OK, so I’m prepared to take a little heat on this but I’m genuinely a bit concerned. We’re off to Afan at the end of the month and after seeing Chopchop’s injury (posted today) I think I need to take steps… just in case. There is history here. Last time I rode a big hill (the Alps about 8 years ago) I had a fairly nasty ‘off’ on the first day that resulted in a visit to hospital and no more riding for a month; all because I lost the back wheel on a fast corner and hit the deck hard… and there was nothing I could do about it, didn’t even see it coming. One of those crashes!

So. Older, faster, a bit better and looking forward to lots of long, technical, fast decents. What steps should I take? I’m thinking fore arms, knees / shins and must be light weight for the climbs. I don’t want to over do it but prudence seems sensible, my wife will be very pissed off if I don’t come back in one piece 😳

I have Endura MT500 knee pads.
Very impressed so far; they become invisible after a few minutes.

Cannot say the same for my Dianese Knee+Shin pads…very restrictive on the flat and impossible on a climb.

Full face helmet and upper body armour is only for when it points downhill.

PaulD

Thanks Paul. Will take a look at those.

Anyone else have any good suggestions?

I always wear full upper body protection 661 for me as good for my pocket.and knee-shin pads,gloves with knuckle protection.

and soon to be an owner of a Met Parachute.

all of the above i wear for trail centre use.

really

perhaps

u picked the wrong sport?

661 sub gear is pretty good. Light padding on chest, shoulders and arms all sewn into a base layer. Pretty comfy although very warm. This with some lightweight knee pads is about the limit of what I would wear except for dh.

and there was nothing I could do about it

This isn’t true though is it? The best way to avoid hurting yourself is to ride better (slow for corners, head up, look where you want to go and stay within manageable speed). As to pads for trail centres I’ll wear knee protection, but anything else is too uncomfortable. If concerned, perhaps some arm pads to put on at the top (I have 661 D30 knee pads for trail and Dainese arm pads with plastic armour).

g-forms are the only pads I’ve used where you genuinely don’t notice them most of the ride. The knees pedal really well, they’re machine washable and so far have held up really well in use (no stitching coming undone etc). They won’t give you as good protection as a hardshell pad but there’s no way I’d want to leave the couple of hardshell pads I’ve tried on for a climb.
I’ve not used them in really hot conditions yet so not sure how comfy they’ll be in summer (the backing is just thin lycra though so can’t see them being any worse than wearing 3/4 tights), given the sock rather than strap design they’re a PITA if you do want to take them on and off regularly (as in you need to take your shoes off to) but the idea is they’re comfy enough to leave on anyway. Also not sure how they’ll hold up in a crash as I’ve not had one since wearing them (maybe they have magic holograms in them to…).

I’d just wear kneepads and elbow pads. Anything else is too restrictive for xc.

But if you want to, perhaps look at armour designed for snowboarding. It’ll offer a degree of protection but to be honest, you’ll be proper boil in the bag….

Click for snowboard protection

I just ride with kyle strait knee pads, which are not incredibly bulky, but noticeable on long climbs. I feel like they’re worth the compromise for the downs though, where I don’t even notice them, yet still feel like they give me some well needed confidence.