Review: Bluemels Style 28" 75 Set

Unless you add long mudflaps, most frame-fitting mudguards are too short to keep the spray from your feet and the faces of following riders. The SKS Longboard was one of exceptions but that’s now been discontinued. Its replacement is the Bluemels Style. “It couldn’t be longer,” says the blurb. 

The Style is available in 46, 56, 65 and 75mm widths, all for ISO 622 wheels. The 75 set on test is for tyres 55-66mm wide. My Jones Plus LWB, currently serving as a town bike, has 60-622 Schwalbe Big Apples that plump up to 65.5mm on its wide rims. So that’s at the top end of what can be covered effectively. As shown, the guards are 850g. 

Like other SKS mudguards, the Bluemels Styles are a laminate of plastic and aluminium, with flexible mudflaps and a safety system that will release the stays if anything jams. The stays themselves are much sturdier than those of most mudguards as they’re 5mm thick. Cutting them to size – at the near end, not the guard end – requires a hacksaw and a file. 

You’re supplied with spacer washers and various bolt lengths to fine tune the mudguard fit, and the mount for the seatstay brace will fit either vertical or horizontal holes. The one thing that’s missing is an extender for the fork crown bracket. In order to get the front guard at the right height above the tyre, I made do with a bracket I found in my spare parts box. It works but isn’t pretty. It’s worth noting that, although I was fitting these guards to a 29+ bike, the Jones fork is short: an axle-to-crown height of just 451mm. Most rigid 29er forks are 30-40mm taller. 

The front guard is indeed long: 890mm. When I mounted it behind the fork crown, as per the instructions, the mudflap scraped on kerbs and sharp bumps. Fitting it in front of the fork crown solved the problem without sacrificing dry feet but did made my height-adjustment bodge more conspicuous. The rear guard is 1,300mm long but won’t completely protect closely following riders without a longer mudflap. I don’t ride my town bike in groups so this wasn’t a problem.

Verdict 

These are the fiddliest-to-fit mudguards I’ve installed but they’re sturdy, rattle free and work well with balloon tyres like Big Apples. They’re also good value compared to other long and wide mudguards. They suit tarmac roads best but are fine on non-technical dirt tracks.

Other options

GILLES BERTHOUD STAINLESS STEEL MUDGUARDS – LONG £61.99 

Sturdy and smart-looking mudguards available for 650B (584) and 700C (622) wheels in 40, 50 and 60mm widths

PDW FULL METAL FENDERS 29×2.5 £130 

Aluminium mudguards for 29er tyres up to 2.2in. Long polypropylene mudflaps provide good splash protection. Also available in 37, 45 and 55mm widths.

First published in Cycle Magazine October/November 2024. All information correct at time of publishing.