I could do with some body armour ‘just in case’ for my couple of trips a year to somewhere with hills / bike parks (off to BPW in March).

I have no intention of appearing in Redbull videos. 6 inches is big air for me. You get my drift? (That’ll be more of a panic skid than a drift too).

Truth be told its as much to look a bit more enduro than out-of-place xc mincer as I don’t intend pushing hard enough to fall off! Any suggestions whats good for a bit of knee and elbow scrapage avoidance? Is second hand any good or likely to be sweaty damaged goods?

Tries some Leatt 3DF on Sunday for the first time. Normally hate kneepads, but was wearing them, and had a massive, full speed crash that I walked away from unscathed. So I can recomend those, plus 661 D30 elbows.

Depends.

If sh stuff is hardly used it’s fine. I have a coresaver I hardly ever wear which the previous owner also hardly wore. As below though, I’d be suspicious of knee pads etc sh.

My old kneepads, however pprobably stink and the straps have stretched so that I can’t trust them to stay in place on impact and they’re therefore useless although the actual pad part is still fine.

My old elbow pads were worn about twice as they felt uncomfortably like having books strapped to my elbows.

Decide which items you need and how much you’re prepared to spend, then go trying things on.

If you foresee hard OTBs then something like a subgear tee might be worth considering. Cracked ribs hurt. A coresaver is better but hotter / less comfortable.

I’ve just gone POC for pads after deciding I was okay with the price versus interruption to daily life of injuries…

Full body suit is a bit OTT for my level. Will be blues and a few reds at BPW I expect.

Just after some value knee and elbow pads – anything to avoid as uncomfy/crap? Particularly good experiences?

Saw some knee and elbow pads in decathlon last time I was in – not tried, but their stuff is usually good value.

661 rage is good for the money as is nukeproof.

661 riot is a total waste of money as it’s uncomfortable and you’ll never wear it.

Unless you’re in a sale or get discount, I’m not sure there’s a truly decent kneepad south of forty quid. They’re like helmets. It’s the sort of thing you really need to try on. Just remember to try and push it out of the way. If it moves much then it’s going to do the same if you hit the ground and want it to be where you left it…

CRC have a 661 long sleeve stretch armour shirt in their sale at a ridiculous price, i think they retail at 58 quid and theyre in the sale for about 17!! I bought one when they were 25 and its brilliant, you wouldnt know youre wearing it. elbow and shoulder pads and a slight padding on the sternum, plus its underarmour type material so it`s temperature controlled too. Total bargain, and it sounds like just what you need for occasional use. +1 on the 661 riot knee pads, they are gash. Ive never got a 661 knee pad to stay up, but those are espescially bad. Ive had raceface dig knee pads for 2 years and cant fault them, CRC had the 2013/14 version of them on the go at a massive discount too recently.

This is the one i meant, but unfortunately it looks like theres been a run on them. Unless youre small it looks like youre out of luck. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/661-sub-gear-l-s-shirt-2013/rp-prod72484
These are the knee pads. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/race-face-dig-knee-guard-2013/rp-prod89276

Thing is… If you’re going to get it, why get stuff with the intention of not using it much? Get stuff you might use more. I wear knee pads pretty much all the time because I’m a bit delicate, but it’s no bother and it’s not so much the big injuries that it’s for since they’re so rare anyway, it’s the wee pain in the arse knocks. With decent, inexpensive kit like the 661 Rage knees, you might just find you don’t mind wearing them more than you think.

Elbows are harder imo, there’s not many elbow pads I really like and POC are stupidly expensive (not to mention goofy looking)

Hm. Just been to take a look at the subgear shirts and unfortunately the only ones left in the sale are XS. 🙁

I did find this though… It’s reasonably priced and combines compression and wicking. The times I’ve gone OTB and ended up with bruised or cracked ribs, I’ll be getting one of these. The coresaver is exactly the right tool for that job but too much for a play in the woods…

Back on items the OP wants to know about, though… They have the 2015 Rage knees at about £32 which is a steal. I’ve just retired a set of 2012’s that simply no longer fit due to strap stretch. The Rages are velcro above and below, so you should be able to get a fit. They’re fine for all day use – that’s how I always used mine.

Northwind, that’s why I’ve gone POC now.

With canny buying I’ve got VPD 2.0 Joint for Elbows and knees at around £110-115 all in the lot. That’s still not cheap pads, but it is a lot closer to normal prices. Bad pads I didn’t want to wear and a run of clipping trees with my elbow convinced me to spring for the pads. Personally, I don’t think they look goofy. They don’t feel restrictive. I totally agree on wearing usually. It’s only really if I’m going for a bridleway spin I’ll leave them behind. Otherwise I just pad up while I’m getting changed.

I was interested in the Dainese Trail Skins, but the lack of a relevant size chart and no one wanting to stock the Elbows lost them the sale… They may have sorted this now, it was Autumn I was looking at them…

Timely stuff. Got it wrong l as t night and cracked a rib and bruised a few others. I don’t bend like I used to…
I’ll be checking out some of these links.