Rail rear mudguard

p3eps · Jan 27, 2020

After the plastering of mud everything got at the weekend, I decided to try a rear mudguard.
I bought a front Mudhugger, and chopped an inch off the end as it starts to curve towards the tyre. I then had to mark 4 spots and drill 4 holes for the bar at the top of the seat stays.

Megan @ Invisiframe was nice enough to send me a sheet of offcut, so I fitted this to my seat stays to give extra protection.

Looks ok (better than my full sized rear Mudhugger), and will hopefully keep the rear shock and dropper clean. Will see how it works at the weekend.

Jackware · Jan 27, 2020

Change of topic but what's your opinion of the the AXS system?

p3eps · Jan 27, 2020

Jackware said:
Change of topic but what's your opinion of the the AXS system?

Early days, as I’ve only ridden the bike twice!

Really happy with it so far - instant shifting and very smooth. Still have to think about which button to press on the shifter, as the button layout is not what I’m used to.
The RockShox reverb dropper is awesome. You can haul the seat post straight out without having to worry about the attached cable!

Might be a different opinion in a few months when I forget to charge the batteries and get stuck mid ride ?
I have actually ordered a spare AXS battery to keep in my pack just incase!

plu29um · Jan 27, 2020

I run the AXS dropper and gearshift on my PowerFly. I have set it up so the that the left button shifts to bigger ring and the lower right button to smaller ring. The upper right button controls the dropper. Now that I have unfucked my mind from the traditional way of shifting both up and down with my right hand, this makes so much sense to me.

zaykay · Jan 28, 2020

Did you start with the longer or the shorter mudhugger?

p3eps · Jan 28, 2020

zaykay said:
Did you start with the longer or the shorter mudhugger?

I have the shorter one on the front, and that’s the longer one on the back with about an inch off it.

I have the full sized rear one which has been on and off my old bike. Works a treat, but looks appalling!!

liv2ryd · Jan 29, 2020

Looks good, post some feedback on its effectiveness in the crud.

zaykay · Jan 30, 2020

p3eps said:
I have the shorter one on the front, and that’s the longer one on the back with about an inch off it.

I have the full sized rear one which has been on and off my old bike. Works a treat, but looks appalling!!

What about just trying shorter one on rear?

p3eps · Jan 30, 2020

zaykay said:
What about just trying shorter one on rear?

You still need to cut the end off, as it’s shaped toward the tyre. Due to the angle of the seat stays, it would catch on the tyre.
Hard to explain - I’ll take a photo tonight!

p3eps · Jan 30, 2020

The bit that needs cut off - where it curls down towards the tyre. When fitted on the rear, this caught on the tyre tread.

Front ‘short’ one is much shorter than the normal one. Only goes forward about 3cm.

Large front one fills the gap below the seat stays, and gives a bit of protection above for the dropper post...

zaykay · Jan 31, 2020

Thanks, makes sense now!

p3eps · Feb 1, 2020

Just back from a really muddy ride, and the 2x Mudhugger combo seems to work very well. My rear triangle was pretty clean at the end, with none of the pivot points having much dirt on them. There was a small amount gathered above the cranks - but my first 2 rides in significantly less muddy conditions had MUCH more mud gathered there. To the point I had to pick most of it off by hand as I didn’t want to go overboard spraying the hose near the motor!
Seat post was mainly clean, with a bit of dirt gathered under the seat. My backpack was also surprisingly clean - I think most of the dirt on it was there when I started!

You can see from the picture of underneath the downtube how thick the mud was!
Clearly the forum wants to rotate all the portrait shots to landscape, so apologies for the squint photos!!

Overall, I’m pretty pleased with the results... and they don’t actually look THAT bad!

enCrypt · Dec 17, 2020

p3eps said:
After the plastering of mud everything got at the weekend, I decided to try a rear mudguard.
I bought a front Mudhugger, and chopped an inch off the end as it starts to curve towards the tyre. I then had to mark 4 spots and drill 4 holes for the bar at the top of the seat stays.

Megan @ Invisiframe was nice enough to send me a sheet of offcut, so I fitted this to my seat stays to give extra protection.

Looks ok (better than my full sized rear Mudhugger), and will hopefully keep the rear shock and dropper clean. Will see how it works at the weekend.

View attachment 25054 View attachment 25055

Can I ask where you actually attached the mudhugger at the back please?
I've just fitted the same but the other way around to yours (the MH logo is at the top on mine) This gives full coverage right down past the motor.
I have it cable tied around the bit at the bottom (above the motor), the bar at the top of the seatstays and the side seatstays.
I've not ridden it like this yet but I sat on the bike (and compressed the suspension) and the cable ties broke on the top of the seatstay.
Now you can see the whole mudguard moving down with the wheel when the suspension is compressed (and probably rubbing the paint on the inside of that top seatstay bar

p3eps · Dec 17, 2020

enCrypt said:
Can I ask where you actually attached the mudhugger at the back please?
I've just fitted the same but the other way around to yours (the MH logo is at the top on mine) This gives full coverage right down past the motor.
I have it cable tied around the bit at the bottom (above the motor), the bar at the top of the seatstays and the side seatstays.
I've not ridden it like this yet but I sat on the bike (and compressed the suspension) and the cable ties broke on the top of the seatstay.
Now you can see the whole mudguard moving down with the wheel when the suspension is compressed (and probably rubbing the paint on the inside of that top seatstay bar

I haven’t had this bike since mid February, when I swapped it for a Levo SL.
Looks from the pics that I attached it to the seat stays, and 2 zip ties onto the bar across the top of the seat stays.
I know I drilled new holes for these zip ties... but I can’t remember if that was for the Rail or for the Levo. Perhaps both, as it has a few holes in it now!

enCrypt · Dec 17, 2020

p3eps said:
I haven’t had this bike since mid February, when I swapped it for a Levo SL.
Looks from the pics that I attached it to the seat stays, and 2 zip ties onto the bar across the top of the seat stays.
I know I drilled new holes for these zip ties... but I can’t remember if that was for the Rail or for the Levo. Perhaps both, as it has a few holes in it now!

Ahh ok, thanks for coming back to me. I think I've made a mistake attaching it at the bottom...
I might take it off and do it again, thanks anyway.

BrentD · Dec 17, 2020

enCrypt said:
Can I ask where you actually attached the mudhugger at the back please?
I've just fitted the same but the other way around to yours (the MH logo is at the top on mine) This gives full coverage right down past the motor.
I have it cable tied around the bit at the bottom (above the motor), the bar at the top of the seatstays and the side seatstays.
I've not ridden it like this yet but I sat on the bike (and compressed the suspension) and the cable ties broke on the top of the seatstay.
Now you can see the whole mudguard moving down with the wheel when the suspension is compressed (and probably rubbing the paint on the inside of that top seatstay bar

Attaching to the seat stay "bridge" and seat stays is the way to go. As the suspension compresses these move up and away from the chain stays.

Pan · Dec 18, 2020

enCrypt said:
Ahh ok, thanks for coming back to me. I think I've made a mistake attaching it at the bottom...
I might take it off and do it again, thanks anyway.

Picture please of the final install, tks.

enCrypt · Dec 18, 2020

I've just re-installed my Mudhugger on the back of the Rail (FYI its a Mudhugger FRX front)
I decided to use some velcro along the seatstay bridge and velcro straps instead of cable ties on the seatstays and seems pretty solid.
As promised here are some photos. As you'll see I still get full coverage down past the motor which is what I wanted.
This should stop the build up of crap that seems to appear there after every ride...
Hope this helps anyone else looking for a similar solution.

Pan · Jan 1, 2021

Looks good. Now that you have tried it a bit, do you see rubbing at the base from the flex ?

enCrypt · Jan 5, 2021

Hi, the base of the mudguard does not make contact with anything and I see no rubbing at all after a few rides...

BrentD · Jan 5, 2021

I've put a bit of rubber mastic tape (3M 2228) between the guard and the frame but it only rubs on the tape so probably not strictly needed.

Kernow · Jan 23, 2021

this combination is effective , long mudhugger rear and pro guard front .
the front pro guard is quite close fitting with the zeb fork but ok on my local non sticky mud .
crud xl front fender would be better for more clearance .
at the risk of offending the rears shown on here so far will be about as much use as a chocolate teapot for keeping your back clean and will clog up at the first bit of mud .

Sendit · Feb 28, 2021

p3eps said:
The bit that needs cut off - where it curls down towards the tyre. When fitted on the rear, this caught on the tyre tread.

View attachment 25179

Front ‘short’ one is much shorter than the normal one. Only goes forward about 3cm.

View attachment 25180

Large front one fills the gap below the seat stays, and gives a bit of protection above for the dropper post...

View attachment 25181

Is the large front muguard the same length on the backside as the short one? (i can see that the frontside is shorter on the short one)
TIA

Hamina · Mar 1, 2021

Kernow said:
this combination is effective , long mudhugger rear and pro guard front .
the front pro guard is quite close fitting with the zeb fork but ok on my local non sticky mud .
crud xl front fender would be better for more clearance .
at the risk of offending the rears shown on here so far will be about as much use as a chocolate teapot for keeping your back clean and will clog up at the first bit of mud .
View attachment 50816

Hopefully mudhugger makes production version of the prototype that has longer protection for the seattube. I couldn't care less of the looks as long as it makes washing the bike easier.

Kernow · Mar 1, 2021

Hamina said:
Hopefully mudhugger makes production version of the prototype that has longer protection for the seattube. I couldn't care less of the looks as long as it makes washing the bike easier.

Now modified mine with a front mudhugger attached to the rear , works very well

neiloxford · Mar 2, 2021

Kernow said:
Now modified mine with a front mudhugger attached to the rear , works very well

View attachment 54570

I like this solution. Time to buy me a front mudhugger. Which model please ?

p3eps · Mar 2, 2021

Kernow said:
at the risk of offending the rears shown on here so far will be about as much use as a chocolate teapot for keeping your back clean and will clog up at the first bit of mud .

I put this on to keep the bike clean, not my back. At the risk of offending, the full size Mud Hugger looks awful - and I’d rather have a dirty back!

Kernow said:
Now modified mine with a front mudhugger attached to the rear , works very well

If my effort was going to clog at the first sign of mud, I imagine doing the same and putting another MudHugger ontop if it would have much the same ‘as much use as a chocolate teapot’ effect?! ?

Kernow · Mar 2, 2021

p3eps said:
I put this on to keep the bike clean, not my back. At the risk of offending, the full size Mud Hugger looks awful - and I’d rather have a dirty back!

If my effort was going to clog at the first sign of mud, I imagine doing the same and putting another MudHugger ontop if it would have much the same ‘as much use as a chocolate teapot’ effect?! ?

Look closer at it , it’s all above the bridge not under it , there is good clearance everywhere . It copes with all my worst local conditions , luckily I don’t encounter that kind of sticky stuff that just stops wheels turning .

Pan · Mar 2, 2021

Kernow said:
Look closer at it , it’s all above the bridge not under it , there is good clearance everywhere . It copes with all my worst local conditions , luckily I don’t encounter that kind of sticky stuff that just stops wheels

I presume would not fit without the cut away ?. Did you try to heat gun & deform , prior to going to scalpel ?

enCrypt · Mar 2, 2021

If its a Mudhugger FRX front then it DOES fit fine without cutting a bit out of it.
I've done it on my Rail 5, see my pics further up in this thread.

Rail rear mudguard

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