I wear kneepads pretty much every time I ride- never found any reason not to, tbh, and plenty of reason to. It doesn’t take a lot to ding up a knee- not talking about permanent damage but I don’t like spoiled rides and time off the bike.

But my shinpads are purely for dh- never found a set I’d be happy to wear all the time. And yes my shins look absolutely haggard.

trout – Member

is wearing armour causing more serious injuries with a false sense of safety and folks riding above their abilities .

Almost certainly causes some (then again, wearing helmets almost certainly causes some injuries too 😉 ) But on balance I’d doubt it’s a negative effect.

is wearing armour causing more serious injuries with a false sense of safety and folks riding above their abilities .

Pushing your limits is how you improve. That’s where the fun is.

Each to there own and what not as what works for you may not work for others but i’ve never owned shin pads or rode with pads in 25+ yrs of mtb’ing, apart from a chamois pad in lycra shorts or padded gloves that is. I’m quite happy to ride lap after lap of Kirroughtree black, Glentress black, Laggan etc without putting a foot down or crashing (usually – not always), same with 6-7 hr rides in the Galloway hills or up in the Highlands without pads but i’m probably a jey boy xc mincer who knows his limits rather than a suited n’ booted speed merchant downhilling stormtrooper. I prefer heading out for a ride without anything extraneous rubbing or flapping about and to be honest i can’t think of any of my mates who ride with pads either – been riding bikes offroad since the days of Muddy Fox Explorers when i was in my early teenage years in the mid to late 80’s along with racing motocross since i was 8 so i guess i know my limits and how far i can push it before i’ll hurt myself doing something stupid.

If i went to a downhill track or jump park i would wear pads of some sort as i can guarantee i would end up on my arse/face/shins/shoulders/head/knees at some point – probably all at once as i fall out of the uplift truck and make a **** of myself.

Sup to you of course but personally the only time I ever wear any protection other than a helmet is when I used to do trials riding as I was often jumping/slipping off the pedals or falling off benches etc. Normal MTBing really doesnt require much protection in my mind. I’ve sliced my shins open on pedals a few times, I’ve buried rings in my calves. I’ve also sliced fingers on passing trees, cracked my collarbone on a tree I bounced off and been stung by a bee that got stuck down my Tshirt. All of them are rare occurences with short lived damage and no risk of loss of life or significant impairment so I don’t bother wearing uncomfy protection.

But some people think I’m a bit nuts for MTBing in mid winter and a foot of snow in shorts and a tshirt so maybe you shouldn’t listen to me.

never used to wear knee pads for riding xc/trails but have always ridden dh with shins and knee pads and have plenty of scars for when i haven’t had them on too. recently got some kyle straits after shredding my knee on an xc ride and they’re so much more comfortable than i expected, fine for riding all day in. no way would i ride all day in my dh pads. but then again i wouldn’t wear them for all my riding either, just when there’s a likely chance i’d plant my knee onto some sharp rocks or doing jumps

Because ending a ride caked in blood, sweat and mud looks way harder than poncing around in shin pads?

I’ve got Kyle Strait knee pads but only wear them mucking about on DH runs.

I’ve also got some 661 knee and shin pad things that I used to wear on the big bike in Wharncliffe etc, but hate them to be honest. I haven’t worn them in ages, but looking at the state of them they’ve saved my shins a fair bit. They’re gouged to buggery.

Never wear pads for long rides and have a fair few scars to show for it.

Always wear shin pads for the down hill part. Lots of sharp rocks where I ride tho so its easy to crack a shin on some thing, even trail side rocks can be a problem. Also since riding is my work its insurance. My last set were pretty badly gouged after a big slide at el chorro.

Never had anyone turn down my offer of borrowing pads. Not after the first day anyway.

I only really wear my knee/shin combo for dh and jumpy stuff. As I don’t have just knee pads and my shins are battle hardened veterans, i don’t wear pads for any other riding as the chances of coming off are less and i kinda like having a few scabs here and there. Reminds me i’ve been out on the bike, and then there’s the picking 8)

I wear both knee/shin and forearm/elbow pads when I got into mtbing a few years ago and don’t even notice them anymore. The forearm pad has broken several falls and saved a couple of jackets from being shredded. Shin pads are probably overkill with spuds, but now I wear them I don’t want sods law to reign if I swap them for knee pads :?…but they are not a bad option if you go munro bagging with sanny!

I never found a Knee/shin combo type pad that actually stayed up and protected my sodding knees, and seeing as I’d rate knee protection as marginally more important I opted for knee pads rather than knee/shin pads… simple really.

I suppose you could use separate shin pads but why bother, TBH if you are regularly bolloxing your shins you either need to look at better shoes/pedals or a skills course rather than new pads…

Also riding more on SPDs now so shin strikes are much less of an issue also.

People do xc rides?
aren’t they long boring rides with no corners?
Well I never

The Rules

see rule number 5.