who wears elbow / knee protection?

appy

cooldad wrote:

Nope.

Do you wear a helmet?

Thewaylander

gezebo wrote:

I don't wear either. There is no right or wrong, just make your own mind up!

There is when your bleeding all over the trail holding everyone up :P i feel no sympathy then.

cat_with_no_tail

You have to remember what pads are designed to do too though.

Sure, your knees need looking after, and they are more fragile than you think, but pads will not prevent you tearing ligaments etc.

Pads wouldn't have done a thing when I came off last year.

Thewaylander

Cat With No Tail wrote:

You have to remember what pads are designed to do too though.

Sure, your knees need looking after, and they are more fragile than you think, but pads will not prevent you tearing ligaments etc.

Pads wouldn't have done a thing when I came off last year.

Yeh but thats not an impact to the knee that causes that normally, its leg down a ditch while still moving and so on and nothing around will save that. But also it's the rare crash that is like that.

I've slid down 10-15 foot of gravel on my padded knee's no harm, with out the pads no skin or knee left. most mtb injuries are direct impact where pads are generally very effective.

YeehaaMcgee

Some guy on a RideGuide show once explained pads and armour in the most concise way I've heard yet.
Basically, he had paid to go for a riding holiday. He might end up with a silly little injury that might prevent him riding, or cause discomfort. But with armour, chances are he'd just get up, laugh, and ride again.

You'll never be invincible, but they prevent those sore cuts, or skin loss etc.

.blitz

I always wear my knee pads when riding I feel naked without them. I never used to bother but after realising how delicate the knees are I started wearing them all the time. Elbows hmm sometimes I have yet to land on my elbows as such it's always forearms.

Trouble is this lad I know who is more gnar than me although we are very similar in other ways and his riding is at the next level compared to mine. But his accidents are also at the next level compared to mine - ruptured spleen, broken collarbone, ribs, toes etc. He crashed back in November and spent all Xmas in plaster, came back in Feb with the full stormtrooper look neck brace the works and promptly crashed again taking a hard impact on the chest which meant he couldn't breathe properly and spent a few days on a ventilator.

I just look at him and think 'that's you that is' and ease off a little.

Northwind

YeehaaMcgee wrote:

Some guy on a RideGuide show once explained pads and armour in the most concise way I've heard yet.
Basically, he had paid to go for a riding holiday. He might end up with a silly little injury that might prevent him riding, or cause discomfort. But with armour, chances are he'd just get up, laugh, and ride again.

You'll never be invincible, but they prevent those sore cuts, or skin loss etc.

Bingo. i doubt mine have ever prevented a serious injury- they might have, don't know- but they've prevented loads of little ones. My riding time's limited as it is without losing a week or even an afternoon to a minor injury or just having a single ride spoiled. And that's just at home, never mind on holiday.

Clank

For me, it's only ever been accidents on tarmac that have chewed me up* - nothing significant off-road.

......so far.

I think I'm going to be evaluating some pads sets in the very near, and this thread appears to have some sound recommendations. Cheers guys.

*sufficient to put me off riding for a decade, at one point

mcnultycop

Free Kyle Straits with a MBR subscription.

(I noticed after I just bought some others).

milfredo

Bit off topic, but I am off to Bulgaria next Friday for a biking holiday and I thought I would try out some of my new riding gear (661 pro wrist guard) to see how comfy it was as I had a major off last year and didn't want my gammy wrist messing up my holiday.

Well I ony decieded to ride up a skate ramp with very muddy tires and fell nastly onto my bad wirst last night! Would I had done it if I wasn't wearing the support? Probably. Is my wrist probably fecked for Bulgaria? Probably.

Fecking biking.

andy_welch

Ah yes, risk compensation. One of those things that makes helmet threads so tedious, but it's true none the less. Put on more protection and you probably will take more risks.

As it happens I've just bought some elbow and knee pads for riding what most people would class as XC. There are bits on some of the loops that I like to ride that I don't do because of the fear of falling off and doing some damage. By walking down those bits I've lived to fight another day, but now I have the pads I'll be giving them a go and may end up doing more damage. Good fun though (as long as you don't have a big holiday planned that is).

Cheers,

Andy

DodgeT

I had a real silly off on hully gully at gisburn. Went further up one of the berms than I normally do.. not carrying enough speed I came to a halt at the top, slipped to the side and slid all the way down (dunno perhaps 15 - 20 ft) on my knee and elbow.
Got up laughing my head off and carried on, after dusting off my knee pads and elbows (661 sub top). Wouldn't of like to have had the same thing happen with nothing on knees/elbows..

$Dave$

Always wear my Kyle Strait knees whatever the terrain and sometimes elbows as well. Not had a major off since having them but have prevented plenty of cuts and bruises and I also ride more confidently/less distracted knowing I'm wearing them.

OhAndFour

Came off on a very rooty bit of black route at Hamsterley today and took a big chunk out of my knee. Lesson learned, knee pads ordered.

apreading

Tried some 661 veggie knee pads today round Swinley. They were OK but felt most comfortable when my leg was straight and inflexible when bending it. Not a major problem though, I could ride OK and largely ignore them. Was quite sweaty wearing them though. Took them off when done with the singletrack for the couple of mile drag back to the car park and boy was it nice to not be wearing them!

Can you get some that bend better or do they change shape or get less stiff after a while? And can you get some that breathe better? These have a little gap at the back of the knee but still loads of material and the material they have is quite thick.

Northwind

Veggies are a pretty poor design IMO... Thing is, people think smaller is better, right? But the big bulky kyle strait pad is miles better than the veggie, not just more protective. Small pads need to be dense, which tends to make them stiffer and less breathable. It's a trap I fell into too with the awful Chicken Wings.

bennett_346

G form pads are a good balance. They're soft and low profile then harden on impact.

DodgeT

I had veggies at first, they were sh1te. Moved around, uncomfortable etc.
Got some kyle straits and I wear them all the time, almost forget I've got them on.

Oh yes, got some chicken wings too, they are so awful I prefer not to wear them. Need some good elbow pads.

zznmfc

New 661 D30 knee pads - v pleased, wear them regardless of route / difficulty as anyone can fall off at anytime, infact I'd go as far as to say that you may actually come off more readily when you are not doing anything dificult, simply because it's "easy" and you switch off - obviously only my HO though....

apreading

Ordered some Fox Launch Pros last night to try. Got £10 off at Evans and if they are no good I can take them back to store rather than mess around with the post. They get rave reviews and seem like they may be the most breathable so I will give them a look. If not I will find a shop wit the Kule Straits to try.

The Veggies are too big now anyway - bought them last year and never used them but have lost 4 stone since then...

thanks

Anonymous

Knees are expensive if you're self employed / contractor type. But generally wear knee pads because they make me look gnarly and keep the knees warm.

Not sure they've helped but have landed on the knees many times without any hassles with them on.

Elbow pads I wonder about. Third time now in a few months I've scraped up my arm. I only need one though as it's always the right arm.

Cr3do

I have 661 Kyle Strait knee pads, which I have found spot on, totally for get they are on when on trail.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004B75EBI/r ... B004B75EBI

Also recently got some 661 Rhythm Elbow Guards, which seem great also!
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=72464

YeehaaMcgee

deadkenny wrote:

Elbow pads I wonder about. Third time now in a few months I've scraped up my arm. I only need one though as it's always the right arm.

That's curious, it's always my right arm that I mess up as well.
I can't be bothered with elbow pads though, so like I said, I only wear them after a fall, whilst the elbow's healing. Once it's healed, I strut my naked arms around everywhere.

OhAndFour

I searched all over for a set of Kyle Straits after reading rave reviews everywhere about them.

Final managed to get a pair in XL (cos my legs are big). hopefully they'll arrive before my next outing.