I’ve ridden for ages without any but increasingly I see I’m in the minority. Can any pad users tell me about the benefits please do they increase your confidence, have they actually proved their worth for XC riding that sort of thing?

Since a minor off resulted in a fractured kneecap back in December, I have taken to riding with knee pads all the time. definitely makes me feel a little more confident and I am riding faster, the two may be related or it could just be that I’m getting more time out on the bike than I have the last couple of years.

I have started to think that I might need to pick up some elbow pads too now though…

It makes you look gnarr.

It may save you from a minor injury if you fall off.

I’ve only had one big crash wearing pads (a day I had my elbow pads on luckily, I don’t always) and it definitely saved me from some major skin loss. I landed on my elbow and the force pushed my arm into my ribs so hard I broke one. This was just at cannock on a fairly innocuous bit of trail. I don’t often go without pads now as a result, and, as a result, I always look like I’m going to or coming back from somewhere secret.

I always seem to crash in pretty innocuous places, last time I went knee ish first in to a dry stone wall. Apart from a burn to my knee where the pad moved slightly and a sore wrist I came out reasonably unscathed!

Hence I always wear knee pads, my IXS Flows are comfy enough that I don’t know they’re there 99% of the time!

10 years ago, if you thought you needed a bit of protection from the inevitable fall, your only option was to look like a storm trooper.

Pads were rigid, bulky, hot and obtrusive. It certainly put me off using them. Even when I bought a set, I remember being embarrassed to put them on.

These days, we have massive range of pads and new materials to choose from. They’re comfier, not too bulky, not too hot and much more discrete.

For those that think it’s a good idea to wear a bit of protection, it’s now a bit more feasible, without looking like a star wars extra.