Most mountain bikers now accept that a good front mudguard makes sense to reduce the amount of mud or spray flying up off the front tyre and into your eyes, glasses or goggles. Not only is it much safer, it's also more comfortable (think, hurtling down a fire road at 30mph and being pebbledashed in the face by lovely welsh grit and mud) and means you can ride faster more safely. At only 60g in weight and 340mm long you won't even notice it's there due to tyre hugging profile. Don't be deceived by its stealthy looks though, the Shorty still offers awesome mud and spray protection in all but the very worst riding conditions (if you love your gravity fuelled thrills in all weathers we'd recommend the FR Hugger though) helping to keep your line of vision down the trail clear.