Excessive Armour!! why why why

Do you guys (mostly late 30s to 40s) who dress up like Robocop to tackle the red at Glentress feel really uncomfortable, when wearing enough armour to go down Fort William with no brakes and being pelted by rocks fired from a challenger 2 tank???

Honestly, its mad, they have shin pads, elbow pads, forearm guards, 661 body armour and full face helmets, all covered with matching DH fox racing gear, do you not clatter your way up the hill, a pair of 661 soft knee pads should be all you need max, full face at a very big push!

All the gear – No idea springs to mind.

Why? Why? Why? you look ridiculous and everyone laughs at it, so much overkill for a simple man made piece of singletrack!

DH tracks and freeride parks fair enough. But the red???

*pulls up a chair*

Same reason they used to wear plaid plus fours at the golf club…..

Why do you care?

perhaps they all have big mortgages and the thought of not being able to work for a long period and getting pittance on stat sick pay or earn **** all if they're self employed due to injury makes them pad up?

on the other hand they could just be big mincers. 😆

I dont care, I'm asking if they are very uncomfortable, I know i would be, wearing it on the DH bike is bad enough, but couldnt imagine climbing in it like a robot.

I've taken the easier, cheaper alternative. I don't do jumps any more, easy!

Maybe these guys with all the armour are just as sick of niggly injuries as I am, 4 weeks out for a tweaked wrist is VERY frustrating.

OP look on the bright side. They seem to be making you feel much better about yourself.

a pair of 661 soft knee pads should be all you need max

Says you – some people would probably call you a mincer for wearing pads at all. Full armour etc does seem overkill but if that's how they want to do it who cares?

They're either over-cautious, or they want to look "hardcore". I remember seeing a guy about 40K into an Enduro once, with elbow pads, knee pads and shin pads on… I chuckled to myself as I passed him… I'm all for it (I've got armor myself), but there's a time and a place for it!

Live and let live. People do tend to overdress for Glentress in the summer. Tends to be tourists who have read about how "Radical" spooky woods is in MBR. But hey they're having a good time and spending there money in the local economy. Personally I just avoid the place at the weekends

On another note people do wear lots of armour for genuine reasons for stuff like that. self employed, protecting old injuries etc

I always wear knee and shin, sometimes elbow and forearm and a helmet. I don't bother with a full face or body armour though it gets far too hot, and overkill really. But that said I understand why some people do wear all the gear but it must be really uncomfortable.

Perceived danger?They like the illusion of being a 'risk taker' but don't like the consequences.
Lack the experience to guage where their limits actually lie,hence the 'I was just going round the corner and the bike went away from me' excuse.
on the other hand they could just be big mincers 😆

Maybe they're just crap and fall off lots?

In which case, fair enough – wear the armour, it's what it's for!

I wear armour when I expect to fall off, and not when I don't.*

*never at GT, only on the DH bike racing and the like

OK hopefully this will get me banned.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=singletrackworld

Definition matches a good few of the replies. LOL

WilkoM6 out.

I don't even wear a helmet. Pussies.

Armour inspires confidence. And with confidence you get more speed and air 🙂

After a few painful falls recently I'm getting some soft knee pads for most riding I do in the future. I don't like the feeling of having no skin on my knees!

Well Wilko maybe you are a troll, but maybe it's because 30 – 40 years olds seem to break more eaily, take longer to repair, and have a greater sense of their impending death than mentalist teenagers 😀

Oh WilkoM6 you are really living life on the edge with that link. You're feet will not touch the ground – noone has hads the balls to a} post a link to that Urban Dctionary entry AND b} ride your bike without protection…

Crazy skillz m8 – GNARR to the power of sick, duuude.

'Armour inspires confidence. And with confidence you get more speed and air'.But has no effect on skill levels,therefore causes MORE crashes!

I ride nakid to feel more at one with nature – stops my ballbag getting sweaty too. Muscle is armour 🙂

Why? Why not. /thread.

Personally, I wear more armour than most because while I'm mostly recovered from my broken hip and torn ACL, I'll never make a full recovery and I can't afford more injuries to that leg. And I'd look a wee bit silly wearing one kneepad. This combined with my osteoperosis- brittle bones- means that iI shouldn't be riding at all, but the armour makes it merely a bad idea instead of moronic.

But by all means assume I'm some sort of skill-free risk-compensating crash-waiting-to-happen knobber. I can certainly see why people wearing armour ruins your day and I'm hugely sympathetic to your plight.

MussEd, I have some cracking Dainese kevlar armour, full body, including fingers are you interested?

Oh I do wear protection, however I "pad up" relevant to the risk.

Gelntress red- helmet, giro xen to be exact, nothing more, nothing less.
Dunkeld DH or Fort Bill, full face, shin pads, elbow guards, back protector.

If I wipeout at GT red am I going to REALLY need all that armour? not really.

Tearing down top section a fort bill with an over the bars moment on the rocks, then full face will serve me well.

Did people used to get the piss taken out of them for being wimps for wearing helmets 10-15 years ago?

Oh I do wear protection, however I "pad up" relevant to the risk.

You've made a personal judgement, which has some basis in fact, but is actually pretty irrational. You'd probably be better off wearing all your armour in the car on the way to Fort William.

WilkoM6 out.

Can't say I'd ever seen you on this forum anyway.

Nobody has ever been injured at Glentress- fact.

Well how much is too much? helmet on the road? helmet on a fire-road? helmet on a singletrack?
Knee pads? Shin guards? elbow pads? body armour?

Now I am just confused? I wear a helmet when I ride (I have broken quite a few). And I also wear shin and knee pads. Last time I was in Italy with nasher and I was wearing a body armour. Am I one of this over amoured you refer to?

Have you actually rode with the guys? And can you explain to me why is it more acceptable to wear body armour on a DH track than on the RED at GT? Surely if you fall off you are likely to injure yourself the same.

Or and it's a big or, you have smee or alpin or njee wispering at your ears 😀

What armour would prevent you from breaking your hip…or tearing an ACL then?Or even breaking a collar bone?At best it stops gravel rash,skinned shins,bruises and puncture wounds.Does'nt stop the things that would really screw you up long terms-Helmets not withstanding.

I suspect they probably passed him while he was mincing through spooky woods and he's not happy…

Having seen people being injured while wearing armour, and how hot they get, I don't bother beyond a helmet, which is no great imposition.

CFH sorry I missed your post. I am going to get the coffee machine on
what would you like?
Expresso or a kenyan 😉

I might even have so very dark chocolate to go with it 😉

Juan,

Do you know the difference to a DH track to a red at GT??

Have a look then you will understand.

Someone get that boy a dectionarry(sic)

epicsteve,

quite the opposite, i'm not happy due to a squadron of stormtroopers clanging up Spookywood, only to screw up the descent aswell by picking S%it lines, not allowing faster riders through and high five all round at the bottom because they only took the chicken run once this time.

Are you Darth?

Rorschach

"What armour would prevent you from breaking your hip…or tearing an ACL then?Or even breaking a collar bone?At best it stops gravel rash,skinned shins,bruises and puncture wounds.Does'nt stop the things that would really screw you up"

My hip would almost certainly have been prevented by any decent armoured shorts, including but not limited to the 661 Bomber Evos I now wear (and which don't affect how I ride in the slightest). The ACL wouldn't have been prevented by the pads I wear but as I said "I can't afford more injuries to that leg." It's already marginal, so any further injury will probably mean I don't ride a bike again, broken kneecap etc.

It's nonsense to suggest protective great can't prevent serious injuries I'm afraid. If that's the basis for your opinion I can understand why you might think it's not worthwhile, though I can't understand how you can believe that helmets can prevent serious injury but nothing else can when they all operate in the same way.

need to edit header to read "why oh why oh why has this got anything to do with me"- because it hasn't, people can choose what level of risk of injury they are prepared to take – entirely up to them and if don't work it don't work

Its a personal choice, if you are worried about how or why other people are doing things then you need to find something more interesting to do yourself.

wilkoM6 – Member

"quite the opposite, i'm not happy due to a squadron of stormtroopers clanging up Spookywood, only to screw up the descent aswell by picking S%it lines, not allowing faster riders through and high five all round at the bottom because they only took the chicken run once this time"

Obviously that would all be fine if they weren't wearing any body armour, that's what you're saying here? Or they'd be faster? Here's a daring suggestion- why not wait a couple of minutes after they leave to give yourself a gap, like everyone else does?

Guy I know managed to break an arm fishing, is acutely aware of damaging himself again, and so armours up when mountain biking. The rest of us may jokingly call him a big jessie, but we'd rather joke about that than leave him at home.

I dont care, I'm asking if they are very uncomfortable,

Why not ask them then, instead of posting on a public forum 🙄