Ass Savers Win Wing 2

Swedish fender fanatics, Ass Savers, first launched their simple idea of keeping a cyclist’s…well, asses dry without the need of a fixed mudguard in 2011. Now, over a decade later they have an extensive product catalogue to fit just about every cycling discipline.

The original concept was born out of one of the brands founders, Staffan Widell, fixing a piece of cardboard under his saddle to avoid getting a wet behind on ‘another’ rainy commute home. The surprisingly successful result lead to the Staffan, along with friends Petter Danielson and Oscar Ternbom, creating a simple mudguard concept. The rest as they say is history - or at least the Ass Savers ‘About Us’ page.

The team at Ass Savers were able to take their original idea and develop new products for different bikes including the Mudder, a front mud flap for mountain bike fans, the BroTector which is a rear mudguard extension to protect your ride buddies for road spray and the Mullet which is designed to protect your feet and legs on any bike, thanks to its universal fit (you simply attach it to the down tube with a velcro strap).

However, the success of any product manufacturer is dependant on their ability to adapt to new and current tends. With the rocketing popularity of gravel cycling - enter the Ass Savers Win Wing (now the Win Wing 2 which I have been using).

The Tech

The Win Wing was launched as a gravel specific, rear mudguard. The concept follows Ass Savers ‘simple but effective’ designs by minimising the number of parts and the installation time. The Win Wing (2) features a 0.9mm Polypropylene blade which is pre-creased, allowing you to gently fold it into shape. The wishbone frame mount is made from glassfibre reinforced Nylon (Polyamid), with TPU fixing straps and rubber feet. The Win Wing is made from 80% recycled materials and is made to be recyclable.

Installing the Win Wing was relatively straightforward. The package comes with 2 small, clear adhesive frame protection patches which site under the rubber feet. I’d recommend finding the position you want the mount to be fitted, before sticking the patches in place. That way you’ll avoid having to reposition the patches like I had to when I put them in the wrong place. Once you have the desired frame position, the straps wrap around the frame and through a small hole in the mount, before fixing in place. I found this process a little fiddly on the first couple of attempts - but I put this down to my big hands rather than a design flaw.

The blade clips firmly into place at three points on the mount and can be set at one of three different angles, depending on preference. Although Ass Savers suggest avoiding the ‘tail down’ position as it reduces the efficiency. This does lead me to question why this angle was added at all?

In Use

I’ve been using the Win Wing 2 for a couple of winter months. The country lanes and gravel tracks that I ride are now wet roads and muddy trails. This has been perfect for testing this product. The main thing to remember is that the Win Wing (2) is not designed to keep your bike frame clean and free from mud. If you are riding in cruddy conditions, you are still going to need to wash you bike when you get home.

However, the Win Wing (2) is designed to stop mud and spray flying up your back when sat in the saddle - and for this it does an impressive job. Even in the muddiest of tracks, my seat post, saddle and all the way up my back remained mud-free. The blade measures 37.5cm in length which gives decent coverage without being excessive, and the 8.5cm width is suitable for up to 60mm tyres - so my 40mm WTB Nanos were no issue. There is some bounce from the mudguard on rough terrain, but given the minuscule thickness and fact it weighs just 72g (approx), you’d expect a little bit of flex. But the Win Wing remained fixed firmly in position and to be honest I didn’t even notice it when I was riding. The rubber feet and fixing straps do a great job of dampening rattles and noises that other plastic or fixed mudguards may struggle to counter.

Conclusion

In their promotional video - Ass Savers say “we’re making mudguards for people who don’t want mudguards!” It’s a great tag line and with the Win Wing they have a product that is synonymous with that concept. It’s product that is simple to install (and remove) on any gravel/cross bike frame, it’s noise free and does what it’s designed to do - protect your ass from muddy trails and road spray. At around £22-27, and now with a road bike option - the Ass Savers win Wing is definitely a worthy investment.