My son is just 5 and is riding without stabilisers but still falls off a fair bit. He seems to pretty consistently hit his knees/shins (often with the pedals) and I don’t really want to put him off cycling so I was looking for some knee/shin guards for him.

Can anyone recommend some as there don’t seem to be bike specific ones at the usual places? He’s tall for his age so actually sized more like a 7 year old if that helps.

BTFU suggestions not needed. If anything, that’s my natural response if I’m honest and I’m trying hard to remember that he’s only 5 😉

I found that instead of saying “oh – that looked sore” and giving them sympathy, laughing with them and telling them that it’s a mere flesh wound worked wonders. A couple of goes of that and mine were having some serious crashes and springing up with a “hahaha – didn’t hurt”

Might be worth you MTFUing up. 😉

my 7yr old uses small Nukeproof elbow pads for knee pads. Perfect size and comfy.

Thanks reggie.

glup – I do that and as I said above, if anything I do that too much and in general he seems tougher than most other kids his age when he does hurt himself. BUT I don’t really want him to learn to just play along with Dad and pretend he doesn’t mind but actually put him off cycling.

My 661 elbow and forearm pads fitted my son’s knees and shins.

KTFU & MTFU I would say.

I got the CRC Brand X elbow pads in small and they’re spot on. And only £13.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/brand-x-x-elbow-forearm-guards-white/rp-prod31107

Yep both my lads (5 and 8) use adult elbow pads for their knees / shins. Worth a try before you buy if you can because the sizing and confort can vary a lot, worth getting something that is comfy that they won’t mind wearing.

My lad and I were laughing at some kids at Whinlatter who were all padded up.

5 minutes later I fell off and cut my knee open. 🙂

Still as above MTFU KTFU.

I’ve had good experience with EVS Option Mini knee guards – eldest has used them from 4 through to 8 (just now thinking he could do with something different). Considering the abused state of them it’s clear they’ve done a good job on numerous occasions. Google them, CRC used to do them, but not at the moment, plenty of MX places seem to though. They strap on and off too, so easy to stick in a bag to be pulled out and strapped on if wanted.

I did the MTFU/KTFU thing, then realised he had a lot more fun when he worried less about falling off and I could save the MTFU/KTFU talks for when I really needed them… like the 2 mile one-legged ride back to the car, crying all the way (from the boy who never cries). Plus there’s always plenty more bits of them to get hurt once you’ve ruled out the knees 😉

After lots of minor and one very major knee injury (which could all have been avoided with pads) I now nearly always wear them. The pure relieved joy of just jumping up and back on a bike and then thinking “Hmm… if I hadn’t been wearing pads that would have been a bit of a bugger” is something I’m very pleased to pass on!