all) be too long. 

Avatar
longassballs | 4 years ago
2 likes

Beware the square shape rather than the more common round fenders. I bought a pair for a particular bike but there wasn't enough clearance between the chain stays to fit to the chain stay bridge, whereas rounded ones fit fine. Otherwise they seem a good product

Avatar
aOaN replied to longassballs | 4 years ago
0 likes
longassballs wrote:

Beware the square shape rather than the more common round fenders. I bought a pair for a particular bike but there wasn't enough clearance between the chain stays to fit to the chain stay bridge, whereas rounded ones fit fine. Otherwise they seem a good product

 

 Not to mention - the round profile looks considerably better. 

Avatar
leqin | 4 years ago
0 likes

Had a couple of pairs of these, purchased off Bike24 in Germany, so I am a confirmed metal mudguard user - no more plastic for me. Only thing missing was a decent mudflap, but I soon made my own with a sheet of 3mm rubber off eBay for front or rear.

Avatar
Rapha Nadal | 4 years ago
0 likes

Riding behind anybody with SKS mudguards fitted is the worst as they're far too short!

Avatar
Sniffer replied to Rapha Nadal | 4 years ago
2 likes
Rapha Nadal wrote:

Riding behind anybody with SKS mudguards fitted is the worst as they're far too short!

You can add a nice SKS flap and they will get compliments on the club run.

Avatar
dave atkinson replied to Rapha Nadal | 4 years ago
0 likes
Rapha Nadal wrote:

Riding behind anybody with SKS mudguards fitted is the worst as they're far too short!

yeah you need a flap to be social for sure. easily added though. i like what kinesis do with the fend offs, you can cut a flap out of the packaging and they include hardware for fitting it. works a treat.

Avatar
Dingaling | 4 years ago
0 likes

I like the look of them and would normally be keen on trying them but I bought and fitted a set of SKS Longboards to the Gravel bike and am impressed how well they keep the bike and my shoes clean. Now, a set of metal guards with the same format as longboards would tempt me to change.

Avatar
Prosper0 | 4 years ago
0 likes

These look really smart. Im a huge convert to metal mudguards. They are often easier to fit, stronger, look better and crucially, don't rattle. 
 

Despite the cost I'll never go back to cheap plastic guards. These look like cheaper PDWs, worth it IMO. 

Avatar
aOaN replied to Prosper0 | 4 years ago
0 likes
Prosper0 wrote:

These look really smart. Im a huge convert to metal mudguards. They are often easier to fit, stronger, look better and crucially, don't rattle. 
 

Despite the cost I'll never go back to cheap plastic guards. These look like cheaper PDWs, worth it IMO. 

 

 

 Just pray they do not end up digging into your expensive carbon frame when an accident transpires, and don't lodge themselves between the spokes and send you flying over the handlebars.

 After getting My knee cap rasped to cartilage from a mighty unintentional salto mortale, resultant from an ugly heavy inflexible front mudguard biting into the spinning tyre with the sharp edge of its front end, I will think twice before fancying a heavy ugly metal mudguard ever again. Good thing the bike I rode then - was a rubbish Dutch bike, rather than any of My precious carbon bikes (but then again, I'd never outfit them with junk like the said metal fenders). 

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