How many wear Arm / Knee pads

colintrav

Just curious to know of how many actually bother wearing Arm and Knee pads .. or you just content with your Helmet ...


Or is it only during Comps that u will wear such Eq because of H+S issues , race requirements

projectsome

I only do XC/single track so don't feel the need.

77ric

it's just a personal preference really, some people wear them as they want too/feel more confident, some people don't wear them for comfort or other reasons.

i wear knee pads, having iffy knees, i figure having a little protection is a good thing.

besides they keep my knees warm when it's cold, which is also good for the old knees.

Anonymous

i wear both pretty much all the time but like to wear longer sleeves and shorts so they arent so visible, i think they look stupid and feel concious when i wear them but the confidence they give is well worth looking abit websters.

The Northern Monkey

kyle straits... every off road ride without question.

I have chicken wings but i'm not too keen on them.
Totally agree about the confidence they give!

sparrowlegs78

I wear knee/ shinpads when doing trail centres as i feel more confident with them in and I ride in flat pedals so I always end up with scrapes down my shins if I don't wear them.
I use Elbow pads too up at Lee Quarry and also considering a full facer for Lee Quarry too
Caz xx

Bert UK

bigbenj_08 wrote:

kyle straits... every off road ride without question.

+1, Make good knee warmers too .

77ric

Bert UK wrote:

bigbenj_08 wrote:

kyle straits... every off road ride without question.

+1, Make good knee warmers too .

+2 thats why i use 'em

fitch28

77ric wrote:

Bert UK wrote:

bigbenj_08 wrote:

kyle straits... every off road ride without question.

+1, Make good knee warmers too .

+2 thats why i use 'em

+1 on the nice warm knees..... until you take them off at the end of the ride and your knees are suddenly freezing. i have been known to drive home wearing them to avoid this!

JamesBrckmn

I have some 661 race light knee/shins and 661 elbow/forearm comp pads but regret buying them, as id on't use them as they're uncomfortable, but i think ths partly because they're too big, but i will use them when they fit me and i'm riding bigger stuff

ravey1981

Knee pads are for fannies....fact. Its a trail centre not a world cup DH

Airienteer

For trail centres no way. I don't see the point, you'll never encounter anything technical enough to warrant it. I do own a pair of Kyle Straits that I use for more downhill orientated riding or I use them if I do a big mouuntain ride. I strap them to my pack on the way up and pop them on at the top.

sparrowlegs78

I like my shin bones unskinned
Caz x

cat_with_no_tail

I've got a set of Kyle Straits too, only use them if I'm feeling a bit mental and taking the 456 out with the DHers or if I'm doing anything particularly brave (read foolish).

counterculture

i wear knee/shins, split my knee wide open at GT, and ever since theres no chance id go padless off-road

GHill

Sometimes wear knee/shin pads, usually when I go somewhere new where I'm more likely to crash.

clarkson

depends what im riding. for dh/fr stuff i do, but most of the time, nope. too hot and uncomfortable.

burrell3143

i fell off couple of weeks ago and took full impact on my knee.... i was not wearing any but now seriously thinkin of investing in some 661 dam knee still hurts

Willrideforcake

Either Fox North Shore or 661 Race Lights - I have knackered knees, so anything to protect them is worth it. Elbows for medium stuff, and full upper body suit if I'm doing mental stuff...

delcol

pads are for pussies i even ride bare feet .....

only joking someone had to say it .....

i always wear knees kyle st, elbow pads and sometimes if the going gets tough, i wear shinny, i use 661 vegi wraps with kyle st,,,
always wear gloves to...

mkf

bollockooooo except or my patirots
damn they give me a warm fuzzy feeling

Northwind

I always wear my knee pads and usually elbow pads, because of my osteoperosis (brittle bones) but even without that I reckon I'd wear my Kyle Straits, no particular reason not to- I don't find them uncomfortable or particularily sweaty even in summer

I always say the same thing, you don't have to believe they'll save you from some crippling injury, most likely you'll never have that sort of accident anyway... But even a light ding can spoil a ride, or keep you off the bike for a couple of weeks, and those sort of knocks can come from total nothing falls. light pads can keep you happily riding where otherwise you wouldn't.

Airienteer wrote:

For trail centres no way. I don't see the point, you'll never encounter anything technical enough to warrant it..

Either you're a riding god or you're riding at the wrong trail centres :?

mkf

osteoperosis man i'd wear everything out there

top dg for still riding

captainfly

After a couple of offs I now wear, knee and elbow pads every ride, in fact over winter \I'v been wearin the core saver and padded shorts, which came in handy when I slid down my road getting home from a local trail and bigish one in the snow, I'm not a kid anymore and with the arthritis and everything to be able to take the hits and bounce back I need help.

P-Jay

I wear Knee / Shin pads and Elbow pads most of the time..... They don't cost much and you can't really feel them on.

Last time I got to ride my bike was 27/06/09, hot as hell and 6 days before I was meant to fly Morzine on hols. Didn't wear my elbow pads because 1) it was 'only' Pen Hydd @ Afan 2) it was so warm.

Slamed after straying slightly off the trail and hitting a hidden rock, snapped my wrist before I'd even fallen off, straight over the bars, head first into the dirt and came whacked my elbow onto the floor.

Shattered it into a million bits, huge hole in me, blood pouring everywhere. 2 operations, 32 stitches, 2 metal plates, 12 skrews. Was told 10 days ago that the bones are too damaged to heal and they're going to fuse my elbow in place. No more mtb'ing no more motorbiking and a car modiified so I can drive. Luckily I found a private consultant who can fix it instead with a bone graft, but it'll never have full range of movement and because of the damage I have no cartiledge left so it's akin to late stage arthritius.

It's up to you, but joint injurys are very painful, long to heal and sometimes perminant.

bobcheese

I wear 661 race lites knee shin & elbow. I am a newb and on my second ride at a trail centre I took a nasty spill and bust both my knee & eblow. I had to have some time off work so now I always wear them now.

I play football too and would never dream of playing without shin pads and your more likley to get injured on your bike than playing footy down the park.

The 661's elbow/forearm are a little restricive TBH may replace these this summer.

Anonymous

Northwind wrote:

even a light ding can spoil a ride, or keep you off the bike for a couple of weeks, and those sort of knocks can come from total nothing falls. light pads can keep you happily riding where otherwise you wouldn't.

this is a good point, i came of a short while ago and had bruising above and below my pads after clattering into som big rocks, if i hadnt worn my pads, i would have mashed my knee to pieces, the pads show clearly here the impact occurred.

i managed to get straight up, check no one had seen, carry on fine. even if i wasnt bothered abut future rides, it was ace to have been able to finish off a ride i was enjoying right there and then.

i seem to take so long to heal these days that i cant be bothered with carrying mtb related knocks and scrapes around with me.

Raymondavalon

661s Straits on the Patellas and 661 Chicken Wings on the area where the Ulna/Radius and Humerus bones meet.
Of course the terrain and ride type dictated when I wear them, but whenever riding uncharted territory I wear them as prevention beats cure.

Northwind

mkf wrote:

top dg for still riding

You want a laugh? I'm not still riding, I'd stopped a couple of years before I bust my hip and got the osteoperosis diagnosed, then I started road riding again afterwards for physio and ended up going offroad again- so I suppose you'd say that it's because of it that I ride, not despite it. The only explanation is I'm some sort of raging idiot

el loco pollo

Might as well get these out of the way:

There is no riding in the UK that warrants knee pads or elbow pads! = I don't ride anywhere other than some tame trails and the canal, which means nobody else does either.

Anyone wearing pads at a trail centre is a pussy! = I've never been to a trail centre and would probably cack my pants on the Wall, Bitch or Inners. I am intimidated by men on big bikes.

I don't see the need for pads! = My bones are somehow magically tougher than rocks. It doesn't hurt if I fall off, which is rare because I am so good at riding a bike.

You should man the f*** up! = I've never ridden fast enough to fall off and hurt myself / I am a 12 year old boy with no responsibilities / a prick

77ric

oh oh, i think this thread is degenerating into another HT v FS/SPuDs v Flats war.