Last year we tested the original Sendhit Nock hand guards, praising them for their mountain bike-specific details but found that they could benefit from improvement. As a result, the brand went back to the drawing board, simplifying the design and bringing some much-needed upgrades, creating a genuine contender for the best MTB hand guards crown.
Sendhit Nock MTB Hand Guards V2 - Technical details
A lot has changed on the Nock V2s as their shape has been tweaked, making them easier on the eye but more importantly, this generation goes about adjustment a little differently. Rather than relying on nuts and bolts on a sliding mechanism as before, the guards use a single bolt with a flip chip. Not only is this much simpler, but it’s also an awful lot easier to put together.
>Buy the Sendhit Nock MTB Hand Guards V2 from Tredz for £69.95
The aforementioned flip chip is just a bit of plastic that sits between the aluminium bracket and allows for 9mm of fore and aft adjustment by bolting the bracket and guard together with the chip at its fattest or thinnest point. Thanks to two holes in the guard, there’s also 10mm of side-to-side adjustment.
Sendhit has been pretty thorough with its changes as the brand has completely redesigned the bar clamp bracket. Not only does this make it possible to install without disassembling your cockpit, but it also plays nicely with Shimano levers. Now it's possible to run Shimano levers butted right up against the grip and users can still make full use of the coverage. When testing the original Nocks, Shimano brakes had to be run slightly more inboard to make space for the clamps. This was a notable downside and it’s great to see the brand making improvements. Now the bracket can clamp between a Shimano brake clamp and its support.
The move to a more simplified design makes installation easier, and as there are fewer parts, the brand reckons it’s much more reliable.
While there have been a lot of modifications, the things we liked so much about the original hand guards are still present - namely the impact-absorption pads and, while it’s been refined, the coverage provided by the shape of the guard is unchanged. As before, the guard is shaped to offer coverage to both hands and your brake levers to minimise any chance of intruding foliage slamming on the brakes for you.
Sendhit Nock MTB Hand Guards V2 - Performance
The assembly and installation couldn’t be simpler thanks to the new design. You can install the bracket first by wrapping the clamp around the bar and tightening the bolt, then put the guard on afterwards with the flip chip sandwiched between the two. This is where you can play with the adjustments before settling on your preferred arrangement.
With all of the improvements based on installation and adjustments, the Nock V2s performance is better than its predecessor. The guard offers more than enough coverage to bat off ferns and other foliage and they’re bendy enough to give under heavier impacts. After a couple of months of riding, they’re showing signs of use, but there’s no deterioration.
Having crashed and punched the ground using hand guards without any padding, the impact absorption built into the Nock V2s is a welcomed, confidence-inspiring addition. Any glancing blows with trees or anything harder are fended off effectively, leaving my hands in one piece.
Something that’s a bit of a negative is because the new flip chip is used for adjustment, you can’t fine-tune the guard’s distance from your brakes. In my case, I can either have them really far out or have little room between my braking fingers and the guards as I like my levers at a position that straddles both settings. I run them close which suits my setup and hand position.
Sendhit Nock MTB Hand Guards V2 - Verdict
As for value, the Sendhit Nock MTB Hand Guards V2 are at the upper end of the pricing scale with an awful lot to offer for the money. That value comes from the adjustment opportunities and the knuckle-saving impact absorption pad - both of which stand out, head and shoulders among the competition.
For £10 more, the Revgrips Handguards come with a similar clamping style, a beautifully made bracket and an unobtrusive clear guard. However, they don’t match the adjustability and protection factor of the Nock V2s. Nukeproof’s AVS Sam Hill Handguards come in at £63, but they don't offer the level of features as Sendhit’s latest offering.
It’s always great to see brands taking note and improving their products and that goes for Sendhit and the Nock MTB Hand Guards V2. Their newfound simplicity, compatibility with Shimano brakes, adjustability, and protection makes them some of the top hand guards on the market today.
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