Or as ChrisL says of a mate of ours who armours up like mad all the time, "He doesn't like pain, but he doesn't seem to mind sweat"

I'm expecting OP to state next that he passed them while kicking up dust on his shonky SS and then get banned (again) soon…

haha if only you knew how wrong you were about who the op is…

Well I still don't see how relevant the difference between the red at GT and a DH course is. If you fell of and hit the ground hard and fast, you're likely to injure yourself aren't you?
Or do you mean there is some little leprechaun at GT throwing mattresses just before you impact?

wilkoM6 you are so far up your own backside i`m surprised you see anybody else 😯

Rorschach – Member

What armour would prevent you from breaking your hip…or tearing an ACL then?Or even breaking a collar bone?At best it stops gravel rash,skinned shins,bruises and puncture wounds.Does'nt stop the things that would really screw you up long terms-Helmets not withstanding.

This is a misapprehension. Armour can prevent bones from being broken.

juan – Member

Well I still don't see how relevant the difference between the red at GT and a DH course is. If you fell of and hit the ground hard and fast, you're likely to injure yourself aren't you?
Or do you mean there is some little leprechaun at GT throwing mattresses just before you impact?

V funny. Juan like all the other sane people on here are just trying to tell you Mr Wilko that you are way off base.

Maybe they are using part of the red to get to an unsanctioned part of GT where the full DH gear is called for?

So its your assertion that 10mm of eva foam and 2mm of soft plastic held on with a bit of elastic could dissipate the impact of a crash strong enough to brake an arm/leg ,preventing seroious injury….ok.Whatever makes you feel safer.However helmets and the likes of 661/dianese armour don't work in the same way (unsurprisingly).

Wilko sorry for not being subtile but,
your a massive tool.

Whats it to you what protection someone wears, Im pretty sure last time I checked you look out for number 1 and last time I checked its also rude to be an opinionated **** in an area that doesn't affect you.

Im sure if anyone feels the need to kit up, sweat on the ups and mince on the downs with a big smile on his face knowing he wont get gravel rash if he falls off he can.

and to be honest good for him, having fun is what its all about not being a tool who gives two craps what someone else thinks.

you sound a bit too materialistic and most likely fit the "cool boy downhill mtb rad club" that I think gives downhill and biking a worse name.

biking is about having fun, period. not what some other tool thinks.
stereotyping doesn't do anyone any justice other than making a fool out of yourself with your narrow mindset, you obviously don't have the power of thought and verbal diarrhoea comes naturally.

By the sounds of it you'd think the sun shines out your arse.

jeez op , you sound real tired, wtf has it got to do with you what other people wear whene they are out on there bikes.ive meet people like you before, they go on to become ramblers ffs.

Best way to avoid the padded up mincers is not do Spooky Wood. Its guff.

Wish I had been wearing some !!! –

I hope you ride spooky on your m6, god that'd make me so happy haha

It does sound a bit OTT for red trail, not to mention uncomfortably warm. Saying that, I prefer to wear my 661 kyle straits on rocker stuff, esp. when riding my FS which encourages me hoon downhill and get into all sorts of trouble. Very occasionally I get the elbow pads out.

But was going light on my HT today and fell while hooning down Stony Lane – just bleeding a bit, which the 661s would have prevented. Tch!

Each to their own.

Each To there own. I generally wear Some Kyle Straights & standard XC Lid for most riding. Last time at Whinlatter i decided to thrash it so wore my Full face & elbow/forearm pads aswell, overkill? Maybe. Did i care what anyone else thought? Not at all!

I find it more cringeworthy when out riding seeing people with no protection at all!

These threads are always just a thin veneer hiding the real message of –

Other people are just not as good/fast/rad/skillful/brave as me.

In my limited experience, these posters are distictly average riders in reality, having done a little DH which makes them marginally faster downhill than some of the XC riders on a day out and usually serves as an excuse why they're not very good at everything else involved on an XC ride.

I suspect in this case it's just a troll in which case a 50+ reply count must point to it being a pretty good one,

It's only excessive until you hit the ground and if you aren't hitting the ground then you are mincing 🙂

I don't wear any pads etc, in fact I don't own any. I was riding a jumpy section at the weekend though (The Runway at Carron Valley) and was wondering to myself if having pads might make me more likely to jump off some of the bigger bits instead of just sticking to the small stuff. If I did have pads and stuff and folks saw me on the earlier parts of the trail (which are very easy) they'd probably think me mental though.

Doesn't worry me what people wear.

Personally a helmet and gloves suffices for me but I know a few self employed lads who have previously had a serious injury and lost £££'s through being unable to work so now get armoured up for every ride to minimise the risk of a repeat.

Fair enough really

Rorschach – Member

"So its your assertion that 10mm of eva foam and 2mm of soft plastic held on with a bit of elastic could dissipate the impact of a crash strong enough to brake an arm/leg ,preventing seroious injury….ok.Whatever makes you feel safer.However helmets and the likes of 661/dianese armour don't work in the same way (unsurprisingly). "

In fact they do work in exactly the same way. Of course not all pads do meet the EN standards but most quality ones do and the effectiveness they have is very well documented and easily understood.

Were the riding a bike like this?

Northwind – Member
In fact they do work in exactly the same way. Of course not all pads do meet the EN standards but most quality ones do and the effectiveness they have is very well documented and easily understood.

Indeed.

Have a look at the cen testing criteria for pads,then have a look at the one for helmets.Helmets are made from eps with a thin covering (which provides no structural purpose) and rely on the material deforming permanently to absorb crash impact.Pads use a bit of plastic with some thin cushioning.Not that Ive discussed this with Nick Bayliss who used to design 661 armour or anything……

What a cock Wilko is

who cares its up to the individual if you have the cash and it makes you fel safer then why not

Rorschach – Member

Have a look at the cen testing criteria for pads,then have a look at the one for helmets.Helmets are made from eps with a thin covering (which provides no structural purpose) and rely on the material deforming permanently to absorb crash impact.Pads use a bit of plastic with some thin cushioning.Not that Ive discussed this with Nick Bayliss who used to design 661 armour or anything……

I think Nick Bayliss is a clothing designer isn't he?

Hey the OP is talking about me:-)
I was by far the most padded at Gawton today. I was also the slowest and opted out of one section on super tavy (as well as the two gap jumps!!). However I enjoyed myself and entertained a couple of guys who watched me with bemusement. I did ride back up just to get a sweat on
I'll be mincing at the mega as well oh poo

I have never considered buying body armour and don't ride with anyone who has it.I think the piss taking would last for ever if I did buy it.Not that I don't crash mind you .

People can wear what they like and Im not concerned who wears it or dosent.
I dont justify wearing it or not to anyone.
And I wouldnt take the piss out of anyone that did, or didnt.
theres some pricks on this forum.

"Have a look at the cen testing criteria for pads,then have a look at the one for helmets.Helmets are made from eps with a thin covering (which provides no structural purpose) and rely on the material deforming permanently to absorb crash impact.Pads use a bit of plastic with some thin cushioning."

The materials are obviously different. The result is the same and the methodology is equivalent. All of this stuff works by taking an impact, and reducing the amount of force that comes out the other side. Helmets, knee pads, all the same but with different details in execution of course.

Permanent deformation isn't relevant- some body armour is single use, such as Knox's honeycomb back protector, which is crush-and-replace. Others are not, such as Knox's foam back protector, which is multiple-use. The only difference there is that one passes the level 2 EN for back protectors and one passes the level 1. Suomy have demo'd a non-deforming, multiple use crash helmet which exceeded the CEN for helmets for that matter.

EN1621-1 lays out exactly what a piece of body armour has to achieve to be legally sold as armour- simply, it has to take an impact of a specific power, and transmit a reduced force into the test body. And since it's this force that injures you, reducing that reduces the risk of injury. If the force is reduced below the threshold of a specific injury, then the injury is prevented. It's really not brain surgery. Or, you know, knee surgery. That's also exactly how helmets work.

Northwind bows to the applause. Succinct, accurate and timely.

I will back northwind up here – altho the main usefulness of armour is in preventing minor injuries some of it will reduce major injuries – especially hip pads – they are particularly good for preventing hip fractures.

However I do believe that risk compensation can lead to armoured riders having bigger crashes.

As for the OP – if they want to why not? They might be really pushing themselves to and above their limits. ( or they might be mincers of course.)

I gave up mountain biking because I could not bare to see all the ATGNI folks mincing around using more equipment than I did.. It made me so angry and tense when I saw these freaks that I kept popping all my joints out of… joint.. very painful and dangerous when riding..

Luckily.. after 17 years of not riding I was blinded in an x-box related incident and was able to start riding again..
Ironically I now wear loads of armour when I ride cos I fall off so much on account of the blindness.. what a crazy world!

EDIT: mostly I ride downhill… I'm not sure if I ride at GT or Fort Bill cos I can't see where I'm going when I drive there.

In'it up to them ?

Not for me,but each to their own,eh?

Wearing full facers on a XC route is OTT imo but it's their choice and for all I know they may have some medical condition that requires it.

I saw some guy ride up to Sainsburys earlier wearing normal clothes (ie he wasn't on the way back from the trails) but wearing elbow pads riding a supermarket special, now that is OTT protection.

Taking the tandem round Laggan Red we didn't have enough bottle to carry enough speed into some sections to clear them. If we take it there again it will be armoured up to the eyeballs. That might just lead to a big crash but we were going fast enough anyway that if it all went wrong it was going to hurt.

wearing elbow pads riding a supermarket special

you have seen the build quality of those bikes haven't you? 😉

Not for me,but each to their own,eh?

Pretty much sums up my attitude as well

I don't own any armour I'm an XC mincer

But i'd love to read a good article on whats available and what each item does

I do think this is a case of live and let live. Its not like you wearing body armour could wreck some one elses day……