knee pads: yea or nay

stubs

Ferrals wrote:

Nice one - did you find a size guide anywhere? I was considering ordering myself (although now I'll wait to hear your verdict first )

Couldnt find them in the size guide on the Dainese site. Asked a mate who has some of there Moto Cross kit and he reckons they are fairly standard for sizing. I have chunky legs and have ordered a XL

poah

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have noticed that at downhill races I'm definitely in the minority wearing armour. Even neck braces are becoming less common.
Injuries are quite common in races, the medics rarely have time to get bored.

I don't get that - the kids have to wear armour so why not the adults.

poah

stubs wrote:

Ferrals wrote:

Nice one - did you find a size guide anywhere? I was considering ordering myself (although now I'll wait to hear your verdict first )

Couldnt find them in the size guide on the Dainese site. Asked a mate who has some of there Moto Cross kit and he reckons they are fairly standard for sizing. I have chunky legs and have ordered a XL

I found it on the Dainese site - according to that I'm not even a small (assuming knee girth is just round the knee)

http://www.dainese.com/media/catalog/si ... rt_eng.pdf

KNEE PROTECTORS SIZING CHART
SIZE S M L
Knee Girth 36 39 43

homers_double

Thewaylander wrote:

Always, seen a fair few peoples stretchered off with their knees shredded as they have crashed (it’s a rather exposed spot on the body) and had friend crash at slow speed gash his knee so deeply I had my fingers inside his knee to clean it to get him to hospital (he lost a month off work). For minimal cost and discomfort I think its not unwise to have some.

Pretty much me 10 years ago and I still get jip from it now.

I wore a set of 661's for a few years after the crash until my knee didn't hurt to touch then hung them up inthe wardrobe and haven't touched them since.

rockmonkeysc

POAH wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have noticed that at downhill races I'm definitely in the minority wearing armour. Even neck braces are becoming less common.
Injuries are quite common in races, the medics rarely have time to get bored.

I don't get that - the kids have to wear armour so why not the adults.

BC rules are based on UCI rules. There are a few races where armour is compulsory but not many.

Rushmore

I usually do wear them at trail centres, although mostly round my ankles/shins to keep cool while on climbs... The. If there is a downhill where I fancy giving it some beans, I just pull them up...

ilovedirt

Ferrals wrote:

One thing I wonder about though is if your going to wear pads, if it isn't better to accept a bit of discomfort for more padding. I guess if your knee slams a tree stump /rock at full speed those light weight ones won't do much?

I crashed really hard about this time last year at FOD - I WAS wearing knee pads, but hit that hard that I completely tore the front off of one of them and did a good bit of damage to my knee - I ended up not really being able to walk for a week or two after. I dread to think what would have happened had I not been wearing pads at all... I've worn them for pretty much every ride since then.

ej2320

I wear them just because it means I can carry on riding if I have a crash
Where as without I'm likely to mess up my knee and not going to be able to finish the ride, plus it saves the inconvenience of having a bad knee for a few weeks

Rockhopper_tm

Always wear elbow and knee pads. Started wearing them when I tried SPDs many years ago, when I went back to flats I still carried on wearing them.

Ferrals

POAH wrote:

stubs wrote:

Ferrals wrote:

Nice one - did you find a size guide anywhere? I was considering ordering myself (although now I'll wait to hear your verdict first )

Couldnt find them in the size guide on the Dainese site. Asked a mate who has some of there Moto Cross kit and he reckons they are fairly standard for sizing. I have chunky legs and have ordered a XL

I found it on the Dainese site - according to that I'm not even a small (assuming knee girth is just round the knee)

http://www.dainese.com/media/catalog/si ... rt_eng.pdf

KNEE PROTECTORS SIZING CHART
SIZE S M L
Knee Girth 36 39 43

Ah cool I'd be bang on a small, think I'll see if I can find a stockist though rather than mail ordering them just to be sure.

Kowalski675

I was chatting to the lad who lives opposite me this afternoon. He's just dragged his ageing Giant hardtail out of the garage and went to Gisburn at the weekend with a couple of friends. No kneepads, he came home with bleeding knees...

Ferrals wrote:

Ah cool I'd be bang on a small, think I'll see if I can find a stockist though rather than mail ordering them just to be sure.

You can send 'em back with free carriage if you order from Chain Reaction.

Kai in the Borders

It depends on what I am doing really. (Same goes for whether I choose to use flats or SPDs.)

If it is technical stuff then I'll wear knee pads at the very least.
I rarely use elbow pads, only for really scary stuff and uplifts. I use 661 evo pads which are very comfy. The knee pads are fine for a day out on the bike and lots of pedalling.

I've also got the sub zero shorts and shirt for uplifts/Alps etc. which is when I'd use a full face helmet. I couldn't really use one on trail centes or XC stuff as I think I'd melt. I've no idea how other people can do so unless they're stopping regularly or just slow!

marcus'73

I bought a set of Fox Launch Pro pads and tried them for the first time yesterday. I'd been down hard twice this year already and was starting to second guess myself and bottle it or hit stuff too hard to make up for it. I was still a little wary of really pushing the jumps and I'm still carrying a slight shoulder injury but it did help with confidence. I won't wear them for XC but for trail centres I think I'll persist with them.

monkeybar

I def always wear a minimum of helmet and knee/shin combo, feel naked without. Worth the discomfort, have seen plenty of knee injuries as it's one of main contact points in a crash. Plus I use sharp spikey pedals which do spin round and bite sometimes.

Angus Young

Looks like 30% of riders don't fall off as much as I do. Dang!

stubs

Got the Dainese Skins lovely light pad with tons of ventilation holes, they would be perfect. Except there is a velcro strap at the top that dug into the back of my leg, wearing them round the house for 15 minutes and I had a red mark. They are going back for a refund which is a pity as they were so light.

poah

stubs wrote:

Got the Dainese Skins lovely light pad with tons of ventilation holes, they would be perfect. Except there is a velcro strap at the top that dug into the back of my leg, wearing them round the house for 15 minutes and I had a red mark. They are going back for a refund which is a pity as they were so light.

what size are you? The fit guide is pretty bad so go no idea what to go for

stubs

POAH wrote:

stubs wrote:

Got the Dainese Skins lovely light pad with tons of ventilation holes, they would be perfect. Except there is a velcro strap at the top that dug into the back of my leg, wearing them round the house for 15 minutes and I had a red mark. They are going back for a refund which is a pity as they were so light.

what size are you? The fit guide is pretty bad so go no idea what to go for

I got the XL size but I have got chunky legs, imagine a badly shaved Gorilla. I tried them on and they were snug but pads need to be slightly tight at first, it was just the velcro at the top of the pad that irritated it needs a lining or something to stop the hook part rubbing.

FishFish

dusk wrote:

I ride to enjoy myself, that involves going fast and dogging so wearing pads is a no brainer for me.

I also got buggered a few years back so having pads to lend to my partner is better than using my hands - a bonus. I've seen some pretty bad injuries from quite mundane sodomy too(people without pads) which keeps me reassured.

I could also compare it to a helmet in that even if you've never put it to use it's still nice to know it's there.

yes, it is nice to know that your helmet is there.

Ferrals

stubs wrote:

Got the Dainese Skins lovely light pad with tons of ventilation holes, they would be perfect. Except there is a velcro strap at the top that dug into the back of my leg, wearing them round the house for 15 minutes and I had a red mark. They are going back for a refund which is a pity as they were so light.

Could you not just tighten the velcro at a slight angle?

stubs

Ferrals wrote:

stubs wrote:

Got the Dainese Skins lovely light pad with tons of ventilation holes, they would be perfect. Except there is a velcro strap at the top that dug into the back of my leg, wearing them round the house for 15 minutes and I had a red mark. They are going back for a refund which is a pity as they were so light.

Could you not just tighten the velcro at a slight angle?

Tried everything but the velcro just rubbed my leg. I have got very chunky legs so it probably wont be a problem for anyone who isnt a circus freak like me. They are very light pads with vent holes in the knee and mesh like fabric, gutted they didnt fit

Angus Young

stubs wrote:

They are very light pads with vent holes in the knee and mesh like fabric, gutted they didnt fit

Aside from the afore mentioned velcro issue, did they give you confidence or are they compromised of the sake of lightness? Would you be happy 'going for it' with them on?

stubs

Angus Young wrote:

stubs wrote:

They are very light pads with vent holes in the knee and mesh like fabric, gutted they didnt fit

Aside from the afore mentioned velcro issue, did they give you confidence or are they compromised of the sake of lightness? Would you be happy 'going for it' with them on?

I reckon they are more general falling off and scraping your knees proof, wouldnt like to land knee first on a pointy rock or wallop a tree trunk. Deffo XC use only.

Angus Young

stubs wrote:

Angus Young wrote:

stubs wrote:

They are very light pads with vent holes in the knee and mesh like fabric, gutted they didnt fit

Aside from the afore mentioned velcro issue, did they give you confidence or are they compromised of the sake of lightness? Would you be happy 'going for it' with them on?

I reckon they are more general falling off and scraping your knees proof, wouldnt like to land knee first on a pointy rock or wallop a tree trunk. Deffo XC use only.

Good as a second pair for hot XC, then.

johnmcl7

I managed to bang my knee when I went over the handlebars, it wasn't a bad injury but meant no riding for a couple of weeks while it healed and the various scratches were irritating so I decided to try a pair of Leatt 3DF knee pads a local bike shop were advertising shortly after. I knew they wouldn't offer much impact protection but at the same time they'd hopefully be enough to prevent or reduce bumps like the one I'd just had and comfortable enough that I could wear them all the time without issue.

I bought them end of summer last year and they've been one of my best purchases, they're comfortable enough that I can wear them all the time even though I do a lot pedalling as I usually cycle out to the tracks. I actually prefer having them on than off as it feels right having the protection there as I was very used to having solid body armour on when on the motorbike. They were also good in the winter when it was colder as I could stick with shorts and then have the knee pads covering most of the remaining bare flesh, I'm hoping to pick up the matching elbow pads at the weekend partially for protection and also to keep my bare arms warm so I don't need a jacket.

I was also considering the top body armour section as I had a fairly big off a couple of weeks ago rather I was lucky to get away with, Leatt do offer a similar light weight chest section that can take a neck brace with protection for the shoulder and arms but that's possibly going to be a bit too heavy going in the summer.

John

poah

scrapes my knee the other week wearing SPDs

peter413

No less likely to damage your knees using clips IME.

Qui3tman

I had a pretty simple washout on a small bomb hole at Swinley forest and managed to land on the only sizeable rock nearby with my knee which lead to a lovely big dent which, whilst it didn't bleed much, hurt like fudgery. I now have a lovely big scar just below the knee cap and now don't go biking without my 661 Rampage knee/shin guards! They are pretty warm in the summer heat but to be honest I don't notice them once I'm flying down the trails.

.blitz

Used to wear knee pads just for gravity riding but after a few different pairs I was fortunate to find some (Fox Launch) that are comfortable enough to wear all the time.

Most of my falls are lowsides on Cannock's fabulous pebbles and it's always my knees that hit the ground first.

BigStu2

I've got a nice pair of 661's that I wear every now and then, I wish it were more often but they seem to wear away the skin just where the knee bends , that combined with sweat = It Stings Will try applying chamois cream to the inside of the pads and see how that goes tommorow.