Made in France and designed to protect your hands and your brake levers in the event of a crash, but are Nock Handguards worth it? What is it? Before …

By singletrackandi

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I wonder how much they’d reduce wind chill in the winter?

I wonder how much they’d reduce wind chill in the winter?

comparing the speed of airflow required to make a noticable windchill, and the actual wind speeds on a grim winters day; to the speed you’re riding your bike at most of the time…

Only into a near dead on head wind or on a fast downhill, so you’ll still need the big gloves for the other 90% of the ride.

The VC Guards ones I have do help with wind chill (main reason I bought them) and I expect these would too. I have slightly poor circulation in my hands, and while 100% Briskers are fine most of the time, if my hands get cold on a fast/exposed/road bit they won’t warm up again. The guards allow me to keep using these gloves instead of something more bulky.

The VC ones also have a hinged clamp, and the guard plate can be adjusted side to side on the bracket although not for reach, no foam on them either.

Back in the very early 90’s, I used to have a Huffy “White Heat” that came with handguards like these. I don’t know about wind chill but I did feel like the coolest kid on the estate.

But £60 as opposed to £15-30 for MX ones (Acerbis ones are about £25 and look pretty similar to the Nock ones)

Another example of MTBers being fleeced?

I was about to post this ^^^

I nearly bought some lime green MX ones for fiftenn quid, but figured most of the undergrowth I ride through when it’s in full swng would rip the guards off!!

DrP

I’ve got some of these and they are sturdy and saved my hands a couple of times already. Great for stopping the bracken and brambles ripping at your hands/bars too. The quality of the bolts is poor though, and unfortunately not a hinged clamp so those are areas that could be improved. Otherwise they look ok (for hand guards) and function well.

ajantom
Full Member

But £60 as opposed to £15-30 for MX ones (Acerbis ones are about £25 and look pretty similar to the Nock ones)

Another example of MTBers being fleeced?

Mmm, don’t think so. Acerbis have been making their guards for years- decades probably, and sell loads of them, the economies of scale will be massive compared to these. They’re a big company with a ton of different products.

And the design is pretty different in practice, so it’s not a simple case of adapting motorbike guard designs. So no I don’t think we’re being fleeced, it does mean they’re too expensive for me to try at this point but I reckon if it catches on we’ll see them getting cheaper.

If you have a bad crash will they not just break and crush your fingers against the bar?

@grum when I crash I’ll let you know 😂

@grum I’d guess that they’d deflect (rotate) your bars a bit, which should help make it not a square-on hit on your hand. And if they end up crushing your hand, it should be better to have that pad between them and the force spread over a wider area, than direct collision with a tree going through a few fingers.

get narrower bars and stop being a fashion victim ? NO need for had guards then
I have a route I use when riding with people with stupidly wide bars. 700mm between trees in two places.

I have a route I use when riding with people with stupidly wide bars. 700mm between trees in two places

Which is why it’s best not to ride with the kind of spanner who judges people by their kit.🙂

I have a route I use when riding with people with stupidly wide bars. 700mm between trees in two places

My bike has this thing called a headset.
It allows the bars to be turned in either direction.
With a little bit of practice this allows me to fit my bike through gaps that are narrower than the bars.
Does your bike not have a headset?
😏

After hitting a tree and de-gloving my finger with my wedding ring I decided to buy the Nukeproof ones as insurance against this happening again. As well as taking my ring off before riding I also got some more protective gloves.

That sounds nasty. Never considered degloving a finger with wedding ring as a risk!

total fashion driven rubbish. The only guy near me who uses these is Robin Wallner. Fair enough

I’ve no issues admitting it, but I definitely don’t ride fast enough to warrant these ridiculous things…I’m saying that as someone who regularly returns from rides with cuts up my forearms where the brambles have caught me as the trails I’m riding are so overgrown. I wear gloves so my hands aren’t too bothered.

The overgrown shrubbery can be stopped grabbing brake levers by simply having your finger behind the lever (does make it slower to then pull your lever as you need to move your finger over the the lever, but as trails that overgrown aren’t being ridden at lightspeeds, that isn’t really an issue).

I’m genuinely unable to see any proper use for these on a MTB other than pure fashion, which thankfully I very clearly don’t follow, so don’t feel the need to consider these (but equally feel the need to post up my dislike and disdain for them so that others can judge me!).

It’s fashion that’s stopping me have them on. And the price. Plenty of trails near me are grown in with gorse, and it bloody hurts getting stabbed in the knuckles. And the ends break off, leaving you with deep splinters that spend the next 7, 10 days working their way out.

Hot bath or hot shower helps get the spikes out, but does take a few minutes of effort and slight wincing…