Front Derailleur Cover Plates
With the ever increasing popularity of 1x drivetrain and single speed conversions, more and more mountain bikers are opting for front derailleur cover plates to hide or improve the look of the often ugly direct mount front derailleur tab that most geared mountain bike frames come with.
Are some front derailleur cover plates better than others? Maybe, but let’s be honest, this is something you buy purely for looks. The only useful feature we have seen built into a front derailleur cover is a bottle opener (which we admit, is a very useful feature). Aside from that, your choice is all about color, design, material and where it’s made.
Keep in mind that you need a high/direct mount front derailleur mounting tab for one of these to work. For more info on front derailleur mounts, check out this video from QBP.
List of Direct Mount Front Derailleur Cover Plates
Since this is an open and shut topic, here’s a list of Front Derailleur Covers that do not include a bottle opener. These ones will look the best but won’t do anything other than look good on your bike. Here goes:
- Ibis
- MRP
- Pivot
- Salsa
- SRAM
- Superstar Components
- Turner
- Wolf Tooth Components
- Yeti SB D-Type (For Yeti owners only)
MRP Decapitator: Front Derailleur Cover Plate with Bottle Opener. Photo: r2-bike.com
List of Front Derailleur Covers with Bottle Opener
It’s no secret that mountain bikers enjoy their beer. For those that enjoy an on trail or post pedal brew, here is a list of front derailleur tab covers that double as a bottle opener:
Are they worth it?
Some love them, some see it as a waste of money. Only you can make that choice! In the right color, a front derailleur cover can be the perfect accent to suit your colored tubeless valves, anodized 1x chainring, pedals, bars and so on.
