The new XL Fender means the death of the Crudcatcher? Not quite…
Are the days of the Crudcatcher numbered? Pete Tomkins explains how his new front fender is set to shake up the market yet again, 27 years after he launched the milestone Crudcatcher…
Well, to say the crudcatcher changed my life would be a hilarious understatement. I was the village painter-oddjob man, struggling to get by. Hand-to mouth. I was racing MTBs every weekend
even though I really couldn’t even afford the entry fees.
In 1989-90, almost every weekend we raced in thick mud and rain. Everyone was struggling for vision, our eyes were literally clogging up. It was clear that something was needed, and I was the one who bit the bullet and designed a simple splashguard for the downtube.
I had no experience of product design, manufacturing techniques, or marketing, but I did have one big plus. Thanks to the intimate nature of the race scene in the late ‘80s, I was personal friends with every MTB journalist in the UK. They liked what I came up with, told their readers, and I was in business full-time from the day my first Crudcatcher came off the mould. That was in 1991, and
I guesstimate we must have sold close to two million CC’s since.
It has become clear to us recently that the new forkbrace-mounted fenders have cut into our market share. Our new XL is a response to this. We have designed something that cannot clog, no matter how thick the mud. It uses re-usable UV-proof stretchy 0-rings to fit totally securely to the fork legs. It fits in literally 30 seconds with a little practice.
You can run it close to the tyre for rainy conditions, or raise it much higher for thick clingy mud. It’s made out of ABS-TPU, both materials are excellent for recycling.
Is the Crudcatcher dead? Well, no. We are still selling them in significant numbers. They are cheap, easy to fit, and they do a good job. But if you want the next level of protection, try the XL. It’s really quite a revelation the first time you go belting down a wet muddy track with one attached to your forks.
