Recommend me some armour

First time, never used armour before, don't know what's what. I'm thinking I just want the basic minimum at the moment – is that knee and elbow pads? If so, what's good? Preferably something I can either ride all day (or at least most of the day) in, or something that only takes a few seconds to put on (and you don't have to take your shoes off to get on).

Not looking to break the bank either. And I'm 8.5 stone, so it needs to be slim fitting..

661 Kyle Straights for knees, Race Face FR if you want combined shin\knee

I like Dainese stuff for general riding http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/News.aspx?NewsID=870

I bought the arm and leg stuff shown in the link for a trip to the Alps a few years ago and after a couple of trips found it pretty good for wearing during a full length ride.

I then use 661 Kyle Strait knees for palying on our local DH trails. They are a bit sweaty for longer rides in my opinion though.

Having said all that I've never used armour for anything other than DH riding in the UK as it's officially gay to do so ;o)

Are there any genuinely good knee pads? While I think they're gay, I have a dodgy right knee – every time I whack it on the top tube, it's total agony and takes ages to heal – and I seem to whack it all the time! But I'm very much an xc rider so hate anything inefficient.

The knee is fine 95% of the time (thanks to physio) but has the impact resistance of a carbon frame. Not much.

but has the impact resistance of a carbon frame. Not much.

Oh god, you've done it now..

Agree about the gayness, this armour is strictly for Alps and DH.

I dislike riding in pads but the Dainese have been good, I've been really pleased with the way they've coped with day rides in 30 degree plus heat in the Alps.

The Kyle Straits are good but I have skinny legs and in a crash a few weeks back where I slid face down over some roots they did slide down and left my right knee pretty battered. They do look a bit better than the Dainese but in terms of protection I'm not so sure.

Having the shin protection of the Dainese on rocky trails is a bonus too.

They are a very personal thing though and it's beter to try before you buy. I mail ordered the Dainese but was lucky.

RM – I have plenty of carbon bits…

I'm after something to protect my knee though – not "armour" as such.

OK so Dainese is the way to go? Would you recommend elbow pads, or just a knee and shin combo?

Only you can decide that. I guess if you're set on leg protection then start with that first and see how you get on.

If you are not too worried about cost have a look at the POC range, the design and quality it top drawer but it does come with a price to match.

You need to try it on to be honest, especially if you are unusually tall, fat or skinny. I was happy to pay for the Dainese but when I tried it on the shinguard only came halfway down my leg, I ended up with Raceface Rally.

I'm pretty slim fit too, and tried a few different knee/shin pads, most seemed to bulky and OTT, or for bigger legs. Got some Troy Lee ones now which are awesome. They have a neoprene type thing that you can leave on your knees and gives a good secure fit, then the guards attach to that and strap round your legs. Up shot is that they felt more secure than others (don't want the pad to move if you do crash, especially if you got skinny legs so they're looser), you can ride all day with the support type things that actually help your knees aswell, and you can stick the guards on in 5 secs. TBH you can wear the whole lot and forget about it pretty quickly though. They're not that cheap mind, but I got them half price in a sale at Skyline, so maybe have a look around.

I'm after something to protect my knee though – not "armour" as such.

Same here really, dodgy knee, takes aaages to heal. I wear 661 Evo's on me knees, pricey, but flexible, I seriously do not notice I am wearing them when riding. d30 technology, it works 😉

I agree with Shandy, you really need to try various pads for fit and comfort. I used to ride with Dainese pads but then I switched to Race Face ones so I could get shin pads that covered most of the length of my shins (I'm 6'4"). I got some new Race Face knee/shin pads this year as my old ones were falling apart, but they'd changed the design and the new ones rubbed my legs badly. I have since bought some POC knee (but not shin) pads. They're pretty comfy but can get hot and were expensive.

I never head out without my Kylestraits knee pads on.

You can bounce most body parts of the ground and it will hurt intensly but you can still probably ride home/back to the car. Whack your knee good and hard and you could be left unable to walk or ride anywhere.

As for Protection being gay, yea, its completely gay. Until you fall off without it.

I've taken 3 big impacts on the knee and the pad took the brunt of the impact such that I only had mild stiffness in the joint a few hours later.