Review: Review: QBICLE Tangent Mudguard
All off a sudden you realise it, you are riding along wet roads but your butt isn’t gritty. The pre-rode concerns you had quickly dissipate. The tiny QBICLE Tangent mudguard is doing its thing and keeping the spray at bay.
When I first received the package I was a little sceptical that the tiny guard would keep me dry and stop splattering those behind me, but it does an admirable job at both, indeed I’d go so far as to say it does a great job at keeping my derriere nice and dry!
I was also sceptical that the mount and arm would be rigid enough, I had visions of my wheel being knackered by the guard falling into it. But like so many times in life, my scepticism was premature – nothing bad has happened at all.
It’s simple, light, and, this bit is important, it keeps my butt dry and road-grit free!
The QBICLE Tangent mudguard is available online from NEOS Cycling, or possibly your LBS. It comes in sizes from 700×23 up to 700×32, so it won’t fit a cx bike, but a 28mm tyre it copes with just fine.
It took the grand total of 7 minutes to attach, the instructions are simple and easy to comprehend, with diagrams explaining the whole process.
The Tangent uses CNC’d mounts at the bottom which hold the single arm tight, but also allow for plenty of room to dial-in the fit for your rim and rubber combo. Once locked in it has stayed that way, with only a cursory tighten after 200km.
The underside of the guard features water displacement patterns to shift the road fluid, and whilst they look a bit gimmicky they most certainly do work.
I’ll admit I was cynical about the guard before trying it – unnecessarily so it seems – and whilst it may not be the cheapest it does look good so won’t be out of place on your best bike, and because its mounted at the hub there is no need to worry about tyre clearance issues.
There’s also a variant for the front wheel which looks to operate by the same principle – as long as you position it so you don’t get any toe overlap you should be fine.
At nearly £50 it’s (quite) pricey, but the performance is good and the aesthetics are very nice indeed!