Dainese Trail Skins?

I’m getting to the age where I don’t recover knocks so quickly, and having stacked it a couple of times last week, I think it’s time to get me some knee pads before I do myself some real damage.. 😕

This morning whist having breakfast I was looking through a review of the current stock of pads. The Trail skins looked a good option.
Now bare in mind I’m not a fast reckless rider, slow and steady is my motto! I ride mostly XC, trails with a little bit of downsy hill stuff so something of the light weight easy to pedal variety would be ideal.

Is there anyone out there using the trail skins, what do you think of them and what alternatives would recommend?
Any advice is much appreciated..

Andrew

I use them after ripping the skin off my knees the last few years, I’m getting too old for that shit.

They are fine for what I want them for, even used them a few days in the Alps this year. Now, I ain’t had a big tumble on them yet, so not sure how they’ll do then mind you!

It’s a long time since I first noticed the ground getting harder and coming up faster. Do you find them comfortable on long (slow) days?

Recently bought some amd they’re lovely. Although I’m yet to use them in anger.

perfect imo, light, cool and comfy. as above i have not yet crashed in them.

lotta coin for some slightly chunkier knee warmers.

i went for the iXS Hacks. they have a substantial ‘cup’ but its still soft, pliable and light. have been called into action a few times already and stood up really well.

Got some. Comfy to pedal in but not crash tested yet.

Comfiest knee pads so far.

As for

lotta coin for some slightly chunkier knee warmers.

they actually are quite breathable and thus not very warm on the front side.

Thanks guys, it looks like the consensus is pointing to the trail skins.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, recently bought some troy lee KG5400 knee pads. Pretty similar style of comfortable but fairly slim knee pads. Used them for a 20 miler on Saturday with a bit of hike a bike and there proving pretty comfy. A lot less bulk than the 661 pads they replaced and seem to be allowing a bit more blood flow!

http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/46950/TroyLee_Shock_Doctor_KG_5400_Knee_Guards

Had some of the Dianese Trail skins for a few weeks now.
I’ve had 2 tumbles where they’ve saved some skin. One was quite a hard and abrupt knee down, and they worked admirably. They also seem to be pretty hard-wearing, as they still look pretty new after some abuse and a couple of washes.
They seem to be not too sweaty in use – fine for a 25 miler with lots of climbing – and they seem to stay up pretty well too.

I had some, which have been worn on about 9 rides including a week of alpine riding. Alps involved long ups and downs so gave them a proper test round the same trails as the trans savoie. Worn knee pads for 10 years asfter busting a knee. Had 661 kyle straights for 5 years. Trail skins are comfier to ride in all day, had a little bit of cutting on the back of knees after 6 hours or so. The 661s were skinning to top of my knees after a ride so could ride on consecutive days. Fell off twice in the alps, they do not offer as much protection. I felt the first fall more than I would with the 661s. Second fall I managed to bang ba rock right between the big pad on the front and smaller one on side and got a big bruse, but better than nothing. I’m choosing to ride with these over the 661s as I think they offer a good compromise between comfort and protection

Trail skins are ace so long as you remember that they are trail protection not DH. mine so sometimes get a bit itchy when I sweat on a long ride but I’ve never had the urge to pull them down on the climbs.

http://wp.me/p4HYH0-M

I’ve got the elbow pads, and will get the knees at some point soon, Had a pretty big off a few weeks ago (cracked helmet and broke a rib) and they did their job week. The pad is scuffed but still well usable and they stayed in place better than my knee pads did.

Light and comfy enough that I was wearing them even though I was only supposed to be going for a bit of a pootle. Good job too, my elbow would have been foobar without them.

what size did you get compared to arm measurements. I fancy a pair but not sure what size I would need.

I really like the knee pads – they’ve stood up well including one really big off. Comfy enough to pedal all day.

Didn’t get on with the elbow pads though – didn’t seem flexible enough and couldn’t get them comfy.

What’s the sizing like on the elbows?

Can’t seem to find a comfy set of elbows and the search is getting expensive at this stage. Anyone got a set and able to compare to POC/Try Lee/RaceFace ones?

I tried several different makes in several different sizes (including TLD, POC, 661 and Dainese) but struggled to get something that fitted OK. Best I had previously was medium POC elbow pads which were great when new but got quite baggy over time.

Ended up buying the g-form elbows (think they’re a large) – under no illusion that they’re as good as a full pad but probably more likely to be wearing them in the 1st place – tend to treat them as arm-warmers with a bit of protection. They’ll also fit under jerseys, waterproofs, etc.

Sizing was the same as 661 on the elbows, so medium fits my medium sized arms fine. It doesn’t look like it, but the tabs give a fair bit of adjustability but the material isn’t too stretchy so they haven’t sagged, at least not yet anyway.

SimonR – Member
I tried several different makes in several different sizes (including TLD, POC, 661 and Dainese) but struggled to get something that fitted OK. Best I had previously was medium POC elbow pads which were great when new but got quite baggy over time.

Ended up buying the g-form elbows (think they’re a large) – under no illusion that they’re as good as a full pad but probably more likely to be wearing them in the 1st place – tend to treat them as arm-warmers with a bit of protection. They’ll also fit under jerseys, waterproofs, etc.

|Tried the G-form, needed XXL to fit comoftably, but that covered my entire arm from armpit to wrist – looked ridiculous, esp. as I prefer short sleeves.

TLD 5450s (or whatever the elbos are) in L were close, but just slightly too tight.

POC VPD 2.0 in L, same story, comfortable, but just tight enough to give me arm pump.

Tried on RaceFace Ambush in XL, too tight.

I got G-form knees.
Pretty comfortable all day, seem to work as I’ve crashed a few times lately(purely for research purposes)
They need to be against bare skin to stop falling down. I used to wear 3/4 lycra shorts under my baggies but have to use shorter ones now as the silicone gripper on the G-forms doesn’t grip too well to the lycra.

Couple of friends have the trailskins and seem to get on well with them, though they do comment at how lovely I look in My G-forms… 🙂

G-forms don’t have CE rating though

Pull the trigger on the trail skins 😀 , thanks for all of the advice guys.
I’ll post some feedback when I’ve given them a good run out.

+1 for those Troy Lee KG5400. I had my first ride in mine on Sunday. Forgot I was wearing them in about 10 minutes and it was a warm day.

It looks like I won’t be getting them anytime soon. The delivery date has just been changed to 5th November 🙁 .
Has anyone seen a size large in stock anywhere? Or I’ll have to look at some of the alternatives listed above..
ta

How are they in comparison with the Endura MT500 ones? I’ve been thinking about a pair of those.

asbrooks, try Tamed Earth in Hindhead, it’s where I got mine & they had a couple of pairs when I’ve been in recently.

How are they in comparison with the Endura MT500 ones? I’ve been thinking about a pair of those.

I can’t comment on the trail skins but I find the Enduras unbearably hot and sweaty. They offer good protection but I have sensitive skin and come up in rashes around my knees every time i put them on.

It seems that everyone is out of stock of these..

Found someone who has them in stock 😀

Found someone who has them in stock

Do tell where..

Slam69 in Gloucester

Cool. Thanks 🙂

I’ve got the TS elbow pads, and can attest to their skin saving, not too bulky, hard wearing, not too sweaty properties.

So much so that a pair of the kneepads will be purchased to replace my ridiculously proportioned (though very effective) Alpine Stars Knee pads.

Pearce cycles and rush cycles have some in stock