[Closed] Do you wear protection / pads for XC riding?

...none at BPW as its soil mainly.

I'm sorry but WTF?!! Or does BPW now stand for something else?

No. Usually don't wear potection in Alps either but I have a dent in my shin where it hit a rock as my pads where in my backpack as it was a hot day and an easy trail 😳

Note my protection has full shin and forearm protection as such a bit much for uk xc. If I had soft pads I'd probably wear them more

It comes in cycles (pun intended). I'll have a spill and hurt my knee or elbow, then wear pads for months as a result. Eventually confidence gets the better of me and I stop wearing pads....until I have a crash and hurt myself (again).

Currently I'm only wearing knee pads for more technical riding, but not general XC. I hardly wear elbow pads at all.

I stopped wearing pads for XC last year - and then had a ridiculous washout on a loose flat chalky corner. Hit the top tube so hard with my knee that I dented it!

I don't wear pads for commuting but that's only two minutes of dirt downhill (with jumps and drops and steeps) and most of the rest on tarmac.

3 levels of knee pads, 2 of elbow, open or full face helmet, gloves always. I make the decision on what to wear depending on where/what/how I'll be riding. Typically something like....

XC bimble = light knee pads and open face helmet
Trail = middle knee pads, light elbows, open face helmet
BPW / Uplift = big knee / elbow pads (not hard shell), full face helmet

I didn't used to wear anything other than helmet and gloves, but as I get older I'm more risk averse and I definitely heal slower, plus time off bike.

I've started wearing my Fox #Enduro™©® knee pads when I ride off road stuff, even just local pottering. I've had a couple of stupid offs over the last few months that wouldn't have been as much of a PITK* and kept me off my bike if I'd had them on. Elbow pads if I'm having a go at a DH race**. I always wear my lid and gloves.

* pain in the knees.
** 'racing' is too strong a word to use in this context 😆

chiefgrooveguru - Member

I stopped wearing pads for XC last year - and then had a ridiculous washout on a loose flat chalky corner. Hit the top tube so hard with my knee that I dented it!

This is the thing about knees... I was off the bike for weeks one time because of a wee step-off, just by pure bad luck I knee'd the shifter. Knee pad would have meant I didn't even feel it.

I have a set of the lightweight Fox Launch Enduro pads that I use nearly every ride, and a set of hard shell Nukeproof pads that I use for more technical rides - though I'm thinking of getting some lightweight pads to use the rest of the time. I'm the first to admit I'm (very) accident prone, but like most people have said, elbows and knees damage easily and take a long time to heal! As for worrying about what you look like, each to their own I suppose, but I ride for me, not for other people. Fit is important though - I was recommended some TLD lightweight elbow pads which I found horribly uncomfortable, despite two mates who swear by them - definitely try before you buy, or use someone like CRC with a good returns policy.

I have the Bliss Minimalist knee and elbow pads, which I often wear, should wear them all the time really... I had a stupid off end of October, had knee pads and Evoc back protector, landed on my elbow, fracture and skin graft. Elbow pads were fine 'cos they were in the car... 😳

I don't like knee pads over bib longs as they don't stay in place and don't really like bib shorts/long socks option, so tend to go without knee pads mostly in winter.

Personally I don't for anything, but then again I'm a certified XC-shredder 😆 and that includes trail centres, XC riding & racing, Dyfi Enduro kind of events and bigger natural days out.

But judging by the proliferation of elbow, knee & shin pads not to mention full face helmets at Llandegla on Sunday I'd imagine it's almost the norm for the majority of "mountain bike'ists" out there.

I don't unless I'm doing a 'day out' somewhere like a trail centre. Even a pathetic fall can have unfortunate consequences. This generally means when I'm not bikepacking but am riding away from home (though I did wear them for one bikepacking trip... was like having knee warmers)

Came off in the mud on a local trip a few weeks ago, landed against a tree. Hit my kneecap on the tree, hurt a lot. Couldn't cycle to work for a couple of days after that. Knee pads would have helped a lot, but seems a bit much for the local muddy XC pootles that I normally go on

I bought some bliss elbow pads but haven't worn them yet

Nope, natural stuff near me is mostly moorland so rocks are a low risk. Never bothered in places like the lakes or trail centres either.

For me it has always been about comfort. The type of riding i enjoy is marathon so comfort of pads has always been a concern. If you find some that work then fine.

Most people I see at trail centres these days seem to be armoured up. Full faces and the like are quite common. Probably less out of place than me in lycra, spds and a roadie lid on an xc bike.

What is 'XC'?

One riders XC
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Another riders XC
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And usual trail riding for me (not my pic):
[img] [/img]

Just a Johny

All of that looks like XC to me

For me that'd be no pads for 1&3, but i'd be taking it very easy down 3.
And pads for sure on 2 because that course looked damn hard and i'd be falling off a lot.

I'd be walking 2 & 3 🙂

I always helmet and unless it's just a gentle spin along the canal I always wear light knee pads too.

Mainly to protect against small impacts and grazes. I seem to pick these up quite often so some light protection gives just enough bump absorption top allow me to just dust my self off and get back on the bike.

They are light and not very bulky and feel fine even on super hot summer days and its a compromise I'm happy to make.

OP - if you want to wear them, wear them. It's your body and you'd be gutted if you ditched the pads because you thought you shouldn't be wearing them (based on what others do/don't do), had a tumble and hurt yourself worse due to no pads.

I don't differentiate between different rides that I do. Whatever I'm doing it's likely they'll be some arsing about, jumping off stuff, hopping over stuff, taking corners too quickly etc. All of which increases risk.

So I always wear kneepads, gloves and a helmet (full face if uplifting, but this is rare). I'm using Dakine Slayer kneepads at the minute and really like them.

Used to have some padded Fox shorts that protected my upper legs. Found them pointless.

XC is used a bit as an insult to anything that is beneath them.

To me XC is riding all over the place - mainly the South Downs with a mix of natural terrain, fire track climbs, bridal ways, fast down hills (Not DH in that definition) grassy climbs and roots decent etc.

my definition.

DH - You ride something like a motorbike without an engine (triple crown forks) and probably own some Troy lee gear. basically grown up BMXing

XC. You wear lycra, probably on a HT 29er and dont go down many made-made trails or much singletrack. (You're a secret roadie)

Mountain Biking - You ride down AND up everything you can, for fun, fitness, love of the wild etc.

Enduro - Like Mountain Biking, but you take it seriously, have 'all the gear' and do enduro races

Don't wear pads, but did consider them for trips like those to Morzine.

All are what some might call XC. Just getting out and following trails, which could be anything from fireroad, to Glentress Red but no real big air, to Lake District/Cairngorm 6 hours away from civilisation rides to mostly non gnarcore paths around the PdS.

But then a former women's DH world champion told me that what I do is Enduro. Which it probably is (I'm not going to argue), but that term to me now means multi-stage DH. I think the Germans/Swiss would call it Marathon-Tour (well some of it).

All of that looks like XC to me

Some XC racers were telling me that the scene is losing quite a few competitors recently because courses are getting too technical and people are having accidents. This also explains the growing popularity in cyclocross as those racers move to a different discipline. Not sure if other racers are seeing that.

Knee pads for pretty much every off road ride as I seem to like doing very silly things that I'm not skilled enough to pull off. I feel half dressed on the odd occasion I forget them these days!

Every time I don't wear pads I crash or bump myself and wish I had them on so I wear them even on road only evening short training rides. Foxhead light elbow pads and bliss minimalist knee pads. So light you don't know they're on and super easy to wash. That's my XC / Trail setup most of the time. Generally if I wear them I don't crash.

If I'm going up to more gnar I have thicker D30 knee pads which have definitely saved a certain A&E trip / smashed knee. I generally ride with bigger knee pads on in the summer though because speed increases, the ground hardens.

I cringe when I see people riding full on gnarly xc / enduro style trails in only lycra but each to their own. I'm self employed though.

I didn't wear pads when I started riding until the day I learned to jump a small tabletop and I celebrated my achievement by buying myself a pair of knee pads and booking onto a jumps and drops skills course. Best money I spent on my bike.

I started wearing knees and elbows 6 months ago. Initially I felt like a numpty, especially on the ride to the trails. But now it's just the norm.

I wear POC VPD 2 elbows, which work great. And POC VPD Air knees, which also work great. I've not taken a fall since wearing them, but I had a really nasty graze on my elbow that took weeks to heal and hurt like a mofo before I got the elbows - that was the motivation to get some. I've ridden one day without the elbows since, and scratched it up on barbed wire, which was typical.

I started wearing knee (and sometimes elbow pads) when I started attempting more ambitious stuff in Greece, so about four years ago. Pretty much any fall there is on to rocks, so it made sense for me, especially as sometimes I'm miles away from civilisation and pretty much always on my own.
Sometimes it's around 35 - 40 degrees there but the temperature doesn't really seem to make them uncomfortable, even when climbing.
Anyway, since then I've started wearing knee pads on pretty much every ride, even in the grim north, as there'll always be something I fancy attempting that will catch me out.

Maybe I should, but I don't wear them unless my ride is a big hill with a rocky descent. I pretty much wear them so that I won't worry about falling too much, there are always injuries you can pick up with them on. I do find them a bit of a nuisance when pedalling - maybe I should get some lighter weight ones, but even then I'd be taking them off in summer.

The only time off a bike injury I've had was a broken wrist, so no amount of elbow padding would've stopped it. I won't ride proper trails without a dropper post now...

Not for me in general. Have a set that I'll take if I'm doing difficult stuff further afield.
I get that the pads are barely noticeable these days but I'd have more of an issue having to wear shorts with them over the bibs, which I don't like. Kneepads and just lycra really is a special look that I'd have to draw the line on.

Bought a set of Raceface Charge lightweight knee protection, didn't wear them for ages, caught my knee on a hidden rock on a muddy, windy Wiggle ride, still didn't wear them 2 days later a tree root took my rear wheel on my local singletrack and landed on already bruised knee. Started wearing them and find them fine, more like knee warmers with a little bit of padding on the knee area. They are not going to save your knees from a hard fall on rock but they don't look like you are out for a full day doing downhill.
I can wear them most of the time, apart from the hottest day of the year.