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So undecided - wearing knee pads trail riding. Who is, who isn’t ?
Your knees mate. Who gives a monkeys what other people are wearing.
I probably should, but I rarely do.
It's more unusual to see someone without knee pads these days isn't it? I always wear them fwiw.
Yes. Every ride, without fail.
“Your knees mate. Who gives a monkeys what other people are wearing.“
Yeah I know ha, just wondered how commonly they’re being worn these days. Cons - not as free feeling, get hot in summer, another thing to wear out. Pros - crash protection (if you actually land on your knees) frame knock protection etc ...hmmmm
Yep. I wear them on almost every trail ride. I put a bit of chamois cream on my kneecaps for longer rides, unless I'm wearing them over tights/leggings.
I do, just in case I see a cheeky line off the side of the trail somewhere & decide I want to send it like Bearclaw
I don't notice in wearing them now so it's no bother
Yes, I even wear them on my xc bike most of the time.
We all ride very different tracks, trails, bridleways, tracks etc, at very different speeds and steepnesses, So only you will know.
I tend to wear knee pads all rides these days, my last major knee injury (4 years ago) was an overnight in hospital and a 12 midnight theatre trip under local with a 75 gallons water clean out, I was extremely lucky no muck got into the joint or any tendon damage.
I ride my gravel bike without pads on local xc woods and bridleways
Helmet, Gloves and knee pads are the main touch points, I rarely wear elbow pads, now and again at trail centres
Every ride.
Nope, unless I'm somewhere like Whistler bike park.
Wear a pair of fox enduro pads for pretty much every ride. It’s very rare I don’t and when I haven’t it’s because I forgot rather than a conscious decision.
The only time I never wore them this year, was WHW in a day, on a warm August day.
Too much chafe potential!
Every ride.
Mostly yes. 3months of physio and recovery from my last duffed knee makes me wear them more.
Round Thetford. Nope.
Peaks or rocky Welsh trail centre. Yes.
Every ride. Especially trail centres as half the surfaces are concrete all weather!
Depends on the trail. If I'm in any doubt I wear them slid down over my calfs and pull them up if it looks like it's getting sketch.
I dont wear any pads but most do from what I see and anyway wear what you want.
Nope. Never wear them. But it's your choice.
How often do you fall off and bang your knees?
Local stuff, tend not to bother as more comfortable without them. However on the bigger/techier rides I dig the pads out
(Should wear them all the time TBH though as I've ****ted my knees 2 minutes from the house before and it bloody hurts)
Every ride
Every ride (POC Airs). Worn em all day in Spanish Pyrenees in august with no probs, but this time of year in the UK they keep my knees warm and I rarely wear longs. I stick em on and utterly forget about them.
Not for me unless I’m uplifting. Legs get too hot and knees raw.
Yep. But you need kneepads that fit you. Don't fall for the "minimal" bullshit unless you want to wear them under trousers, in every other way they're just less good kneepads, they're rarely any more comfortable and never enough to justify the massive reduction in effectiveness. Just get something sensible and well fitting and comfy.
You're never more likely to fall off than when you're disengaged on an easy trail, is my thinking. But also, frankly, there's next to no downside except on the hottest days.
yep. and elbows. not going to stop broken bones but i've got them and they prevent shitty injuries that stop you riding for basically no inconvenience or discomfort.
Every ride. Elbows too usually if a big ride. The lakes rocks take no prisoners!
Knee and elbow pads every ride.
I fell off at high speed on an easy bit of trail and smacked my knee so hard I thought I’d have to go to A&E. Ever since that I’ve always worn knee pads and now I feel naked without.
How often do you fall off and bang your knees?
You only need to do it once.
You only need to do it once.
Are people confusing twisting knee injuries with impact injuries though?
I can see that departing with your bike on a jump and land on shins/knees warrants pads, but trail riding ?
Good on folk who wear them as all protection helps, but I’m not convinced on trail riding what help that will be?
Every ride since an off years ago and having to pick lots of bits of gravel out of my knee. Try as many as you can to get the best fit, after a couple of rides you won't notice you are wearing them.
Most rides unless just a light local bumble - I worn them for that long that it feels weird without them - well fitting pads don’t rub
I usually come off at some point on most rides, they’re good for when being knelt down fiddling with things and keep my legs nice and warm in this weather
I can see that departing with your bike on a jump and land on shins/knees warrants pads, but trail riding ?
IME I'm more likely to scud knees on rocks and trees, and as the skin is taught when knee bent, it splits on impact. Ride over, blood everywhere.
I wear them for 3 reasons, the above, to keep knees warm, and as part of my waterproofing, with shorts going over the top, and sealskinz right up to the bottom.
More often than not, but by no means an absolute. Enjoy not wearing them to be honest, even with mega comfy ones they are still annoying.
For anything bigger & racing, always. They have got a lot better over the years thankfully.
My group of friends ride xc/trail and have all started wearing them since one of us had an off and required 2 operations to remove the grit. Funny thing is that he is the only one not to wear them now.....
Yes if I’m doing uplift days or rooty techy muddy turns. Because if I’m doing lots of turns it’s relatively common to lose the front wheel and land on a knee.
General peaks riding? No. Because in general I always seem to crash on my hands / shoulders.
Every ride for me, but I fall off most rides... (Usually going uphill at low speed but it still bloody hurts if you crack something boney against a rock) My knees also knock against the top tube a lot and pads prevent my inner knees being permanently bruised.
Every ride after an incident about 5yrs ago.
Always, my knees took a right battering before I started wearing them. At 56 with some wear and tear knee pain anyway, anything I can do to protect their remaining functionality is good.
I also wear elbow pads if I'm doing anything remotely techy or steep. I have some existing damage to one elbow from an old non MTB injury and I do seem to land on them if I come off.
Got some for a guided week in the Alps a few years ago. Never worn them since. I don't go to trail centres/bike parks though.
No knee pain is more excruciating than the old tvvatgap!
Always wear knee pads, rarely notice them now.
Not for trail riding. IMO they just give a false sense of security. They will protect against grazes, but not serious injuries.
don’t go to trail centres/bike parks though.
Far more relevant on lakes, Munros etc tbh.
Aye, that's the split! 🤮
Not for trail riding. IMO they just give a false sense of security. They will protect against grazes, but not serious injuries.
I refer you to the gentleman's picture, That has plenty scope for turning into a 'serious injury'.
That injury got me a night in hospital and 3 years later it still causes pain...
That was gross docrobster!
How often do you fall off and bang your knees?
Good question actually.
Once every three or four rides maybe, especially at this time of year when it's very slippy on the local trails.
I only go without kneepads for the occasional XC race, and that's also when I put clipless pedals on the bike, so obviously I've fallen off mid-race and hit my knee really ****ing hard on a fire road.
I also had to go to hospital while on a Scottish holiday and have my knee stitched up about 15 years ago, and the doc casually asked "so don't you wear kneepads for that sort of thing?".
Had to cut the riding short on first day, so I suppose I was an early adopter for rocky rides after that but it took a while longer for me to start wearing them on every ride.
Every ride for me - in 2018 I had a fairly innocuous crash on a red xc trail at Cwmcarn but snapped my dropper lever with my left knee. It was ok for couple of weeks and thought it was on the heal then suddenly got a knee infection. They think it was bursitis from the impact - and it got infected. Was in hospital for 6 days on intravenous antibiotics. After that I wore some thin knee pads - had another crash 4 months later (I don’t normally have big crashes - honest!) and the thin knee pads weren’t quite enough to save the same knee and it got gashed / infected again.
Bought some bigger knee pads (Scott Grenade Evo) which proved a bit chunky for really pedally rides but they lasted a while before they seemed to get a bit baggy. Now on Fox Launch D30 (not the pro with the hard knee cap) and so far they’ve been ideal. Bit warm but you broadly forget you’re wearing them but despite one otb at BPW the knees have been all good since.
Not for trail riding. IMO they just give a false sense of security. They will protect against grazes, but not serious injuries.
My Fox Launch Pro are completely destroyed ... there is no way I would be walking away from some of the crashes they saved my knees.
How often do you fall off and bang your knees?
Once or twice a week on average
I had an OTB off a tiny 2' drop a few weeks ago ... 100m into a blue trail (OK the drop isn't on the actual trail) so now mostly when I go riding or to the jumps I put some slim kneepads under my jeans ... it's never when you expect it.
I own two pairs of knee pads that I've never worn, I think if I rode trail centre stuff or really rocky stuff I probably would wear them.
I kinda think it's an MTB identity/fashion thing because you could fall off on the road and bash your knee on tarmac and yet roadies never wear knee pads.
got some RaceFace ambush knee pads that I only wear for DH type days, to big for normal riding so never bother. Seeing docrobster's pic up there convinced me that something I can wear all day maybe a good idea. Just bought some Dianese Trail Skins from Wiggle for £32, (I got the last pair), just gotta remember to wear them.
I kinda think it’s an MTB identity/fashion thing because you could fall off on the road and bash your knee on tarmac and yet roadies never wear knee pads.
Can I ask whether you've done much road riding?
I've fallen off once in the last decade, on black ice. And then it was my thigh and hip that took the brunt.
MTB I fall off roughly every other week.
I kinda think it’s an MTB identity/fashion thing
It's really not. You should see some of the hideous mismatched rubbish I wear when I ride. I couldn't care less about fashion but do care about my fragile knees
Can I ask whether you’ve done much road riding?
Not on a road bike, no. They're probably much safer than I imagine, pro road racers seem to crash quite a lot though.
It is fully acceptable to wear knee pads while mountain biking, and I probably should, but I mostly ride on my own and probably within my ability/too slowly.
I think I've bashed my knee twice and shin once in the last three years.
I think it comes down to the riding you do and whether you like to push your limits or pootle on forest tracks and bridleways. Nothing wrong with either but for me If I'm on my mtb I'm gonna try and go fast which significantly increases the chances of coming off the bike.
I'd disagree with the comment about them being for superficial injuries, the difference between bashing your knee off a rock with and without is the difference between not knowing there was a rock there at all with them on and hobbling around for a week without.
Yep always wear knee pads if riding off road. Seen a couple of nasty knee based injuries from people that haven’t. Not much natural padding on the old knees. I ride Macc Forest, Marple and Peaks mainly. Lots of rocks and I tend to fall off a fair bit.
I’d disagree with the comment about them being for superficial injuries
I totally agree, but superficial injuries are well worth preventing anyway.
it's not an identity or fashion thing for me. i do ~ 100km and ~ 2500m of climbing per week. ride that much you're going to fall off. there's a certain amount of risk involved in riding i accept - i've broken both collarbones and no pads in the world are going to stop that happening, but i don't want stupid injuries that keep me off the bike, have me sticking to the bed clothes, or damage me for the rest of my life when i could avoid them.everybody has their own perception of risk vs. reward and we all make our own choices.
Nope, don’t like em. Even when I was a frequent crasher, didn’t feel the need for knee protection.
Not sure it matters what everyone else does though, bound to be a near enough 50/50 split.
(and of course, the wearers think everyone else is wrong 😂)
Depends on what I'm riding.
Hacking over the downs and the odd bit of singletrack I won't bother.
Anything more interesting than that, then yes
It's mainly a comfort thing. I've got big calfs and thighs for my height, so I struggle to find pads that are comfortable
I've done a quick tally of the replies to this thread so far and it looks like.
Yes always.....34
No never.....4
Sometimes.....11
chakaping
Full MemberI totally agree, but superficial injuries are well worth preventing anyway.
Arguably more important- most riders will go their whole lives without any serious injuries, and chances are the ones they do get might not have been prevented/preventable anyway. Or will be on the bits they didn't protect.
But superficial injuries? Everyone gets those. And they keep you off your bike, or make work harder, or stop you sleeping.
Knees are complicated and if damaged meaning you can't walk/ride properly/at all for a while/longer it's going to be a major damper on life.
I always wear my IXS Flow Evo Zips, takes a minute to put on, then I forget about them. I feel they're adequate for the terrain/speed I ride.
If it's rocky then yes, otherwise nope. Normal riding is Tunnel Hill, Hindhead, general Surrey stuff. The last time I came off and hit my knee riding locally was never.
Steep footpath went Down first to open the gate For mates, wet and muddy front wheel waSh out and landed Knee topside of a broken brick, looked like a fanny. Innocuous a knee pad would have prevented
people confusing twisting knee injuries with impact injuries
No confusion - if you’ve had your kneecap smack onto sandstone after flying through the air at speed you’d understand.
MTB I fall off roughly every other week.
Really on a trail ride ? Is my definition of a trail very different to yours ? If I was doing black + runs every week then maybe but not ‘trails’
kneecap smack onto sandstone after flying through the air at speed you’d understand.
Yep done that hurt like hell, couldn’t ride a bike for six months, but the damage was done twisting in the air whilst being clipped in. MRI showed bruising to the knee cap
I ought to, living in N.Wales, and riding local mix of steeps, slate, rock and roots (not esp. fast), and trail centre stuff. So comfy without though! Trousers make the knees feel less naked too. I should do better.
Rarely fall though, perhaps because I mostly ride solo (no one to pick me up!)
(and of course, the wearers think everyone else is wrong 😂)
and those who don't think they're right 😉
Yes all the time. I feel bare without them
I’m genuinely amazed how regularly people seem to crash
I often think I don't fall off enough, need to push myself a bit more.
I wear them all the time but ride the Peaks all the time. I don't worry about whether or not to wear them, I worry about whether or not the ones that I'm wearing are protective enough.
Trail riding can still involve some nice rocky drops and downhills. In fact, you don't even need rocks to cause some damage to a kneecap, a badly placed stone will do the trick.
As others have also mentioned, the inconvenience and frustration of a minor injury also come in to play.
It's a tough balance between comfort and protection but I certainly wouldn't be without.
Riding MTB is basically a conveyor belt of continuous randomised forced and unforced error corrections. You can fail at the easiest moment, or the hardest, but you dont get to know in advance.
So I ride knee pads and elbows every ride.
Because not being able to ride from injury sucks. As does not being able to work or continue with other aspects of ones life.
I have some IXS carves and some similar scott elbows for trail, and a bigger set of knee/shins and elbow forearms for when I want to get a gurn on.
Did do, then they went baggy and I looked at the price of new ones. Probably cheaper than knees though.....