Trials Stuff
Tested
words by JASON WRIGHT
ARMADILLO BIKE ARMOR
Armadillo LLC is Charlie Gilfert ’ s company , whose goal is to protect our trials bikes from the stupid stuff we do to them . Armadillo has a whole host of products to protect our bikes and is aligned well with his slogan : “ Protect Your Goods .”
We ride our bikes around some very tall rocks and the OEM sprocket and disc guards on trials bikes do little to actually guard those parts that can get bent . Charlie ’ s Armadillo sprocket guard is made from an extremely durable plastic that is about 1 / 2 ” thick . The guard is cut out by hand and the final fitting needs to be done by the bike owner . Charlie has found that there is some variation in the mounting points , probably due to mounts being bent through use and abuse . The final hole drilling is a fairly simple task . Just hold the guard in place and use a sharp tool to mark where the holes need to be drilled . Allowing the final user to drill the holes also allows them to compensate for different sized sprockets .
One bonus to Charlie ’ s Armadillo guards being plastic is that they will flex when they come in contact with an object . If the guard was made from aluminum and did not flex , too much force could be transferred to the mounting tabs , resulting in them breaking .
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 24