Armour + clothing for XC trails

MTB-NCL

Hi, i'm just a begginner to MTBing, i'm going to be doing XC trails. I just sold my sixsixone gloves to someone so now i am totally out of gear, i really don't know what to buy.

So could i get some advice on what to buy:

Gloves
Shoes
top
pants
armour??
glasses
helmet

I would appreciate if you could tell me everything to buy, i get £60 worth of stuff free and to be honest, i don't need top end stuff, just gear that will do a begginner.

Thanks, Adam.

cat_with_no_tail

£60 of free stuff will be best spent (imo) on a helmet and some gloves.

Fox Flux and Giro Hex are both very popular, and around the £50 mark. Money spent on a decent helmet is money well spent, but you do need to try on a few and find which one fits your noggin best.

Spend the rest of the free £60 on some comfy gloves.

Invest a further £5 or so on some Bolle Contour Safety Glasses (brand new off ebay). Ideal for keeping flying poo out of your eyes and dirt cheap.

Other than that, you can just wear what you're comfy in. You don't need to be armoured up for XC riding, and you don't need to be head-to-toe lycra either, Many people on here just wear a random pair of baggy shorts / tracky bottoms with a t-shirt / rugby shirt.

If you are going clipless, then obviously you will need some proper shoes with cleats, but again, it's more down to what you feel comfy in and what your budget is.

Phinx

Well i'm not a wiz, but here goes

1. Helmet - utmost important. XC might not be too dangerous, but you might just bee unlucky that day.

The rest is up to you. I'd skip the top and the pants unless you can afford the whole list. You might get yourself some shoes as they will improve your riding experience both comfort and performance wise. Glasses might be a good idea when the god decides to have mercy on us and sends as a sunny day, but they are secondary purchcase as well, and a good pair of gloves will give you a steady grip and basic protection if you think like its time to fall-off. Armour-wise just think about how you ride. I tried a tiny bit of XC and i can't say i was feeling like my body was at a massive risk, so i'm 50/50 on this one. So in conclusion i think:

Definite buy: helmet

Recommended to buy: Shoes, glasses, gloves

Optional buy: Top, Pants

Personal (your) choise: Armour

As for the armour, its down to your personal choise really. You don't need anything big. Knee pads and elbow pads should be enough to cover most of situation, in my opinion.

bomberesque

Cat With No Tail wrote:

£60 of free stuff will be best spent (imo) on a helmet and some gloves.

^this

Armour for trail riding is a very personal choice (read; there are several fairly strongly held opinions on the matter) but I wear full finger gloves and a helmet for protection, no other special stuff. I tried shin pads for a while but just found them too restrictive (although I still break out the full gear for uplift days)

MTB-NCL

Right thanks, full face helmet or not??

And i'm a bit confused, is XC riding trails etc.. Cos that's the sort of stuff i want to do..

bomberesque

for XC / trails I would never wear a full face. Met d the Parachute if you want a chin guard, but ... wellll ... not my thing anyway.

full faces generally will be way too hot for normal XC/trail riding.

Phinx

If you are doing XC, there is no need for full-face.

yoohoo999

Phinx wrote:

If you are doing XC, there is no need for full-face.

I wouldn't go as far as to say there is no need for a full-face.

Ideally, it would be most beneficial (from a protection point of view) to wear a full face for all types of riding.

The problem with XC is that the discomfort and practicalities of wearing one tend to outweigh the benefits. I challenge anyone to wear a full face on a 30 mile trail ride through a muggy forest in the middle of summer!!

I've had some pretty nasty head/face injuries riding XC. I tend to fall at least once on a trail ride. However, I fall considerably more that that when I'm riding DH.

I would love to wear a full face riding XC, but it's just not possible. I wear one all the time riding DH because it's tolerable and given the extra number of times I fall, it's more likely that one of the tumbles will involve my face hitting something.

Interestingly enough, I've had more serious injuries doing general trail riding. Not sure whether this is due to luck/lwearing less armour, concentrating less, but most of my war wounds are from playing around in forests.

acac

if you use flat pedals i would get some shin pads or even football shin pads save alot of pain if foot slips and pedal rips your shins to bits.

Northwind

I'd agree, decent gloves plus helmet. Next on the list, knee or shin pads- hardly essential but I don't ride without my Kyle Straits, they make no difference to how I ride at all and they're all-day comfortable but they make a big difference if you fall off. (some people say you shouldn't fall off doing XC- I say they're either riding gods, or they're riding some very tame XC, I don't think I'd even bother if I didn't feel pushed enough that I might fall at some point)

Armour isn't neccesarily about preventing injury, although don't listen to the clowns who claim it can't do that- it demonstrably can, injury is just a question of the force your body takes in an impact exceeding its capacity to handle it, and all CE armour by definition reduces some of these forces. A simple matter of physics.

But, the main thing it does for me is it keeps me riding- a minor knee bash off a shifter or a rock is very unlikely to do long term damage but it can easily spoil today's ride, and can leave you not comfortable riding for days or weeks. I missed 2 weeks off the bike and nearly my first trip to glentress because of a bashed knee, my Kyle Straits would have prevented that entirely. Statistically you're more likely to suffer a crippling knee injury while riding than a crippling brain injury, incidentally...

Of course, you don't need it and nobody should ever look down on someone because they choose not to pad up, but it can help in a crash, so I can't see any reason not to myself. Most of the justifications people put up are basically self-serving nonsense, but if you just don't want to, that's all the reason you should need.

joshtp

Helmet is essensial. for budget, look between £30 and £50.
gloves. i wont ride without them. go for something light and comfy. 661 raji on CRC is ideal at £10
i wear knee pads but thats a personal thing. fox standard knee's are good at £15.
a camelback style bag is a good idea. tesco do one for £10.
decent board shorts, or cheap riding bagies are about £10-£15 and will make riding more comfy. as will a cheap running top from you local sports outlet. again £10 is the majic number for something that will wick, and feel much better than a T-shirt.
the rest is personal.
cheap glasses are a good buy, but personaly, i rarerly wear them....
obviouly you need shoes if you are gonna ride spuds. but other wise most trainers are pretty good, i find most skate shoes are particularily comfy and grippy on the bike....

bomberesque

acac wrote:

if you use flat pedals i would get some shin pads or even football shin pads save alot of pain if foot slips and pedal rips your shins to bits.

I have experienced that particular pain

Thats why I rode with shinpads for ages ... during which time I didn't slip off the pedals anymore but seemed to constantly fall off onto my back :roll:

Best way to avoid pedal slip on flatties IME is using a proper pair of flattie shoes, like 5-10 or similar

acac

i allways ware shine pads as i always ware some sort of long trousres so no would even no i used to ware football pads they got riped to bits my pedals better then rolling around in pain on the floor and blood pouring out lol.

MTB-NCL

Thanks for the responses guys, I actually work in an outdoor shop that supply cycling gear, including gloves, muddyfox bikes and riding clothing so that won't be a problem, can't wait to hit the trails

stu8975

Whereabouts you planning on riding?

MTB-NCL

Newcastle / Gateshead

stu8975

Definitely no need for armour/full face for xc stuff up here, half decent helmet and gloves first off, if you are planning on getting proper bike gear later (fleecy jersey/waterproofs etc) then a basic fleece and waterproof jacket will suffice, to keep you warm and dry, or have a look in Edinburgh bikes at their own make stuff (Revolution/Protective), fairly cheap and pretty good stuff. The only place up here where you might need full face/armour is Chopwell (north shore sections).

Northwind

bomberesque wrote:

Best way to avoid pedal slip on flatties IME is using a proper pair of flattie shoes, like 5-10 or similar

Or just get better But, I still get the occasional brutal pedal gouge, and it's never to do with slipping off, it's always when I'm getting off, or pushing! No joke, I'm considering shin and calf pads (POC) not for falls or slips but purely because of that.

JamesBrckmn

what i wear for xc trail:
Spesh air force 3 helmet £25
661 raji gloves 09 £12
scott classic shoes £18
normal shorts and t shirt free (as in i have them anyway)
karrimor refuel 8+2 £20

I did buy armour, but i don't really need it. If you want it i'll sell it to you. 661 racelite knee and shin guard medium. paid £30 for it. will sell it for £20.
661 elbow and forearm comp. one size fits all. paid £20 will sell for £12. haven't ridden with them. tried them on a few times, and tried wearing them riding them round my back garden, but the knee shin guards uncomfy cos theyre too big, and i dont really need the elbow.

MTB-NCL

Right, again thanks everyone, James i'll buy that helmet and gloves, seems pretty decent, when i had my old 661 gloves i paid £35 for them and they were excellent.

Just a little fact though! I'm 6 foot 4, so i'm not sure about the knee/shin guards, but i'll consider buying all the Armour off you

Thanks again.

BTW Stu, i will be going to chopwell, my uncle said i may as well hit the trails and see what the real stuff is like, even if i do fall off.

JamesBrckmn

sorry, misunderstanding, i was only offering to sell the armour. the rest i was saying how much i paid for them new, if you want to buy them new online/from a shop

MTB-NCL

I know thats what you meant lol.

stomith

JamesBrckmn wrote:

haven't ridden with them. tried them on a few times, and tried wearing them riding them round my back garden

Extreme gardening!

I'm guilty of wearing them in the garden too to try and 'get used to wearing them'. I was sat on the laptop last night wearing them in the dining room! Extreme Online shopping!

Flenser

+1 for the Giro Hex.

dwill

MTB-NCL where you going to be riding around gateshead/newcastle theres some good fun to be had in the beamish area and hamsterly

kenan

I wear 661 knee/shin pads for XC. Mainly because of all the gorse/branbles where I ride, legs get cut to peices. Have been glad I was wearing them a few times when I'v fallen off. It's your choice and I'd rather be safe than sat at home with an injury unable to ride.

Also another +1 for the GIRO HEX

cavegiant

The above advice covers everything, but just stressing the point, get a good fitting helmet.

The helmet must fit well enough that it will not move if you shake your head around with the straps undone.

If it does it will not provide much protection in a crash.

Try on every helmet from a few bike shops, make sure they carry different makes.

price is unimportant, £100 helmet is not safer than a £40, just make sure it fits.


A pair of gloves with padded palms is next on the list, then knee pads.

If you have a good quality pair of THIN flats, like Superstar, you don't need shins.


Basically, work out what parts of your body you can live without for a month if you crash, then put armour there =-)

661 subgear looks good for body armour.


Better to wear too much armour than too little.

Northwind

Nearly totally agree with that, very good points. Just 2 things I wondered about... 1 is, why are you saying THIN pedals? They have advantages but none that should affect what pads you wear I'd have thought?

The other one is on helmets... That test's exactly right for full face but it doesn't work quite as well for open face helmets, because many won't fit securely unless tightened and strapped- my Hex for instance, perfect fit but it's a bit of an "on not in" desgn so if I flail my head about with the strap undone, it'll fall off. My Flux doesn't do that, but they're both pretty much equal in protection and both fit well.

That 661 subgear looks interesting, anyone tried it yet?

peter413

Pedal thickness should not play any part in what pas you wear.

Used to use V8's but now I use the Superstars. Although I dropped shin gaurds at about the same time, it was nothing to do with the pdals, just I wanted better pedalling efficianty but still wanted protection.

TBH I have probably had more gouges out of my shins since I got the thinner pedals but that is more to do with more confidence

Northwind

Yup, exactly, seems a weird connection to make to me