Since cracking my fibula jra I’ve decided I’m always wearing knee pads for xc. I’ve got some chunky 661 things which I’m convinced would have saved my leg in my recent crash however they’re big and intrusive and sweaty on hot days. I wondered if anyone has a view on the relative protection offered by g forms. Looks like they’d fit the bill for comfort, but I don’t want to compromise safety.

Cheers,

Jez

Anyone?

661’s will give you much better protection.

I was considering them for the old elbows and read some reports of the tacky rubber outer gripping rock and pulling the pad off as you crash, which doesn’t sound great.

I like mine, super comfortable and have passed the knee-to-wall test with flying colours.

Never had to use them in anger, so can’t comment on the rubber grabbing rock thing above. Can’t personally see it being and issue tho.

There really is very little to them. They are easy to wear and offer some protection, but they will not be as effective as larger more padded (bulky) armour if you do end up hitting something hard.

Find mine really comfortable and havnt moved when I have crashed, I have used 661 in the past and they offer more protection but I found they often got dragged down when I crashed leaving no knee protection and for anything other than DH were hot and uncomfortable.

As far as I can tell there is no such thing as knee pads that are really comfortable for long XC rides on hot days yet still offer excellent crash protection. If you want more comfort you just have to accept less protection.

I’ve got a set of Endure MT500 pads that aren’t bad and I’m currently going through a spell of trying to force myself to wear them on every ride in the hope that the skin around my knees will eventually toughen up to the point where I don’t notice them. So far results are pretty inconclusive though. I notice them less than I used to and can tolerate them on 2-3 hour rides now. But they are still sweaty and my knees are sore when I take them off (e.g. sting a bit in the shower where they rub in a few places).

The impact reduction might be as good as fatter pads (they’re both CE approved I think) but the gform coverage doesn’t seem as good.

I use the g-form pads when I’m expecting to hit the deck – stood up well to a season of BMX racing, and several DH races too.

They don’t offer as much protection as others, but the trade-off is you don’t notice their on… which for me works well.

As far as I can tell there is no such thing as knee pads that are really comfortable for long XC rides on hot days yet still offer excellent crash protection. If you want more comfort you just have to accept less protection.

My Scott Grenades are really comfortable on long rides.. So much so that I hardly notice the fact that they are there.. Even when it is 30c+

What bit of the knee do you want to protect? just the front of the knee or the sides too?

If just the front then I think the g-form pads will do what you want. Although thin they are made of that clever material so I believe will give good protection to the front of the knee. But if you want some side padding too then the g-form are lacking a bit in that department.

Have to you also taken a look at the POC Joint VPD knee pads? Expensive but most of their stuff gets great reviews.

I have both g form and 661. G form are so comfy I would wear them anywhere anytime, but they are thin when crashed recently they did move and I did get some small scrapes but they did offer some protection as I was bruised all around the outside of the pad. I say if it’s proper gnarly riding then 661. If its the kind of stuff that you wouldn’t normally bother with pads then g form does just offer a little bit of protection.

bought the new raceface ambush knee pads they are awesome and very well ventilated, worth a try and no need to take shoes off to put on and off

This topic is good timing for me as I don’t usually bother but I’m considering them for when I do c2c in a few weeks. So what would be best suited for that? (Apologies to op for thread invasion).

Based on this thread I ordered a set of G-Form knee pads last week, which arrived on Friday. My only comparison is with my Endura MT500s as that’s the only other set I’ve used. The MT500s are generally considered to be on the more comfortable end. More a trail than a DH pad. I can tolerate them on 2-3 hour rides, but am always happy to take them off as soon as I can.

Taking the package with the G-forms out of the letter box it was already clear that these were going to be a different proposition. They are much much slimmer than the MT500s. Slipping them on they just felt like a pair of lycra knee warmers with a little bit extra on the front. I tried a quick drop to my knees on a tiled floor though and they did indeed seem to work.

I used them for a 3 hour ride yesterday and hardly noticed them at all. The upper gripper slipped down a bit after an hour or so, but still wasn’t uncomfortable and it was easy enough to pull them up again. It will be interesting to see how they perform as they wear/stretch though.

I can’t really comment on their protection as I didn’t fall off. Never seem to when I’m wearing pads 🙂 Although the coverage seems OK my guess is that they wouldn’t give quite as much protection as the MT500s. However, they certainly provide more protection than the MT500s do when they are sitting in the cupboard at home, which is where they tend to stay. The G-forms are so comfortable that I can see myself just sticking them on for every ride without thinking about it.

mtfu and wear the 661’s.

Got the 661’s and the nukeproof ones – often forget i have them on until i’m getting undressed and can’t take me shorts off.

Knee-pad wise I use the G Forms for lite trail stuff (with climbing) and MT500’s for when it will be a bit more ‘tasty’ although to be fair to the MT500’s I find I can wear them all day without too much trouble.

I actually prefer the G Form elbow pads to the MT500 ones so tend to wear these all the time, from trail rides to even DH park trips. Have crashed a few times and they seem to have held up well.

I ride in high humidity, were you will be covered in sweat from about 10 minutes into any ride and both G Form and MT500 still feel comfortable after a few hours riding.

The upper gripper slipped down a bit after an hour or so, but still wasn’t uncomfortable and it was easy enough to pull them up again. It will be interesting to see how they perform as they wear/stretch though.

Mine are probably a year old now, and haven’t changed in shape due to wear or washing, I would suggest that you decide carefully as to which size will fit before ordering. Again I’ve not properly fallen off to test their protection, but I bought them to forestall that initial impact not as ‘proper DH’ knee pads. Only slight niggle is that they lycra material has started to expand the hole around the stitching, but as it obvious I’m now am careful how I pull them up & they’ve not torn further.

I’d bin the endura ones first crash with them on when i really need them they just rotated around and i was left with a big hole in me knee.

been faffing on whether to get a pair of g forms – don’t usually use anything other than an helmet for protection but going through the plantation the other day, one minute on a wideish sunny and dry trail went under the trees the trail dipped and suddenly, because of my sunglasses under the thick canpy, I couldn’t see the ground properly which hadn’t dried out and was still wet and very slippy, and then I was going too fast to even consider using the brakes on the wet rocks and roots so I just had to point it towards the end of the “tunnel” and absorb all the hidden bumps until we burst out the other side and into the sun again.

I should have anticipated the change in conditions or at least have been ready for any change, but I was just blasting down a wide trail and got careless.

No damage done, but it made me realise that I need to protect my knees and elbows a bit without having to stop to put pads on – so going to buy myself an early Christmas pressie now.

Is the official size guide ok? If on the edge of the range size up or stick with the lower size?

This is basically why I bought the G-forms. If I knew I was going to be pushing my (very narrow) limits then I’d put the MT500s on, but I realized that almost all of my crashes happened when I wasn’t expecting them. Usually just silly stuff; front wheel washing out on dusty trails, hitting “hidden” rocks etc. The G-forms are so comfy that (unless it is really hot) I’ll just stick them on for any ride.

I went with the size guide and it seems pretty much spot on. The only issue is that it is based on measuring around the middle of the knee, but doesn’t say whether this should be with your leg straight or bent. I found that I was at the bottom of the Large range when standing, but the top when sitting, so went for Large.

[Hijack]

I have a set of unused black G-Form elbows in large from when I ordered 2 sizes and didn’t return the ones I didn’t want. So if anyones interested they’re for sale.

[/Hijack]

just ordered a pair of xl knee pads and also elbow pads from blackleaf – although they annoyingly said there was something wrong with the order and can I call them in the morning… 😕

I still have mine…

how much are you wanting for the pads?

£30 delivered should be about right i think.