Frequently Asked Questions

The photos show prototypes - 3D-printed CombOvers and hand-cut Toupees, without final graphics. The production parts will be much nicer, with a smoother finish and proper logos. We'll update the photos as soon as we have production samples.

No! Our products are born of a philosophy that only the face truly needs to be protected: keeping mud out of your eyes and mouth. In practice, with a CombOver and Toupee / Toupee Gravel together, you'll be clean from your chest upwards.

They cover yer face - we never said anything about yer legs ;-).

Mud takes two separate paths to your face - flung directly up off the back of the wheel, and thrown up and forwards then blown back at you - and each is best blocked close to the bike, where a small shield does the job. A single guard big enough to cover both paths from one spot is a compromise: it ends up heavier, sticks out further, and can still leave gaps. That guard already exists - it's a moto-style fender - and in our (limited) testing, a 45g CombOver and Toupee together out-performed a 120g moto-style fender. See How They Work for more details.

Polypropylene (PP, recycling code 5). In an ideal world you'd pop them in your recycling bin at end of life — PP is a recyclable polymer. In practice, recycling infrastructure is built around standard shapes like bottles and tubs; also, black items are invisible to optical sorters, and even brightly coloured CombOvers may not be recognised as a known product form. Take-back schemes sound appealing but the transport emissions for items this light outweigh the recycling benefit.

Our best advice: check recycling options when they eventually wear out. We've made CombOvers and Toupees as small and light as we can, built to last many years — that's the best we think we can do for the environment.

Years. The polypropylene is UV-stabilised and shrugs off moisture and mud, and CombOvers and Toupess will keep doing their job for a long time.

However, the bright colours (neon yellow, orange and green) will gently fade over months of sun exposure if kept outside. That's simply the nature of bright pigments. Black won't fade for years, even out in the sun. Either way, fading doesn't affect how they work, and as a mudguard, we hope they'll spend most of their life covered in mud anyway ;-).

In your washing machine, using the Delicates cycle and non-bio detergent. Drip dry only.

No, seriously, they don't actually need anything, just hose them down or whatever you do with the rest of your bike. Polypropylene is impervious to mud and water. They'll happily tolerate a more comprehensive bike wash too if that's your thing. We still wouldn't use a hairdryer though.

Not yet — we're shipping to UK addresses only to start with. We'll be adding more countries once we're up and running.

Changed your mind? Return unused, clean CombOvers within 30 days for a full refund. Please include the information card undamaged. It's fine if you've separated the CombOver halves to try fitting. You cover return postage.

Faulty or damaged? We'll replace or refund, including return postage. CombOvers are covered by a 12-month warranty against manufacturing defects.Email returns@combover.co.uk with your order number (and a photo if it's a fault). Full details at Returns & refunds.

The goal isn't to keep your bike clean — it's to keep mud out of your eyes and mouth. CombOvers are shaped around the 2 key trajectories mud takes to reach your face, so material only goes where it's actually needed. Most of the material in a conventional mudguard isn't actually blocking any mud. This really needs pictures not words - see our explainer for the full picture.

No! The slats are carefully positioned so that mud always hits the face of a slat, never a gap. From many angles it looks like there are gaps the mud could slip through, but those angles don't match the trajectories mud actually travels on. See our explainer for more details. From the rider's point of view, you can never see the part of the tyre that's flinging mud towards you — even if you can see other parts of the wheel — which is exactly what you want.

In practice no! Interestingly, below about 10mph, mud from the wheels can't travel fast enough to reach your face before gravity pulls it down again. Above that speed, you mostly steer your bike by leaning, keeping the front wheel fairly straight - CombOvers are designed to match how much you steer the wheel above that speed. See our explainer for more details. So if the mud can get around the CombOver, it isn't going to reach your face anyway.

Yes. CombOvers and shorties block different mud trajectories - on MTB, each stops ~50% on its own, together ~95%.
Already have a shorty (or a short moto fender) on your bike? Perfect — keep it: adding a CombOver completes your protection. Starting from a bare bike? Obviously we recommend our own... On an MTB, pair with a Toupee. On a rigid gravel bike, pair with a Toupee Gravel.

See How They Work for more details.

All else being equal, yes - that removes the influence of air resistance and bike movement on mud trajectory. In practice that location has other drawbacks: it requires more material to reach that location, such designs are inevitably flexible and fragile and tend to rub the wheel or interfere with the frame or the rider's feet or just clog with mud.

Note, the other extreme is also a solution: shielding your face, e.g. a face mask and goggles, but then you still have to clean your goggles!

The horizontal slat design and slim profile create less drag than a conventional solid mudguard. For road and gravel riders this matters; for mountain bikers the gains are smaller but still beneficial.

CombOver was conceived for mountain biking but works equally well on gravel and road bikes. CombOvers use no brackets, adapters, or frame-specific fitment. They work with any wheel size, frame size, or tyre width. Full suspension, hardtail or rigid all work.

They will almost certainly fit a non-ebike*. CombOvers mount to the sides of the down tube and head tube. As long as the sides of those tubes form a smooth vertical surface they should fit. Frames often have cables near here: they rarely prevent fitting, as usually the CombOvers can simply be placed just above or below them.

* On some e-bikes, a zip-tie could obstruct battery removal. Many e-bike down tubes are wider than a normal head tube. Some bikes taper in for the head tube, some make the head tube wider to match. Depending on if and how smoothly they taper, and how snug to the frame you're happy with, CombOvers may or may not fit. To prevent any gap between the CombOver and the frame, they need to be mounted on a flat surface 30cm long. Ultimately, you'll have to test with your bike.

Probably. It all depends how wide your tyres are relative to the width of your frame. CombOvers protrude about 37mm either side of the frame. On a 'normal' modern frame that gives a total width of about 130mm - easily enough for a 3" plus tyre (we've ridden this set-up lots). Probably not quite enough for a 5" full fat tyre. If you have an e-fat bike the wider frame and tyre will cancel out and it will work well :-).

We recommend using 2 zip-ties (supplied) and it takes under a minute. Full illustrated instructions are included, see our fitting instructions video. You could also attach them using narrow hook-and-loop tape, elastic bands, or adhesive tape. However, these are trickier and/or less secure.

In brief: separate the pair, position one half against each side of the down tube reaching the front of where the frame meets the fork crown, loop a zip-tie loosely around both through the slats, check they sit flush, snug it up, add a second zip-tie towards the front, tighten, trim the zip-ties.

The curved portion of the spine is mounted towards the front, so that each side forms an upwards bow (like an 'n' not a 'u') and the slats are approximately horizontal. See our fitting instructions video

CombOvers fit around cables. When positioning, route the zip-ties to avoid trapping any cables or hoses against the frame. Some frames may position cable brackets or have internal cable routing on the side(s) of the down tube. In most cases, the CombOver should fit fine next to these, above or below. Rarely, this will not be possible - please contact us at info@combover.co.uk for a refund.

Yes, scissors work fine, e.g. making space for a cable by removing a slat, or to shorten them for a balance bike (send us a photo, that'd be so cute!). Just round off any cut edges before use.

No. CombOvers fit tightly to the frame itself, nothing protrudes where it can rattle against other bike parts.

You may notice we don't include frame protection stickers like some accessories do. That's deliberate: at 25g and held firmly by two zip-ties, CombOvers barely move against the frame, so they don't grind grit across your paint the way heavier, looser-mounted accessories can. If you'd rather not take any chances with your paintwork, there's no harm fitting them over clear protection tape, but we haven't found it necessary.

CombOvers won't get in the way when riding, carrying or standing with your bike.

While riding, CombOvers are in front of and below your knees — no contact at all. If you straddle the bike very close to the handlebars, e.g. negotiating a gate, they can lightly brush your legs, but they're flexible with no sharp edges.

They stay out of the way. Because CombOvers sit against the down tube rather than projecting from the fork, they do not take extra space when the front wheel is removed. Just leave them on.

In general Polypropylene is robust to this and they will return to the correct shape on their own. If they have been left squashed for a long time, they may take a while to unbend and will benefit from a bit of manual help. They will then continue to work fine.

Yes they do, and yes. Toupees are designed to complement CombOvers mounted on the bicycle frame. CombOvers will handle mud travelling behind the Toupee. Toupees instead concentrate on shielding your face from mud flung forwards from the top of the wheel - the faster and bumpier you go, the further forward they need to extend to achieve this. See How They Work for more details.

Yes. The wheel sprays your stanchions and wiper seals mostly from behind - mud leaves the top of the tyre on a rough tangent - exactly where the fork brace gives no cover. Some shorties add flat stanchion flaps to tackle the same problem; the Toupee's Sideburns take it a step further, curling right around each fork leg into a C-shaped shield (viewed from above), covering that rearward angle too.

Yes. Toupees and CombOvers block different mud trajectories:

On MTB, each block ~50% on their own, together ~95% (there's a bit of overlap).
On rigid gravel, a CombOver alone keeps your face clean to about 17mph; add the Toupee Gravel and you're covered at any speed you'll ride. Starting from a bare bike?

The Full Facial and Full Facial Gravel sets get you both for less. See How They Work for more details.

A Toupee is a refinement of the shorty formula: the Fringe extending further forward for high-speed protection, and Sideburns for improved stanchion coverage. If you're happy with your existing shorty, keep it: the CombOver is probably your missing cover, not the Toupee.

Simple:

MTB (suspension or rigid) - Toupee.
Rigid gravel - Toupee Gravel.
Gravel suspension fork - They're built much like short-travel MTB forks, so the standard Toupee _should_ be the right pick, though we've yet to test on one.

Toupee will fit any 'upright' suspension MTB fork, i.e. the upper part slides INSIDE the lowers, with a brace over the wheel between the lowers. Upside-down forks lack a brace for the Toupee to mount onto.

Reverse-arch forks require the Toupee to be mounted back-to-front to align the holes with the brace (Toupees are otherwise symmetrical fore-aft).

Rigid MTB forks may also require the Toupee to be mounted backwards.

Forks with more than 170mm travel (usually dual-crown) fit too, with one caveat: at top-out the Toupee only blocks part of the gap between the fork legs.

Toupee Gravel: almost any rigid gravel fork, mounted inside or outside the legs.

Disc brake forks only (both models).

Yes. The Toupee mounts to e-MTB suspension forks fine. Note, some e-bikes have wider tyres. Toupees are only designed for tyres up to 3" wide.

Whichever suits your fork. Inside usually gives the cleanest fit (fewer obstacles like brake hoses) but costs a couple of mm of tyre clearance; outside keeps full clearance. The fitting instructions cover both - it's 4 zip-ties either way.

Yes. Sharp kitchen scissors work fine for trimming. Extra holes can be a bit tricky to get neat unless you have a hole punch - we've found a sharp 4-5mm drill works best (but be careful). Just keep all cut edges nice and rounded.

No. Toupees move with the wheel: zip-tied to the fork, tyre clearance never changes, whatever any suspension is doing. Riding the unsprung end of the fork does mean it gets shaken harder over bumps - but it's compact, lightweight and well supported by the Sideburns. 0.5mm sounds thin - that's deliberate - shape and lightness do the work, not thickness.

No - both Toupees sit in front of the forks, well clear of your toes. Nothing needs to hang low enough to catch a shoe: the low, rearward mud is the CombOver's job, handled from the frame.

Bolt-on mountings concentrate stresses, so don't suit the thin, lightweight design of shorties in general. They would need to be much thicker to achieve the same protection - and you end up with a short moto style fender. We think the only thing you gain with that approach is unsprung mass.

Yes, but you're unlikely to notice it: 20g of unsprung mass is negligible next to your wheel, tyre, brake and fork lowers, which are probably around 2.5kg. However, if you need a mudguard, better 20g than 100g+ for a moto fender.

No. The zip-ties wrap the fork legs and the brace - never your stanchions - and the Toupee is lightweight and soft polypropylene held snug against the fork, so it doesn't move around grinding grit against the finish. If you'd rather be certain, fit clear protection tape under the contact points - we haven't found it necessary.

Toupees are deliberately thin: light weight and flexibility reduce the stresses they experience. Their compact design allows this: they do not need stiffer, heavier materials to support a long shield. This approach also protects them from crash damage - they are well protected within the envelope of the bicycle. Polypropylene (PP) is also extremely tough.

Note, they WILL permanently deform during fitting to match the shape of your forks (especially the Sideburns), this is normal and not harmful. This doesn't prevent them from being swapped to another pair of forks when the time comes.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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