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.....
Every ride. The one time I forgot and rode anyway resulted in me tearing a ‘kin huge hole in my knee (hospital stay and general anaesthetic in theatre to sort out) 2 weeks before a race I’d been preparing for all year ☹️
You guys must be more committed than me.
I wear them in the Alps after some fist sized rocks got thrown up by my front wheel and hit my foot. Shin pads felt sensible.
But UK trails? Ok it’s Dalby and Glentress level, but even so.
I suppose I’m riding with family - wife and two sons - but the 14 year old has been doing Les Gets reds since he was 8 and is a sight faster and jumpier than me now, and even if it’s just me and him I’m open face and pad free.
My wife wears a back protector after spinal surgery, but in the UK that’s it in our family.
Worn knee pads for a good ten years now. A slow speed off caused me to knock the inside of my knee against the top tube, that was enough to make working a struggle for a week or so.
Since then I've taken the occasional tumble and damaged knee pad outers, that would of been me damaged otherwise. My old job would see me kneeling/crawling and my current job has me on my feet for most of a 12hr shift.
About 20 years ago now, I fell off on tarmac and my knee landed full force on a piece of flint, cracking my kneecap!
That really hurt, a lot!
Thinking back on that I should wear kneepads all the time, but I don't round here, only if I go somewhere else. Daft really, just as likely to fall off on local trails.
