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Just been reading the review of the Leatt knee pads on that there homepage. Got me wondering how many wear protection. Ive never worn it, largely as it didn't exist back in the day. I can only recall one accident, where I really walloped my knee, and wished I'd had pads on in over 20 years. I also don't see that many riders wearing them when I go out?
No
Always wear knee pads when off road. I spend my working days crawling about so can't really risk a knee injury.
To be honest it feels wrong without then now.
No
I wear kneepads every MTB ride. I've bashed my knees in the past and don't want to put myself in the position now of not wearing them and hurting myself.
They're comfy so i don't mind
Nopes... I wear them at BPW only.
I have some Fox 'Enduro' knee pads which are pretty thin and comfy, wear them all time, great in winter as they keep you warm too. Wear bulkier pads for any uplifts or places I'm likely to do some damage to myself!
I crash quite a bit and rather take chunks out of the pads than my knees.
Though depends on what you're riding and your skill level I suppose!
every MTB ride for me, feels very wrong without now.
Knees: often, and always if it's either (a) a short ride or (b) uplifts
Elbows: not very often, mostly with a full-face
Core-saver vest: not very often, mostly with a full-face
I'm not sure the knees often save me from really regrettable injuries, but they do keep the number of annoying minor ones down a bit.
🙂
I wear the thinner ones every ride now. Don't notice them at all.
Knee pads every ride, elbow pads only come out on races or visits to a trail centre.
If I just rode steadily along on a xc bike I wouldn't, all depends on what and how you ride I guess.
I have recently taken to wearing Raceface charge knees on many rides, largely to ward off nettles and jaggy bushes
Have some lightweight ones I wear almost every ride. I'm not the bravest so every little helps. They are comfy enough to not be an issue so why not. I'd rather not pick up a minor knock that stops me doing fun things or working.
Knee pads all the time. Elbow pads very occasionally, depending on what/where I am riding.
The last time I didn't wear knee pads I slipped out and poked a hole in my knee, so I am sticking with them.
Knees if riding them there Surrey Hills or similar. I used to ride a fair bit of DH so used to wearing pads.
Had a rather unfortunate incident years ago after coming off on a jump and my bike landed on my knee chainring teeth first. I'd rather not repeat having to look down and see the result of that again.
Got some elbow and knee, worn them a couple of times. Should wear them more as time off work for sports injury is not paid, but then again I ride too slow anyway.
I would like some decent, light shin guards as lower leg cuts take forever to heal with me.
Nope.
Knee pads on most rides,elbow pads not so much
elbow pads...never
knee/shin pads...only if i need to
body armour...only at BPW
[i] how many of you ride with elbow/knee pads regularly?[/i]
Only when there's carpet involved.
Yes, but you don;t need our approval.
Knee pads every ride. Elbow pads only after I've used my elbows as brakeshow many of you ride with elbow/knee pads regularly?
Tut tutIve never worn it
Depends where you ride I guess but they are almost de rigueur on my local loop (Cannock)I also don't see that many riders wearing them when I go out?
Nah, I keep my knee pads on the floor of the car and curse every time i pick up another gash in my knees (not very often I'm xc focussed and risk averse).
Light weight knee pads every ride/race (TLD 5450s & Leatt) raced dh for years so just part of the kit.
Elbow pads - never
Body armour - never
Gloves - never
Knee pads every ride unless it's just a pootle with the other half. My shock has an annoying valve which has a habit of catching me in the knee and it hurts, so knee pads get rid of the chance of it happening.
Elbows for uplift days or when I know I'm going to be jumping or riding something harder than usual.
Shoulders (built into vest) were a recent purchase and have already proved their worth. Will get used in the same way elbows do.
Back protector (built into bag) gets worn most of the time too.
FF for downhill or free riding. Might get whipped out if an Enduro is particularly sketchy too.
General approach is that it's safer to be padded up and also a little bit of a confidence boost...
In a classic case of bolting the stable door I've got elbow/shin/knee pads and a vest from G form. All very unobtrusive so no problem wearing them. I wear them if I'm going to do a ride that's more Enduro than XC.
Of course the one time I didn't, when it was really hot a month ago, I ended up in A & E to get my elbow stitched up.
Knee pads - every ride
Elbow pads - never
Knee pads pretty much every ride on the full sus, occasionally on teh hardtail - landing on rocks hurts!
Elbow pads much more rarely - in the UK usually only when I'm riding high Lakes stuff or Snowdon etc solo.
Knee pads only If I'm heading out on the hills and solo
Pads?...no.
Helmet?...when mandatory like certain trails, racing etc.
Full face?....uplift days only.
Kneepads pretty much all the time, there's so little reason not to imo. Good quality and good fit pads are barely noticable once on, til you fall off anyway. Wore my 661 Rages to solo the glentress seven frinstance, no bother. The thing is it doesn't take much to upset a knee, I bumped mine pretty gently off a shifter in a really low speed dismount, not even a crash, and couldn't ride for a fortnight, really annoying. They've probably never saved me a big injury but they keep me riding and save a lot of hassle and irritation etc, totally worth it. Honestly in terms of the amount of knocks, my knees take more dings than my head so there's probably as good a case for pads as for hats.
Elbow pads often, but there's more drawbacks to elbows I find, mostly this is about heat- I have a great set of POC hard elbows but they're very bulky and full-on, and a nice set of Gform low profiles but they're still pretty warm. TBF most elbow pads seem to be rubbish, I suppose they have a harder job to do
Wee bit of stream of thought... I don't really get the thin kneepads thing, bulk isn't really a problem on knees unless you want to wear them under trousers, so why lose protection? Side protection's really useful and most of these have none. They don't tend to be any cooler either and sometimes they're more restrictive (because getting the same protection into a smaller piece needs more complex armour pads)
Sometimes I do the "pads on for the hard bit" thing but frankly there's no guarantee that's when you fall off! I fell off in a fireroad ditch on skyline the other day, pulling over to let a truck past, and absolutely clattered myself- pure luck I had them on and really glad. I think the ideal is stuff you can wear all the time because I reckon if you wear pads 95% of the time then there's a 95% chance you fall off in the 5% you don't.
Knee pads pretty much every ride after a couple of knee first landings when the front wheel washed out on corners. I have some elbow pads but seem to use them less regularly recently as I forget to take them. Annoyingly I caught my elbow on a tree in a tight turn last week, just a knock nothing major, and since then I've been getting the tennis elbow niggle again.
Knee pads every ride. I had one crash about 8 years ago (no pads) where I landed heavily on my left knee and sliced it open to the bone - that required 13 stitches to put right and I bought a set of pads straight after.
I crashed recently coming down Ullock Pike and put a hole in the same knee (whilst wearing pads) that took 5 stitches to close up. I don't even want to think about what sort of state my knee would be in if I hadn't been wearing pads that day!
Can't get the vid to embed for some reason... www.facebook.com/james.vincent.71/videos/10153258728235196/?l=2238560647871933860
Can confirm wearing Dainese knee/leg kit and it is like landing on a cushion.
I also have Dainese elbow/arm kit which I rarely wear but am considering to do so more often, especially when out against cagers 😈
I wear soft knee pads about 80% of the time- not so much for a local tootle on my own or very XC ride/race but riding in the heart of the Peak, any mountains and so on I wear a set of thin Race Face Indys. I have had a number of nasty knee injuries that have taken me out for long stretches and I don't want to do that anymore.
Thin pads work better for me now that Kyle Straits are out of production because I find most hard pads make my knees very hot which really effects my pedalling, and my knees seem to be a funny shape and most bigger pads rub.
Elbows- only in the Alps where I'm riding every day in a situation where I'm likely to crash and even a graze getting rattled about all week will be very uncomfortable. Elbow pads are really uncomfortable and look awful.
Full face- only for downhill, which these days is practically never.
Like most others, kneepads on almost every ride, elbows only as needed (usually only when racing).
I hit my knees often enough that it just makes sense, and good ones are so unobtrusive that there's very little reason not to.
Knee pads for most rides on my MTB, however body armour and FF have been all but given up on now, probably more because I take fewer [i]risks[/i] riding than I used to and don't race DH now...
Last time I rode with my FF Lid was an uplift trip to BPW last year and TBH I found it far too hot, so I switched back to a piss pot half way through the morning, I'd rather be comfortable and more in control than baking and more likely to crash due to all the sweat pouring in my eyes...
Horses for courses innit though...
Never wear elbow pads.
The only pads I'll wear for rides with a decent amount of pedalling are Race Face Charge.
I have some Roach FR pads that i wore in the alps which are great for lift accessed stuff but shit for pedalling in.
I have also have some Race Face Dig pads that would be my choice for the likes of BPW.
Knees 50/50.
Elbows just bought some so we'll see, but I expect mainly when racing or on faster/rockier stuff, just had a weekend at Kinlochleven and Fort William, I used them 3 days in a row, but can't see them being used all the time.
Pondering a back protector too, since there's some really nice lightweight options on the market these days, like elbows I'd expect to use it when racing or faster/rockier. I'm increasingly conscious I'm responsible for others and not just myself these days, and I'd rather protect than ride slower!
Interesting how many folks wear knee pads. What would come under the 'don't notice you're wearing them bracket' then?
Never thought that I'd want or need pads, as my riding was pretty gentle tracks and BW. Then I went to my local trail centre a couple of times (Hamsterley), and figured that I was ready for a bit of a step up.
The [b][u]first time[/u][/b] I wore my Dianese Trailskins they saved my elbow from a right good skinning. It would certainly have resulted in an A+E visit without them.
Never leave home without them now, anywhere. Well I'll qualify that, as long as I'm out riding further than the pub/shops...
What would come under the 'don't notice you're wearing them bracket' then?
Any that you find comfortable
I wear 661 exo knee-shin pads whenever I'm on my bike, they are on the thin side but that's all I wanted to avoid pedal/shin injuries mainly. Very rarely notice them when I'm pedalling so worth it for me. I did buy a set of exo elbow pads at the same time and have them in my bag but don't think I've ever worn them out the house!
Never worn either.
I pop the "pedal pads" on most of the time (fox enduro!).
Harder pads and elbows for uplifts.