I have noticed quite a few comments on here taking the pee of people who ride XC with armour. Almost every time I ride a wear knee pads and elbow pads, (sometimes a compression suit with shoulder/elbow padding)) even on a basic local loop. I like to ride as fast as I can (not very admittedly!) over roots, rocks, down techy trails etc and I fall off sometimes. The scrapes on my Poc kneepads tell me my kness would be in trouble if I hadn’t been wearing pads.. Not to mention the local gorse trying to inject it’s defence mechanisms into my flesh. So am I sensible and are you mickey takers wrong? (I confess to feeling overdressed att eh recent STW swinlety ride)

If you wanna wear it then wear it, dont worry about what anyone else thinks.

I wouldn’t dare comment on someone wearing armor or not.
I’ve seen so many people mess themselves up and receive injury’s that seriously effects there quality of life.
ride in what your comfortable in, and if your like me and have an aggressive riding style don’t be afraid to wear armor.

I have noticed quite a few comments on here taking the pee of people who ride XC with armour.

You think you’ve got it bad, try wearing a king of the mountains top.

I don’t worry what anyone else thinks and yes I have a fairly agressive riding style, when combined with not great balance and a need for speed (when not going up) I wear if for my own good. I was interested to see what the “body armour is for pussies” brigade might say (or of course the resident trolls)

falling of and twating your knee on a XC or a DH trail is going to bloody hurt (or are rocks harder on DH trails). 🙄

you could of course ride a 160mm bike (I’d suspect these people would think you where super cool then)!

XC is for wimps now – didn’t you know?

You can push your limits and be at more risk of crashing regardless of what terrain you are riding.

So wear armour if you want.

if you need it then your not over dressed.

I have seen people riding SDW in body armour and i can only imagine how awful that is.

I don’t like pedalling in my armour.

I don’t bother for local rides (I rarely wear a helmet for local stuff either) but after coming off at C-y-B I see the attraction. I’ve got a light armour shirt and knee pads. Never actually worn them… Next trip to C-y-B I will. Unless it’s sunny…

Sensible if you know you push yourself and crash from time to time.

It is not a fashion show or the school playground. If someone passes you on a rigid fixie with a mankini on then good for them if it makes them happy (probably not the best sight for you mind).

I put a good hole in my elbow in a very slow speed fall at GT which could not be stitched therefore I often wear elbow and knee pads.

shit…you seen him too?

I’ve fallen off plenty of times. My knees are a bit scratched up, but that’s all.

I don’t think armour would help with the really big crashes, hitting trees, breaking collarbones etc. Tempted to invest in full armour for DHing, but we’ll see about that.

i thought you said “mannequin” 😳

A friend of mine ripped his knee apart on a ride in the cotswolds and spent 6 months off the bike waiting for it to repair. Will not ride to the shops now without knee pads.

Having seen some nasty crashes and getting older, taken to wearing knee pads on xc trails, the body takes longer to heal these days.

Sefton, I do not want to see your next pic!

F*ck the nay sayers. I used to wear shin/knees and a pressure suit when I was into jumping; because I was crap at jumping 😆 It meant I could do the necessary falling off to learn better technique.

I don’t get t-shirt, jeans and full face. Trendy, but a contradictory acknowledgement of risk.

I’m much rather over pad and have a good session, than be nervous/injured for a shred of acceptance from a stranger. I generally ride mellower trails without armour these days. I’m more concerned about my candys crippling my legs!

The sort of person to think better of you for riding bareback is probably not worth seeking approval from.

“The people who mind don’t matter, the people who matter don’t mind.” Dr Seuss.

might as well wear knee pads – it is too easy to hit your knee and even a light tap might be enough to give you niggling problems for the rest of your riding life.

guy on a ride I was on wore full shim guards after being on a ride and a rock shot up from the guy in front’s rear tyre and smashed him in the shin.

wear them dude…beats this…

I’ll wear Knee pads for some XC rides, on others I’ll pop them in the webbing on the rucksack to put on for that one scary descent… If I’m riding offroad at night I’ll always put them on, if it’s a gentle tow path ride with the missus/nipper helmet only…

But Body armour, elbow pads and full facer I only use for DH days where I’m really pushing a bit harder…

It’s all about percieved risks, if you feel you’re riding hard enough and expect to have some close calls then wear whatever you consider appropriate protection…

I normally assume when I see someone decked out in full armour at the trail centres, that they have worn that kit because they plan to fully attack the DH sections and maybe have a slightly more agressive “Flatout or Crash” mentality (possibly lacking in technique dare I say it), I’ll normally let these people head down the Descents first, better to catch up to, than be caught by them I find…

Some might snigger, but I think very few would openly take the piss out of an “Over-armoured” rider so just wear what you want…

I took the piss out of some lads my mate brought to Kirroughtree because they were padded up .

Guess who fell off on a simple part of the trail and ended up pissing blood from knees and elbow.

this might be a little excessive for xc rides

could get heat stroke too!

Cheers @ mr plow (mankini) and Andi (shop ride) for a Friday lunchtime laugh!

I thought it only got worn at Glentress…

I wore more in Canada and knee pads in the Alps. But nowt here. If it’s what you want, go for it, it’s all about yourself after all. Although I do think sometimes its a tad excessive how much gets worn. Just my opinion.