Minimal body armour recommendations

PerformingMonkey

A reasonably big crash at the FOD left me with a cracked rib and several weeks of lighter than I would have liked training (running and road biking only, no weights at gym, no swimming, no MTB or BMXing) which was an annoyance as much as anything.

Therefore I am looking to purchase some lighter, more minimal body armour to make sure the next time my stem meets my rib it's less of an issue.

I've taken a look at a few older threads e.g. Body armour needed me thinks, and amongst the general discussion about the merits of armour and what else you could use the money for instead (skills course, not falling off), the general consensus is the usual suspects of 661, POC, EVOC, Dainese on the main web sites (CRC etc).

So, what style is most suitable and best value for me? I do a mixture of riding, mainly XC with some jumping and downhill. It is the latter two I seem to end up crashing most on. I want something I can wear all day without cooking me and that will stand up to the odd slam or two.

I am a fan of 661 gear and the options seem to be Sub Gear (seems very minimal), pressure suit or full bore plastic armour.

So what are the rest of you wearing and what can you recommend?

craker

Armour's no good if you don't wear it. And if you do wear it then maybe like Volvo drivers, once you're inside your cocoon of safety you go at it like a nutter.

Just XC for me these days... knee pads and pressure suit unworn in years.

The Rookie

Unless you are doing some relatively serious gravity driven riding I'd not wear armour, the trouble is what do you not protect, a mate broke his toe in an OTB when the top of his shoe caught the top of the stem, so you could wear a stack of armour and still be injured, and if you end up hot sweaty and knackered due to the increased weight/heat then you are more likely to come off anyway.

So for Trail/XC, helmet and perhaps knee/shin and elbow at most, for enduro up then something suited to balance the need for protection (based on risk) and the need to keep yourself in best condition to ride safely.

PerformingMonkey

OK maybe some clarification on my initial post. I don't plan to wear this for every single ride. As The Rookie begins to allude to I probably only need it for more gravity focussed riding. This would be times when I visit FOD, BPW, Rogate, Chicksands or similar.

I have decided to get some, I am just looking for some community feedback on their purchase experiences.

Kowalski675

The Rookie wrote:

a mate broke his toe in an OTB when the top of his shoe caught the top of the stem

How unlucky was that.

rockmonkeysc

Only the heavy, rigid armour is going to give any protection against broken bokes. Even with my 661 vapour armour I have broken ribs, a collar bone and fractured my shoulder blade. I only wear it for a bit of spine protection.
Light weight armour only gives protection against minor cuts and bruises.
Getting some coaching will be better.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Light weight armour only gives protection against minor cuts and bruises.

Not true. Modern flexible armour like Sastec and D3O transmits less impact energy than old fashioned hard armour. It's not used in motorcycle garments for no reason.

rockmonkeysc

It doesn't prevent fractures and breaks, nothing does. Thats why most dh racers don't bother with armour.
Mountain bike accidents generally involve point rocks, motorcycle accidents involve hitting cars and the ground.
Nothing protects against heavy impacts against pointy rocks, roots and tree's.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

It doesn't prevent fractures and breaks,

Yes it does. That's what it's for. Not all of them (obviously), but plenty of them. To break a bone takes X newtons of force. The armour spreads the point load, dissipates the energy and if the reduced transmitted force is less than X newtons (as it often will be) then the bone doesn't break. Simple as.

Mountain bike accidents generally involve point rocks, motorcycle accidents involve hitting cars and the ground

Sorry, but that's a very stupid statement, lol.

rockmonkeysc

The accidents which break bones generally involve heavy impacts with pointy things. Only rigid armour spreads that sort of load, even my semi rigid armour does very little in impacts like that which is why my ribs cracked when I came off in a rock garden wearing armour.
The most common fractures are collar bones and wrists, nothing protects either of them.

Kowalski675

Whatever.

The Rookie

Kowalski675 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

a mate broke his toe in an OTB when the top of his shoe caught the top of the stem

How unlucky was that.

Very, and the OTB only happened as he clipped a branch when going into a shady patch out of bright sunlight with his new wider than before bars, his old 40mm narrower bars would have missed as the mark from the hit was right on the tip.

PerformingMonkey

So still no recommendations?

rockmonkeysc

Nothing lightweight is going to prevent any significant injury.

felix.london

Not sure any normal armour would've stopped you cracking your rib on your stem.

poah

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The most common fractures are collar bones and wrists, nothing protects either of them.

learn to fall better

Kowalski675

The Rookie wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

a mate broke his toe in an OTB when the top of his shoe caught the top of the stem

How unlucky was that.

Very, and the OTB only happened as he clipped a branch when going into a shady patch out of bright sunlight with his new wider than before bars, his old 40mm narrower bars would have missed as the mark from the hit was right on the tip.

Sounds like it wasn't his day, lol.

97th choice

I've some 661 sub gear that I sometimes wear on trails, I'm not convinced it would do much though if I had a big off.

For trails/xc it's nothing or just elbow pads. for more gnarly stuff it's knee and elbow pads all the way up to pressure suit depending upon how scared I'm feeling.

Kowalski675

97th choice wrote:

I've some 661 sub gear that I sometimes wear on trails, I'm not convinced it would do much though if I had a big off.

If you want we could throw you off a drop into a rock garden, with and without the suit, so you can test it.

rockmonkeysc

Kowalski675 wrote:

97th choice wrote:

I've some 661 sub gear that I sometimes wear on trails, I'm not convinced it would do much though if I had a big off.

If you want we could throw you off a drop into a rock garden, with and without the suit, so you can test it.

If a vapour pressure suit does almost nothing in rock gardens then a sub gear will do even less.

passout

I've only worn armour a couple of times & hated it. Whatever you go for I think you need to try it on first. Can't advise on fitting but whenI tried it it rubbed like hell. I'd go to decent shop & ask.

jairaj

PerformingMonkey wrote:

So still no recommendations?

You're going to get lots of conflicting views on this. It's quite hard to decide where to draw the line on too much protection or not enough. You have to make that decision for your self according to what is correct for you.

I have tried a few bits and bobs over the years. 661 one knee pads are very good. Their budget range of elbow pads are rubbish.

POC stuff is very good, super expensive but if you can afford it, it is worth it. Their hard elbow pads are comfortable if you can stand the extra warmth. Fallen on them a few times, although none of the falls were hard enough to break anything or give serious injuries, they would have hurt a lot and left cuts or bruises, but each time I just dusted my self down and got back on the bike.

Their body amour is also very nice to wear. Highly adjustable to get a good fit and lots of R&D technology to try and keep you safe. Never had a tumble while wearing it so can't comment on level of protection.

WindyG

The 661 doesn't really offer much in rib protection more the chest as the ribs most likely to get injured are the lower ones, the Bluegrass vests offer better chest and rib protected.