After taking a look at the product template document, I sent them a design, and a couple of months later, a big box of them arrived at my doorstep. They looked great, but I still wasn’t overly excited about using one. After so many years without fenders, why start now? Fast forward a few weeks into the cold and damp season, and my tune has changed. Read on to see why in this full Ass Savers Win Wing review, and then scroll to the bottom of the post to watch Neil’s complementary video review. The simple attachment system also means that it’s super easy to swap between bikes and it is also compatible with a wide range of tyres. This has been a godsend as I have accumulated more and more test bikes to ride and fitting anything more complicated (or permanent) on each would be too much of an effort. The Win Wing takes about half a minute to take off from one bike and attach to another - and while swapping it around I’ve noticed it’s also not scratched my seat stays (I would still recommend attaching a piece of frame protection tape as a precaution). And if you’re worried about theft, Ass Savers has designed it with a little zip-tie hole so you can zip-tie it to your seat stays semi-permanently. The Win Wings were remarkable. Quiet. Free of movement. Unobtrusive. And most importantly, effective." The most obvious question when deciding whether to add a minimalist fender to your bike is probably just, why don’t you get a proper set of full-coverage fenders and be done with it? In person, the Win Wing’s patent-pending Wishbone is quite impressive. It’s very well-engineered and seems equally well-made. It consists of three pieces: a fiberglass-reinforced polyamid Nylon arch and two TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) straps. The straps each have a T-shaped base that fits within the molded foot part of the Wishbone. These provide a nice grippy and non-abrasive connection to the seat stays. The straps wrap around the seat stays, thread through a slot at the inside of each wishbone leg, and then connect to a molded tooth on the outside. There’s also an additional slot on the drive-side leg for an “anti-theft” zip tie.

While the two-part Win Wing install takes a few seconds longer, I was already more confident in the rigid strut-like mount design before I even had it on the bike. I found the install to be straightforward; whereas soft, saddle-mounted fenders just feel like a token-but-ineffective solution to wet rides, the Win Wing feels confidently made and well thought out. And, even for plastic, its profile is sleek on the bike. The Win Wing Gravel fits practically any gravel bike, protecting the rider in even the worst conditions. No matter the terrain, on-road or off, the Win Wing won't rattle or jam, and with only 72g, you won't even notice it's there. As hard as it is as a Finn, I must admit that once again the Swedes have beaten the rest of the world and come up with a product that is simple in design and application - despite the questionable aesthetics.

The Win Wing is Ass Savers’ attempt at a clip-on style rear mudguard using what it calls ‘tangential coverage’, but can a simple bit of bent plastic really help to keep you dry and clean over winter?

Boulder, and Colorado more broadly, is heralded as getting 300 days of sunshine a year (there’s a reason I have chosen to live here) and, even in the summer “monsoon” season, the routine afternoon showers are short-lived, and (of late) less substantial all around. As such, I’ve never felt the need to outfit any of my bikes with permanent fenders, though they do lend a certain utilitarian panache to a classic skinny-tubed steel steed, imo. Sure, it would be nice to have on my commuter but in my current location it’s far from necessary and I recognize that half of that desire would be motivated purely by the aesthetic glint of hammered alloy. The key to understanding how the Win Wing works lies in physics: water and mud leave the wheel in a straight line from the tangential point of release,” says Ass Savers. Not by coincidence, the Ass Savers Win Wing was released just as the cold and wet conditions of fall and winter set in. Perfect timing, right? Smart, because it was something I didn’t think I needed until I actually did. And that kind of sums up the Win Wing. It’s a solution that slaps you in the face, in a manner os speaking. It’s so simple that it makes you wonder why it didn’t already exist. And, at the same time, its clever and minimal design leads you admire the thought process and engineering that went into it.

Remember, just because Ass Savers calls it a wishbone, you shouldn’t pull both ends apart and make a wish. Unless your wish is to break a perfectly functional fender. It is tough, but not indestructible. (Photo/Ass Savers) The elastic in the attachment straps makes it easy to get a good, secure fit (Image credit: James Watkins) PerformanceIt’s so simple that it makes you wonder why it didn’t already exist. And, at the same time, its clever and minimal design leads you to admire the thought process and engineering that went into it.”