knee pads: yea or nay

rockmonkeysc

I find 661 pads just don't stay in place. I wore mine for an enduro race at the weekend, closest they have done to xc and I had to take them off for the climbs.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I find 661 pads just don't stay in place.

As we established in another thread, some do, some don't. Depends on which ones you have.

(Great shot of you riding the enduro in the other thread, by the way).

Lewis A

My kyle straits stay in place fine.

njee20

Never worn any kind of armour other than helmet/gloves.

Can see the merit, imagine my descending would progress more quickly if I started wearing armour and pushing a bit harder, but just not really fussed, same category as stopping to put saddles up and down and all that - I'd sooner just ride, and tend to do relatively long rides, can't be doing with putting pads on, taking them off. Don't want to be hindered whilst climbing either.

mike hunts alpine

I have the nukeproof knee/shin pads and cannot fault them not too heavy or sweaty and have withstood a good few scrapes and bumps and they still look and feel brand new.

prawny

I almost always wear knee pads now, elbow most of the time because I cant really afford to take time off work through injury and anything that will lessen the chance of that is a good thiong in my book.

I thought it might give me a false sense of security and I'd push harder, but I went out this morning with no pads and ended up going faster than I had in a long time. Bit daft really.

Thewaylander

njee20 wrote:

Never worn any kind of armour other than helmet/gloves.

Can see the merit, imagine my descending would progress more quickly if I started wearing armour and pushing a bit harder, but just not really fussed, same category as stopping to put saddles up and down and all that - I'd sooner just ride, and tend to do relatively long rides, can't be doing with putting pads on, taking them off. Don't want to be hindered whilst climbing either.

Honestly dont find them a hinder when climbing if im honest, and get a dropper for normal ridign (not racing) just to try and see what you think.

Find it saves alot of fuss for a day of fun on the trails with out having to stop.

Definately not needed stuff but definately can be used to an advantage to keep rolling but instantly change the set up of your gear to have a play

Ferrals

I'm definately getting a pair when i manage to shift a spare helmet i have to release some cash. I seem to be increasingly pushing my limits and have had a few close escapes recently!! going to give those dainese ones ago.

njee20

Find it saves alot of fuss for a day of fun on the trails with out having to stop.

definitely not needed stuff but definitely can be used to an advantage to keep rolling but instantly change the set up of your gear to have a play

Never lowered my saddle full stop though, so a dropper solves a problem I don't have!

Like I say, definitely see the merit, and if I bought a longer travel trail type bike I'd probably get some knee pads, and it would have a dropper. But riding an XC race bike in lycra, it just doesn't really work!

Generally quite an aggressive out of the saddle climber too, certainly not just spinning up climbs, I don't doubt they're better than they were, but they'd be a hindrance nonetheless!

Angus Young

njee20 wrote:

I don't doubt they're better than they were, but they'd be a hindrance nonetheless!

Not at all. Get a pair that fit your particular leg shape and you'll hardly know you've got them on. I don't give mine a single thought until I realise I'm still wearing them driving home.

Thewaylander

Not saying your wrong for youself, but i dont see why it wouldnt fun to try for rides,any xc bike can perform ok on downs and getting bit of room to work it can be a giggle. but what ever floats your boat.

Will agree totally with Angus though.

njee20

If someone wanted to lend me one I'd try of course, but my point is I'm not gonna spend >£100 on an item I don't want on the bike. The bike's perfectly capable of course, moreso than I am, but just not a worthwhile purchase.

Get a pair that fit your particular leg shape and you'll hardly know you've got them on

I'm being picky now, but I said they'd be a hindrance, you're saying you "hardly" know you have them on, ie you do know!

Again, not anti, they're just not really condusive to my 'ride 10+ miles on the road to the trails (don't use a Camelbak, where do they go?), do a 30 mile MTB ride, ride home again' style! If I was driving to the trails, riding around, sessioning a couple of descents then absolutely, but I'd not ride a 19lb carbon hardtail for that ;-)

Angus Young

njee20 wrote:

Get a pair that fit your particular leg shape and you'll hardly know you've got them on

I'm being picky now, but I said they'd be a hindrance, you're saying you "hardly" know you have them on, ie you do know!

Yeah, of course you know. Just as you know you have your shoes and socks on. But a hinderance, no. And I'm talking about a relatively heavy pair of 661 Rage pads in my case. There are many lighter, some mentioned here. The absolute key is to find a pair that gel with your particular shape. And, besides, you get used to anything that isn't too intrusive - when I first wore gloves I hated it for the first two weeks. Now I hate the feel of my bars without them.

JodyP

njee20 wrote:

Never worn any kind of armour other than helmet/gloves..

This but I sometimes leave the lid behind also.

njee20

Yeah, of course you know. Just as you know you have your shoes and socks on. But a hinderance, no. And I'm talking about a relatively heavy pair of 661 Rage pads in my case.

They can't not be. Discernible to most, no. But my odd foray into wearing baggies has been an unmitigated disaster (why on earth would you want all that excess material flapping around!?), can't see pads happening soon ;-)

Angus Young

njee20 wrote:

Yeah, of course you know. Just as you know you have your shoes and socks on. But a hinderance, no. And I'm talking about a relatively heavy pair of 661 Rage pads in my case.

They can't not be. Discernible to most, no. But my odd foray into wearing baggies has been an unmitigated disaster (why on earth would you want all that excess material flapping around!?), can't see pads happening soon ;-)

Ride faster - you'll have more important things to think about that some excess material.

njee20

If I could, I would, but the faster you ride, the more they flap!

cathalferris

Raceface d30 knee/shin pads, a nuke proof spine protector, and 661 elbow pads all of the time on the offroad bikes. Standard lid on the ReignX for trail work, full-face with goggles and Leatt brace anytime on the DH bike. I've a Leatt pressure suit en route for my upcoming trip to Les Gets on the DH bike, and I'll be leading my spares to other club members on that trip.

I'm a believer in wearing the safety stuff if I have it, as if I crashed and injured badly while not wearing something that would have mitigated that injury I'd feel fairly stupid. I've found gear that is comfortable and easy to wear and that works well for me.

I don't care that I might look silly with pads on my local trails, but I know that I go fast enough on them that inadvertent tree hugging would be painful and leaving me broken. My career is at a point where a significant time out of work would not be a good career move, so I'll happily look silly for the confidence that if I do bail badly that I'll be able to work in a shorter time due to being less injured than I would otherwise be.

I do Creek and whitewater kayaking to the point where the elbow pads get used as well, so I've two sports that could leave me quite injured if I screw up..

The gear also really helps my confidence to where I am learning faster with the gear than I would have without the gear.

Angus Young

cathalferris wrote:

if I crashed and injured badly while not wearing something that would have mitigated that injury I'd feel fairly stupid.

That's the lesson I learnt the hard way.

youngwalsh

I never bothered with them untill this little misshap
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 4fc9d37caa

rockmonkeysc

I think it's about knowing when you're most likely to need them.
If im going for an xc ride I won't wear them but for trail centres with armoured surfaces or a downhill session I would definitely wear them.

felix.london

Don't wear em going up, always wear em coming down.

Ferrals

I've bought a pair of the Dainese ones, they seem really good, I had no issues with the Velcro strap. Will be a fair while before I can test them in anger but they feel good around the house

stubs

Rode last sunday wearing a pair of borrowed 661 pads the ones that replaced the Kyle Straits and I thought my knees were going to burst into flames. Okay it was a hot day but they spent half the ride on my rucksack its going to take something a bit more airy to get me in pads.