Fox has released the Podium Mud Guard, finally offering spray and mud protection to its top-tier fork.
The new Mud Guard has been a long time coming, with Fox finally settling on a high-mount design rather than the low-mount approach seen on many conventional mountain bike forks.
Up until now, there hasn’t been a designated mudguard for the Podium fork, with our tester Alex Evans having to take a drill to modify a Mudhugger to shield himself during testing – and while Alex was hugely impressed by the fork, it was a drawback.
Fox says its new mudguard has been designed to protect you from dirt that is thrown up into your eyeline.
Despite the Podium Mud Guard having a shorter tail and longer nose, the coverage it provides is said to be similar to that of a normal long mudguard when the fork is at around 20-25% compression.
Fox says: "Some people might also assume that having a large gap between the tail and the tyre is ineffective. However, while less efficient at top out, that gap closes significantly under dynamic riding conditions.”
It says fixing the mudguard to the crown reduces unsprung mass, improves mud shedding and reduces rattling when compared to low-mount designs.
The design will likely split opinion; for some, it'll be a nod back to older mountain bike mudguard designs before the fender style took over, while others may see it as an afterthought.
However, looking at the world where many mountain bike innovations are born, off-road motorbikes using upside-down forks also tend to feature top-mount mudguards for the same reasons.
