After my biggest off in a while at Dunkeld Enduro yesterday (unscathed fortunately) I’ve become mindful that my body is neither as young as it used to be, and I’m responsible for keeping a roof over the heads of a family, not just myself. Thinking it might be worth looking at something more than knee pads for some rides, and when racing, namely something with a bit of back protection.

What’s recommended, do the lightweight vests from the likes of evoc and POC give an ok amount of protection, or are they too light to be particularly effective? Or would a bag with a back protector be a better bet?

I wear this snowboarding off piste and I reckon it would be good cycling

Xion Protective Gear Long Sleeve Jacket Review And Buying Advice

It’s fantastic

UK designed and manufactured
I have one its comfy

Knox Protection

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/troy-lee-designs-bp-7850-hw-short-sleeve-shirt-2015/rp-prod59939
I have one of these.pretty darn light

Doug – Bliss stuff is good, and offer a range of upper body options with Armourgel protection. CE rated and comfortable.

I looked at some in a shop, they had that tld one and a race face one also with a d30 spine guard, and this one which I thought was the best of the bunch I would consider the waist band holding the spine pad in place to be pretty important.

http://www.alpinestars.com/comp-pro-top-for-bns

However I decided that a evoc freeride pack would be much more likely to be joining me on many rides.

Just got my wife an Evoc Protector Air +, lightweight gilet style thing that has back/coccyx protector plus shoulder and kidney.
Not too bulky, she’s worn it a few times now and says its just a bit hotter than normal.
She had a fairly big off on a drop at QECP practicing for the upcoming enduro last Wed, her bike landed on her and one of her wheels gave her a fair whack on the lower back judging from the tyre print on her jersey but she dusted herself off & kept riding.
May or may not have been the armour that helped but it certainly gave her more confidence.
Thinking of investing in the men’s version myself.

what extra protection are you after? I’ve got elbow, knee, back protector and a light FF (met parachute). still broke my collar bone, cracked ribs and damaged my shoulder and back in a recent OTT crash. Realy don’t think anything extra would have helped or been comfy enough to wear on an enduro. on the plus side my elbow, knee and face are fine ha ha ha h

what extra protection are you after?

Probably back predominantly, anything else is a bonus but looks likely to impede movement or make me overheat at times. Obviously I’d rather not be breaking any kind of bones but its extra protection from the one that is likely to have the most catastrophic impact on my life if it got damaged. I’m realistic you can’t protect against everything but something is better than nothing.

I’ve got an evoc FR lite. its been “used” a couple of times since I got it. You have to remember to actually put the wasit band on though. pretty sure thats why my back is a bit tender as I didn’t have ot tied up properly when I came off. won’t make that mistake again ha ha ha

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/bluegrass-grizzly-d3o-back-and-shoulders-2015/rp-prod92777

I wore one of these for a month solid in the Alps this summer. Not too hot, didn’t seem to restrict movement and doesn’t make you look too much like a gorilla.

evoc freeride pack

Are these any good – been thinking of going down this route

other than being a bit expensive I’d recomend one if they fit you

I’ve also got the bluegrass one it’s very good. You’re always going to be hotter with something like this on but it’s about as lightweight as you’d want and very unobtrusive whilst providing real protection. Shame I wasn’t wearing it last weekend when I busted up my ribs and shoulder 🙁

Some good options, cheers. Of those suggested thinking a new backpack might be the way to go, Camelback needs replaced anyway.
All stuff folk are using is sleeved, anyone using the vest style ones, Evoc, POC, Bliss etc all seem to have vest style ones with a back protector, bit on the shoulders and nothing more which look interesting on paper