Full face for xc?

Maro

I like both natural stuff and trail centres.

I went to BPW last week and had a blast. It's a bit like FoD in that the blues are not difficult to ride but are lots of fun and become a challenge when you add more speed. The reds were generally a mix of fast open bits and tight twisty droppy sections through the trees. I didn't feel the need to wear a FF but then I was only gonna ride blues and reds, I didn't uplift and it was pretty hot that day too.

I guess the slower chaps with FF helmets on were fairly inexperienced and might have been riding the most extreme trails they have seen, I think I would wear one if I thought I would be riding to my absolute limit. We had a few guys n gals pull over and let us pass, if they were in FF they might not have known we were on their tail, maybe that was the reason Rockmonkey was held up.

Gazlar

My mates used to wear full face for xc, one of them had a nasty off trying a drop off and ripped his face open and the 3 of them present at the time just didn't fancy taking the risk after that. 2 of them have now reverted to normal helmets and the guy who smashed his face up varies depending on what he's riding. I suppose its down to how you feel comfortable, I cracked a bone in my leg with an errant pedal so now I wont ride without shin guards, granted I might get a bit hotter than in just knee pads but I ride quicker because they give me more confidence

paul.skibum

I rode at Afan on Saturday and I saw a fair few full facers and quite a lot of pressure suits first thing - I know there is the black off Whites level and I have never ridden it but I cant believe it is that extreme to need all that gear?

When I went to Canada for my first summer, everyone in the bike park staff said we all ride flats and full faces as they suit the type of riding we do here, best get yourself kitted out - I went and got a nice lid, pulled on my flats and headed out on the trails - to be honest the single blacks were no more than I had ridden in the Alps with an XC lid and a small travel bike - I probably went a bit quicker on the full DH bike and jumped further but aside from it being pretty unfashionable to wear a xc lid on a dh bike I am not sure I actually needed the ff helmet.

There were definitely faster more airbourne riders than me about so maybe I just wasnt doing it justice and the double blacks probably warranted their use. XC trails - nah.

jairaj

As a beginner I think you perceive there being more danger than there actually is. You are not comfortable with riding even slightly technical terrain and you end up thinking that you are riding the same stuff as Gee Atherton is riding in World Cup.

That's certainly how I felt when I started off riding. I used to wear a full face and mince down things that I don't even worry me any more. Similar when I went to Afan for the first time. I hadn't been anywhere with so many rocks or sustained descents (I live in Hertfordshire). I wore a XC lid but wore elbow pads and knee pads and was crapping my pants on the downs.

Now when go to Afan I'm happy with just an XC lid, having a lot more fun and try and see how fast I dare take the sections not simply hope I make it through.

The Northern Monkey

paul.skibum wrote:

I rode at Afan on Saturday and I saw a fair few full facers and quite a lot of pressure suits first thing - I know there is the black off Whites level and I have never ridden it but I cant believe it is that extreme to need all that gear?

There is the mini bike park at afan... i wear full face for that..

JMcP92

I've attempted it before but just not enough air-flow for my liking, got you very tired and sweaty very quickly when climbing, just lack of air flow. Yeah, better for protection, inarguably, but weigh up what you need. I couldn't stand it

Green Meenie

My dislike of trail centres has been strengthend by riding Bike Park Wales this weekend. The ques of lappierres and Fives at the start of every trail, seeing people ride incredibly slowly then loudly telling everyone how they drifted and whipped their way down trails. Mostly I just like nice quiet, natural trail with no route markers or difficulty gradings. Its more satisfying finding fun features rather than having huge berms and groomed jumps everywhere.

If by this weekend you mean Oct 5/6th then its worth pointing out they were hosting the Welsh DH champs that weekend and hence off course there would be queues and busy trails. They only had 2 out of the 6 routes open to the public. Ive ridden there around a dozen times now and never had to queue for a single trail. There has been the odd stupid idiot stopped in the middle of a trail but don't see how that's any different to having to dodge stupid ramblers.

Personally i just enjoy getting out on my bike and will happily ride anything

rockmonkeysc

I was there for the race, the ques were quite obvious but I completely forgot that there were three or four other tracks closed as well as the race tracks so I guess that would have made ques a lot worse.

ste_t

Mate of mine rides in a full face so I'll put the confidence he has in tackling stuff I'll avoid down to that.

Can't keep up with me on the climbs though, mostly due to his face melting inside his helmet.

Same as everything we do, personal preference and a compromise. I've crashed into/headbutted a tree wearing an xc helmet and I'm no more of a moron now than I was before so must have worked adequately.

Thewaylander

At Afan there is a ton of DH routes built by locals not far off...

I personally haven't found them, but i know someone who keeps promising to show me. just because someone is using it ona trail centre doesnt always means he is just riding the centre.. there is normally a ton more riding round these areas

rockmonkeysc

I have ridden some DH at Afan. I wouldn't ride up any of the trails to get there though.

Maro

I rode the bike park bit at Afan and there were probably equal number of FF and XC helmets being worn. What a place though, we expected to be there for 10 minutes before riding the other trails, we rode there for about 2 hours and left the trails for another day, loved it.

frankspencer1979

I'm a bit sh!t so I bought myself a full face so I can tackle places like Lee quarry and the hope line at gisburn with a bit more confidence. Until I get better, it's not unlikely that I'm going to fall off and smash my face up so it seems pretty sensible to me. Wouldn't use it for a day out in the lakes though

Kowalski675

Never tried a full face lid on an MTB. I imagine they could get very warm (especially in summer), but I wouldn't find it claustrophobic, I've spent 20 years wearing them (not all the time, lol), so it just feels natural having one on. I'd probably look at buying one if I was doing more gnarly riding than I am.

Gazlar

RockmonkeySC wrote:

My dislike of trail centres has been strengthend by riding Bike Park Wales this weekend. The ques of lappierres and Fives at the start of every trail, seeing people ride incredibly slowly then loudly telling everyone how they drifted and whipped their way down trails. Mostly I just like nice quiet, natural trail with no route markers or difficulty gradings. Its more satisfying finding fun features rather than having huge berms and groomed jumps everywhere.

I agree that there is an overreliance in trail centres to get out and ride, and I agree a lot of them are getting very samey in large sections, but I'd also fall into the category of person riding very slowly but getting quite vocal that I slid a bit, the thing is its a sport that you don't have to be super rad and awesome at, and to us unskilled that little bit of air or drift is quite a thrill really, it is a sign that were starting to push our capabilities and gain a bit of confidence. While I dislike the sameyness of a number of trail sections, there is nothing better for that confidence than a bit of repetition and familiarity and consistency of surface to hone those skills, much in the way a golfer will hit balls on a driving range, its not recreating a game of golf, but familiarising yourself with the physical mechanics of the sport.

angry_bird

Thewaylander wrote:

just because someone is using it ona trail centre doesnt always means he is just riding the centre.. there is normally a ton more riding round these areas

This, last summer I spent a lot of time up at Cannock as I had naff all else to do and it's about the best, cheapest and by far the easiest local place for me to head to, I'd mess around the XC stuff for a bit, both the trail centre and off piste, then head over and play at Stile Cop for a few hours, I found it really annoying carrying a FF on my back when riding XC, much easier just to wear it the whole time, soon got used to being warm.

neilus

I see three categories:
1) People who have never smashed their face up, and dont see why they ever would, they wear normal XC lids
2) People who previously belonged to group 1, smashed their face up, and now wear FF lids
3) People who have never smashed their face up but recognise theres a distinct possiblity they could, they wear FF lids
I belong to the latter group. Over cautious perhaps, like the other FF wearers, i like my face...theres a ton of threads online on this topic and invariably theres a pic of "my mate that only had an xc lid in hospital" and i dont really wanna be that guy.
As to the heat/climbing thing, it goes on my back...the risk of having the kind of crash where i could do some damage to my head whilst climbing is very, very low indeed, and its one im willing to take...
Just my 2ps worth...

rockmonkeysc

I have had my biggest injuries riding my xc bike including one accident resulting in three broken bones and a dislocation along with a heap of gravel rash but I still won't wear a full face helmet for xc. The idea of having to stop and remove my helmet then strap it to my pack for every climb seems like a real pain in the butt.
I have a very good full face helmet but the idea of wearing it for xc rides would put me right off riding xc.
Maybe because I have a dh bike for when I want to ride really hard I dont tend to push my ability on my xc bike and because I ride dh I'm more confident riding fast and don't feel that I need extra protection.

njee20

neilus wrote:

I see three categories:
1) People who have never smashed their face up, and dont see why they ever would, they wear normal XC lids
2) People who previously belonged to group 1, smashed their face up, and now wear FF lids
3) People who have never smashed their face up but recognise theres a distinct possiblity they could, they wear FF lids

Mmmm, I've never smashed my face up. I see it's a risk, but not sufficiently so to wear a FF (or any body armour actually).

Thewaylander

hmmm with njee.

though i always wear knee pads, to many messy injuries seen. but maybe if i had sexy legs like Njee i would

njee20

Nope, I've got some pretty messy legs frankly! Big ol' scar on one knee from a nice deep cut that got infected. So much pus when it burst.

RobJ20

I have smashed my face, but still dont wear a FF for XC. I sometimes wear one for things like Snowdon and Lee Quarry.

paul.skibum

I smashed my face into a tree back when I first started riding - I have a grey dead tooth in the centre of my upper row of teeth as a result and a scar on my upper lip, the same accident broke my ribs and my wrist, screwed up my back, hip and knee a fair bit too.

I bought a Met Parachute after that to protect my face then stopped wearing the chin guard after a few months because it was hot, uncomfortable and generally annoying to ride in - I have my FF for DH duties and I wear it for those as I have it - if I didn't I probably would wear my xc lid.

rockmonkeysc

Met Parachutes are completely pointless. They give no extra protection, you just get the chin bar mashed in to your face.
I would never ride dh without a full face, the speeds are much higher and there are generally a lot more rocks etc to mash my beautiful face.
I have seen a dh racer hit a tree face first while still on the bike at around 35-40mph taking the full impact with his head.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have seen a dh racer hit a tree face first while still on the bike at around 35-40mph taking the full impact with his head.

Ouch. That's a serious crash.

ilovedirt

I can see why some people wear full faces for XC, I crashed a lot when I was just starting out, and it hurt too. Not so much any more and I'm fairly comfortable wearing an open face riding pretty much anything these days. That said, I had a crash earlier this year that would have seriously fucked me up if I hadn't been wearing a full face (we're talking completely smashed lid). People wearing full faces for XC do look daft, but I won't stop them doing it. Makes enough sense if you're a novice, can get bloody hot though.

That all said, I had a crash in north wales last january when I faceplanted and bit through my bottom lip. I also did a similar thing in the peaks last summer where I ended up almost knocking my front teeth out (they stayed in, but I had to push them back into place as they were pointing the wrong way, that fucking hurt), but I still wear an open face. The amount I go riding VS the amount of times I do that doesn't quite warrant a full face, for me at least.

rockmonkeysc

Kowalski675 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have seen a dh racer hit a tree face first while still on the bike at around 35-40mph taking the full impact with his head.

Ouch. That's a serious crash.

To be honest I expect the worst but after a minute or two unconscious he got up and walked away. I expect he didn't feel too good the next day.

Kowalski675

The last thing you ever want to hit is a tree. No matter how fast or hard you hit them, they don't move. He was lucky to walk away from that.

ilovedirt

Yep, trees bloody hurt. As do rocks.

rockmonkeysc

Rocks are like trees but pointy. Crashing in a rock garden hurts. 3 cracked ribs, broken collar bone and concussion last time I came off in a rock garden.