Never worn them in the past, but getting back into mountain biking now, and am much older. Are knee pads a good idea for real trails and trail centres - am aware that I may end up buying them too late, if I have a big off, but wonder if it's a triumph of marketing over reality.
What are people's experiences on here? Worthwhile? Do you continue to use them having started?
Are the 661 d3o's worth the extra cost for their slightly less bulk and comfort, or re cheaper ones as good?
CR and Wiggle don´t sell replacement knees, that´s good enough reason for me.
Bought the 661 d30 on here 2nd hand, doubt they´re worth full retail. The Fox pads are a bit cheaper and look good.
Straight up XC type riding and I probably won´t wear them but if I´m headed anywhere rocky or steep then I´ll stick em on at the top before descending and leave them on til I get home. Even in the middle of summer (spain) they´re not too bad).
got some older (only worn a couple of times) 661 knee and elbow pads FS cheap if you're interested in trying them and need XL.
Say 20 quid posted for them.
I have had the 661 Evo's for 2-3 years, never had a pair of knee/elbow pads before so I can't compare.. They seem very good to me, I usually forget I'm wearing them, and use them as arm/leg warmers when I'm cold.. Also known to ride like that too, they are that comfy.
They will help with big impacts, but they haven't got a plastic covering so something could pierce through them into your knee.
I love this video..
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VDeJ7rLUYU
Always wear my Fox Launch Pros no matter what the weather. I feel proper naked without them. You know you're wearing them but only in the same way you know you're wearing undercrackers.
It's not so much protection against a big off it's more a case of protection against the niggling little scrapes & knocks that stack up.
Knees are delicate joints and as you get older you really have to take care of them.
I use bluegrass knee pads! Don't bother with elbow pads when I first got them they felt mad but soon got use to them!
I've crashed at whinlatter and my pads saved my right knee hitting the side of a stump! Just get some! I use them All year round and on natural trails to!
For XC stuff then g-form pads can't be beat IMO, comfy enough to wear all day (and I have 661 evo's to which are touted as all-day pads but I always looked forward to taking them off if I had a big climb...) you just need to size up from the charts. Must have worn mine a dozen times now and no sign of them falling apart, you can wash them easily at 40c with the rest of your kit to so no excuses for having humming pads.
If doing DH you're better off with a hardshell pad but can't see the need for XC/trail centres.
Always wear my Fox Launch Pros no matter what the weather. I feel proper naked without them.
Same here.
Bit bulky I suppose but it that never causes any problems and they are still light.
I don't really see the advantage of fancy hi-tech pads.
they keep my knees warm in this chilly weather and make me look very serious..
Just got a pair of G-Form knee + elbow pads (in that lovely bright in-your-face yellow) for going underneath the jeans/top.
Bought for when I'm hooning about on the DH bike or BMX, not pootling around trail centres though...
I personally find the forearm/elbow pads more useful, when I seem to fall that's what hitting the deck first. I've found knee/shin pads useful when riding in rocky areas when stones fly up and hit you. I have the hardshell type.
I only wear my pads when at trail centre/alps as where I ride the ground is reasonably soft (tress are fairly firm though !). My helmet has proven very useful. FWIW I'm 49, my riding mate (60) had a face first crash and bought a full face.
Saw some in a mag recently that looked like leg warmers with a bit of padding. Looked a lot more relevant for the kind of riding around my way. ( mud,mud root,mud ,mud,mud,root)
No doubt someone will tell us what they were as I have forgotten.
Never used to wear them until March of this year.
I was up on High Street & dithering because I'd gone the wrong way and lodged the front wheel in between some small rocks. Stupid embarrassing off and my knee landed on the edge of a small rock edge.
I had just a small cut but with a stringy thing hanging out that I had to push in and I now have a permanent impression of a rock across my knee cap and a dull ache sometimes.
I tried loads of different knee pads but eventually settled on the Endura MT500 ones. Not something you can buy off the net. Go to a big store and try before you buy.
Protected me in a big icy fall on Saturday too.
I do like the look of the G-Form ones though.
@zippykona - sounds like the g-forms...
661 Kyle Straits are my first knee pads and they are like a lucky charm. Not had a knee whacking crash since the one last summer that made me buy them in the first place 
Just bagged some veggie elbow pads but not worn them on a ride yet
Another one for the G-form pads, very good and non restrictive. You may want to size up on them, I sit in the middle of the large sizing but they made my feet numb after half an hour so got the XL instead. thebikechain seem cheapest using STWTBC code or on ebay from tredz.
I'd steer clear of D30, it's been a solution waiting for a problem all along and has wrongly been adopted (for marketing reasons by lots of products) given it hardens on impact, that has the effect of transmitting energy straight to where it shouldn't, sure it's flexy but as a protection item has been ruled out by most serious protection companies and as it needs padding to back it and is not easy to secure the padding in a way to guarantee protection and energy dispersion it often fails EC tests.
We had a bit of experience of this in snow and kiteboarding a couple of years back and it's now largely been discarded.
Use Kali knee pads myself, nice way of continuing to wear shorts in cold weather.
+1 for the Endura MT500 knee pads.
Keeps them warm this weather too!
PaulD
D30 also appears to increase the likliehood of head-shovel impact.
Troy Lee KG 5400s - nice and light, well fitting, I wore mine all day for 3 days running during that Indian Summer week and 5300+ft climbing per day (needed a wash after that...)
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=59945
I'd steer clear of D30, it's been a solution waiting for a problem all along and has wrongly been adopted (for marketing reasons by lots of products) given it hardens on impact, that has the effect of transmitting energy straight to where it shouldn't, sure it's flexy but as a protection item has been ruled out by most serious protection companies and as it needs padding to back it and is not easy to secure the padding in a way to guarantee protection and energy dispersion
So the video above lie's!!! Also all pads rely on a hard insert or padding of some sort or both!! The video above shows several impacts which he doesn't really feel so obviously the impact energy is being dispersed or absorbed by the D30 proving that it does in fact work. I also have 1st hand knowledge that it does work.
i use the hammer test. scott grenades came out best 
+1 for G-Form pads, although I'd prefer them in black rather than bright yellow. They're always in my camelbak and come out when things begin to look at little scary, or when I'm really tired at the end of a long day.
I've also got the Endura MT500 which don't get used much now. They tend to come up a little on the small side.
Impressed so far with my black G-Forms.
Very comfortable.
Is there a website with knee protector reviews on it, Currently looking myself.
661 kyle straits.never ride without them ...except once. end up with with a knee haematoma 
i'll do a review on my video blog of the ones i have used at some point
The pads I was thinking of are 661 rhythms. Leg warmers with a padded front basically.
Kyle Straits here. Very comfy. Do like the look of the Rythms though.
TurnerGuy - Member
Troy Lee KG 5400s - nice and light, well fitting, I wore mine all day for 3 days running during that Indian Summer week and 5300+ft climbing per day (needed a wash after that...)http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=59945
G-form from The Bike Chain. Cheaper than from Gform direct, cheaper than POC and 661 Evo and machine washable and low maintenance (POC say handwash only).
use code STWTBC for an extra couple of quid off
http://www.thebikechain.co.uk/GFORM/
also now in black as well as ninja turtle yellow. Recent threads on here advised to go a size up, I did, they were too big, and I swapped for the recommended size for my measurements
size guide here
http://www.g-formuk.com/products/knee-pads.html?options=cart
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