Thinking of trying out flat pedals. Specifically, those ones with pins. Is it advisable to get some leg armour?

won’t ride flats with out shin guards.

I haven’t bothered after trying flats after 17 years on spd’s. Mind you it’s on a long-ish travel FS so I’m not getting bounced around much, nor is my riding particularly hard core.

I don’t use anything when riding flats, not a problem at all.

“itches his scabby, scared swollen shins”

I bought some of those 661 veggie shin pads shortly after starting riding with flats, yes.

With hindsight, it would have been better for my legs if I’d bought them before.

No never bothered. The vulnerable area tends to be the back of your calves rather than your shins. Check the calves of any rider who has made the switch and you’ll see the tell tale scratch marks. Fortunately as bad as they look, it strangely doesn’t hurt when you do it, but it bleeds like hell.

is knee and shin armour overkill or just the shin?

back of your calves rather than your shins

…goes looking for something for the back of the calves.

The thing about owning armour is that you really need it on the days you don’t wear it.

I’ve got a hole in a shin that hasn’t healed over after nearly two months, oops.

Aye, veggie shins

661 Veggies. But then with MG1’s & long ‘Terror-Pins’ I need them!

With or without flats I’d say yes.

usually yes but the one time didn’t wear it ended up with 8 stitches down the shin so will try and remember in future

Nope. Wear 661 Kyle Straits for downhilling and trips to the BMX track but don’t bother with protection at other times. Ride with flats all the time.

Ms Spanner does after loosing her Pretty Polly modelling contract.
661’s velcro fastening at the back.
She hated them for the first ride but loves them now.

I don’t, ‘cos I have a pathetic need to believe that I am some kind of northern hard man.

I usually only get grazes from the pins on the back of my calves, but I’ve got so used to them now I hardly notice…

Used too, but now with decent shoes and grippy pedals don’t feel the need. Very occasionally catch my calve, but nothing maajor.

I ride with knee pads which cover the fleshy part of your shin just below your knee(O’Neal but 661 Kyle Straits are basically the same). I used to use full knee/shin pads but there isn’t that much to actually injure on the middle part of your shins and I was having problems with pads rubbing, so I went to the O’Neals and haven’t looked back.

The vulnerable area tends to be the back of your calves rather than your shins.

speak for yourself – i’ve got little pedal pin scars all over pretty much the whole length of my front foot shin from the slipped foot pedal spin and impact. hardly ever done my calf, though.

only on the DH bike.

ride flats all year round on the XC bike and have never bothered with armour.

Nope, if you have decent shoes (5.10s) then you shouldnt find yourself hitting your shins to often.

Veggie shins cover the back of your calves as well as shins, which is why I got them

661 Race knee and shin pads do not cover your calves, as I learned the hard way.

I do.

The kids love seeing my cuts and grazes when I get ,and I’m sure the Mrs fancies me just that little bit more since switching to flats.. Win win

nope, and I ride with bare feet.

If your just doing XC then you should be fine, if you start to get airborne i would go for some shin guards. Whilst jumping with v12’s a few years back i managed to gouge a bit of bone out of my shin and acquire 12 stitches. Its not a pretty sight looking down to see exposed white bone, also especially nice returning from AE to find a flap of skin hanging off one of the pedals!!

Yes and no.
Yes if I’m wearing shorts.
No if I’m wearing my full length downhill pants.
To be truthful, I aven’t really had any major shin/pedal connections, and I’m still running my old Rob Warner Basejump shinrippers. I get good grip with these and a decent pair of trainers without having to spend a fortune on 5:10 footwear.

XC I ride with some 661 kyles that only cover knee+ a bit really. DH I put on some dianese full knee / shins.

does anyone know of any pads akin to the kyle straits but with a shin guard, but not full on DH. looking for something that is comfortable for xc rides but with a bit of shin protection.

661 Veggie Shin Wraps.

i havnt used them, the only time i have needed them when i rode into a flower pot. i ended up with 15 stitches in my shin!!!

have DMR v8 on both mine n the missus’ bikes.

They KNOW when we arent wearing shin protection and bite!

ride normally with my Hard Knox shin guards i’ve had for a decade… its only when i dont wear the pads that i catch my shin on the pedal and leave lovely scars

This is a fairly hopeless question, to which the answer is inevitably “it depends”.

I often use flat pedals, and rarely wear armour. I am not terribly RAD, generally not very clumsy, and am happy to live with cuts and grazes and blood trickling into my socks as punishment for being clumsy when it happens. Wearing itchy, sweaty, smelly and vaguely annoying pads because I’m not sure I can keep my feet on the pedals never strikes me as a worthwhile trade. Your preferences may differ. 🙂

Just Kylie Straits for me for DH and jumpy stuff. Some scars, but despite crashing pretty regularly trying to, ahem, ‘pin those corners’ only really recall a couple of pedal to shin interfaces in the last 2 years. The comfort and extra protection (for my knees) of good kneepads is worth sacrificing a bit of shin tissue once in a blue moon.

I would suggest using some kind of shin protection though whilst you find your feet on flats.

The vulnerable area tends to be the back of your calves rather than your shins. Check the calves of any rider who has made the switch and you’ll see the tell tale scratch marks. Fortunately as bad as they look, it strangely doesn’t hurt when you do it, but it bleeds like hell.

Oh, No? it can **** hurt!! if you run your finger down my shin bone you’d find I have dents, lumps and actual pieces of shin bone missing and deep scar tissue on both shins ( )the only damage to my calfs has been from chainrings. although I have only hit my shin off a pedal once or twice in the last 10 years or so and the last time it was from walking into it.
I rarely ever wear armour other than DHing and never really “made the switch” I started out on flats and only used SPDs for the 5 years or so I raced XC in the early ’90s.

I don’t bother, but then I haven’t slipped a pedal for a while. I would if I was doing an uplift day (along with full face, arm protection, etc) but not got general riding.

only ever used flats and crap shoes that dont stick, always cut my legs to ribbons but thats half the fun walking into the shops post ride leg covered in blood , mud , etc plus “chicks dig scars” . If you do go for pads just need to below the knee unles you fall off

Get some shin guards you might not like like them but they will save you from slow healing shin scars.

Only for d/h. I’d feel a bit daft riding to work in pads 😉

I tried pads for trials, got tired of them and it rarely was needed, I only really found pedal-shin interfaces occurred when I first switched. Regularly get holes in teh calf on my flats but frankly it makes no difference – stings for a fraction of a second and then goes away, who cares?

Got 3 4″ scars up the front of my left shin from trials where I slipped off the pedal backwards and ended up knelt on the pedal. Smarted a bit, but doesnt stop play. Looks worse than it is.

I’ve started to wear pads and not long afterwards I started to hit trees 😳