SPECIALIZED DRY-TECH

£55

Fitting

Specialized’s Dry-Tech mudguards are made from aluminium and are 51mm wide to cover tyres of widths up to 45mm. They can be fitted conventionally, with the steel stays bolted to the outside of your bike’s dropouts, or via Specialized’s ‘Plug + Play’ system, where the stays sit in ports built into the frame and fork. Plug + Play fitting requires 2.5, 3 and 4mm hex keys, a spanner, torque wrench and possibly a drill or hacksaw.

Security

These are fairly heavyweight, sturdy mudguards – their wide body ensures excellent rigidity. There are three mounting points for the front mudguard (one at the fork crown and two by the dropouts) and four on the rear (at the seat stay bridge, behind the bottom bracket and at the dropouts) and this arrangement meant that no matter where or how fast we rode the Dry-Tech mudguards they’ve remained resolutely secure.

Effectiveness

Although intended for 45mm tyres, we found narrower tyres that inflate to that width were a very close fit due to the limited space beneath the fork crown on the Specialized Sequoia we tested these on. The rear ends of these mudguards are made from a more flexible plastic that functions as a flap to minimise spray for you and anyone behind.

Overall

The Dry-Tech mudguards are an innovative solution that complete a compatible Specialized bike nicely, but can be used most other bikes too. We’d stick to tyres below the 45mm stated to enjoy the excellent protection they offer though.