Troy Lee Designs’ Raid pads are its gravity-oriented, most-protective set of knee pads. The main question arise: does this protection come at the cost of comfort?
- Brand: Troy Lee Designs
- Product: Raid Knee Guard
- Price: £129.99
- From: Troy Lee Designs UK
- Tested by: Aran Francis
Our rating
Knee pads eh? I never ride without them. Yet I am frequently wound up by uncomfy pads. Not much is more frustrating than pads slipping down, rubbing or itching. It is still hard to find pads that are comfy, protective and don’t slip down.
The most infuriating of all knee pad shortcomings is that of pads slowly migrating down the shin until you’re wearing them like leg-warmers. A nifty little invention called a Velcro strap is something that should really come on more knee pads to lessen this problem. With this strap and a silicone grip on the inner, the Raids have been nice and secure.
The Velcro straps can get in the way – latching onto the inside of your trousers – so the Raids could have perhaps used a less bulky ‘strap end’ to avoid such snags. This is arguably just a nitpick and a worthwhile trade-off for security in fit.
They are still quite tight fitting, so if you are on a size boundary I would consider sizing up.
The other issue I found with sizing is that whilst the bands at the top and bottom of the tube are nice and tight, the Fitlock system that is supposed to hug the pad to the back of your knee, seems to occasionally bunch up and feel like some sort of knee wedgie. The fix for this is usually not a case of pulling tension back from the top, but by pulling the bottom of the pad back down your calf. This bugbear is not an issue that presents itself on every single ride and usually goes away after some pad adjustment.
The Raids are the first D3O-based ‘gravity’ pads I’ve used that. The protection feels comprehensive and the pads wrap around the fronts of your knees nicely. The pads extend down to cover the top third of the shin and the tight bottoms ensure that whatever angle your leg is in, the coverage is more or less the same. Side protection has also been considered with some foam pads on the sides of the knees. I find that these are rarely called upon apart from with occasional clashes against the frame. For these frame clashes foam pads are all you really need.
Another thing that I think is often not given enough attention is coverage at the top of the knee. Not much hurts more than taking a stem/shifter/dropper-remote to the top of the knee, and usually this is right where the top of the pad ends. The Raid’s D3O padding not only nicely wraps over the top of the knee cap but where the pad ends there is a nice bit of intermediary foam padding between the D3O and the top of the knee sleeve.
I am a big fan of all the D3O stuff I’ve used so far and whilst there are softer compounds, I think the D3O stuff strikes a really good balance between comfort and protection.
The secure fit means that when you do crash they stay in place, unlike some pads that I’ve known to slide off your knee in a crash.
The pads are not particularly bulky either and the D3O material being able to morph around the knee helps to further aid this comfort. As a result even though these are designed for full on downhill bashing, they are comfy enough for an occasional long day in the saddle. Towards the end of longer rides I found the pads did press down on the top of the knee cap causing some rubbing especially when wearing trousers. Naturally, a simple solution is to wear shorts, especially when these pads look so good, but obviously this isn’t always an option.
Like I say knee pad fit is really personal, I would definitely recommend trying a set on before you buy if you are someone that lives in your pads for long extended rides. I would say for most riding purposes these are a great set of pads, and if comfort is what you’re after Troy Lee’s Stage pads may be a better option.
Overall
I have done plenty of crashing in the Raids and my knees have been well protected in all instances, which is really the main thing. There are a few negatives: on the price front, at around £130, they’re not particularly cheap. However, the D3O material is excellent, the knee coverage is good and the protection is comprehensive.
Are they machine washable? Main downside of a lot of the d30 style pads, knee pads you can’t wash are pish tbh
No, they aren’t, I tend to hose mine down whenever I wash the bike.
they do survive very occasional accidental trip through the machine though.
Is that true? I’ve bene putting my d30 pads through the wash for years. Never read the instructions I guess. They still look and feel like the day I bought them. 30C max though.Â
Same here Endura liners with D30 pads
Yeah original D30 at least was not supposed to be machine washed and apparently the material could be “killed" if you treated it wrong and it’d stop custarding, same with POC Dough and some others. But some are allowed at low temps, you’ve just got to check with the manufacturer or label (but I don’t think any of mine actually had anything useful on the label or packaging)Or there’s the removable pads option sometimes but that’s a pain in the dick too, they never seem to go back in right