PDW Origami Front Fender

The Origami Front Fender from PDW is a downtube-mounted mudguard. Fitting and removing is easy, and it does a good job of keeping the worst of the mud from flying off your front wheel onto your legs or into your eyes, although it's never going to replace full-length guards. The price is fair too.

If tight clearances mean you can't put full mudguards on your bike for cycling in wet conditions, the Origami Fender is a good second choice. It would also be useful for people with only one bike (yes, really, we have heard of such things) alternating duties perhaps between commuting in the week and sportive riding at weekends.

Fitting is a two-stage process. First, the rigid plastic mount fits on to your downtube using two big rubber straps, rather than cable ties, and then the flexible plastic fender itself is joined to the mount via four press-studs.

The Fender is a sort of stretched oval in shape, wider at the base to provide a bit more protection from mud and water coming off the front wheel. It'll keep the worst of the muck from hitting your upper legs, body or face, but your lower legs and feet are unprotected, as they are with any guard of this kind.

Overall, the Origami Front Fender is very quick and easy to fit, and a lot less faff than fitting other types of 'temporary' mudguard, such as Tortec Razors, SKS Raceblades or Crud Roadracers. Those options provide more protection from spray and muck coming up from the front wheel, though, so it's a horses for courses situation

The Origami Front Fender is just as easy to take off when not required. According to the PDW website 'it even packs down to fit in a backpack when not in use', although I'd guess most cyclists would either have it on their bike or leave it at home, rather than carry it around in a backpack in case of rain.

The rubber straps are very long, and will fit any type of bike, even those with the most over-sized tubing. This makes fitting to a bike with a normal tube dimensions a bit tricky. There's a lot of spare rubber to tuck away, but once you're sure of the length you need, the straps can be trimmed to a suitable size.

I was a bit dubious about the press-studs being strong enough to hold the Fender in place, but I tested it on my road bike during a recent cyclocross sportive. Despite over three hours of constant vibration on the off-road sections and some fast descents on the road sections, the Fender never budged.

Cost is around £10, which is a bit more than similar downtube-fitting guards from other manufacturers such as Crud, but not an outrageous price for what you get.

Verdict

Easy-fit downtube-mounted front mudguard offering good protection at a fair price