West Sussex-based Axiom Product Development Ltd has designed and manufactured a dual-function mudguard for SicoMTB Products, which specialises in mountain biking and racing accessories.

This acts as a traditional mudguard but is also designed to divert water and muck away from the electric-motor housing.

Traditional mudguards do not work with the changing geometry of the rear suspension, and this reduces their efficiency.

Axiom (www.axiompd.co.uk) was asked to take a fresh look at this problem and come up with a new mudguard design.

Its design team started the project by scanning the bicycle in order to simulate the movement of the suspension when riding on rough terrain.

They then designed a mudguard with some innovative features that addressed the various problems.

A 3-D printed prototype was then produced for testing, and some design adjustments were made before the machining team at Axiom took over.

They machined the initial prototype tooling using epoxy blocks and then worked with a vacuum-forming specialist to produce the final two-piece mudguard — called the DualGuard.

Axiom’s managing director, Alan Rendle-Eames, said: “This is exactly the type of engineering challenge that our business excels at.

"Our CAD design team can come up with solutions that our machining specialists turn into reality and fine-tune to produce quick and technically complex solutions.”