Starting to think about my “comeback” from a broken femur, I’d like a bit of hip protection as I start to venture offroad. I think part of it is psychological, but also the whole leg still feels a bit “tender”, even though the physio and surgeon are happy the bone has healed enough that I can start to venture off road again.

The 661 Compression short seem to be the best option out there but can’t for the life of me find any anywhere, so if anyone can point some out where my Google fu is failing me, please do. Otherwise what other options can anyone suggest? I normally wear a decent pair of bibs under my baggies so want something with a good chami as well as decent padding. The Endura ones look like they fit the first criteria but padding looks minimal on the hip.

Any other suggestions?

can’t help with sourcing them but I have the 661 shorts and they are great  . very low profile.  other alternative would be snowboarding shorts

Force field armour do a thing call Boom Shorts. Padding all over the place, can remove the bits you’re not likely to fall on…

I’ve got a pair of Knox Defender Shorts, which are good. Fairly low-profile, despite the armour, so they slip under a pair of normal cycling shorts (TLD Moto in my case anyway).

https://www.planet-knox.com/product/defender-mtb-shorts/

Can’t remember if I got a bit of a deal on mine cos I bought them at the NEC Motorcycle Show a few years back. I’d buy them again at RRP if I had to though if that’s any kind of endorsement?

Dainese impact shorts

Race face flank liner protective

Fox clothing Titan race shorts

Alpine stars sequence pro shorts

ONeal trail protection shorts

AlpineStars vector tech shorts are very good. Used them for a few years now after hurting coccyx and hip in various crashes.
Get hot in the summer though.

I have some fox ones.

Theyre quite comfy

Might take them the alps thinking about it…

CRC sell the Troy Lee armoured shorts with a chamois pad. I have them and the top for DH and they are great.

i’ve started wearing the IXS Hack Skid Shorts, they are really comfy and padded well around the hips. true to size
i tried to like the fox ones but the sizing and padded bits were all over the place, chamois gave full nut protection. the change between M and L was more like 2 sizes..
they are cheaper from MX websites, paid £52 earlier this year

Watching this thread with interest as I have a history of thigh haematomas (thanks to warfarin)

Check out POC Hip VPD Shorts:
These are the ones I would wear if riding Ben Lomond. Very full coverage of the hip / thigh.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/POC-Hip-Unisex-Protective-Shorts/dp/B006L25UJW

Troy Lee Designs: 7605 ULTRA PROTECTIVE SHORT
LPS7605 SOLID BLACK

Also: Evoc Crash Pants – Light and comfortable but the protective padding is starting to go after many years of use.

Snowboarding shorts are good for that sort of thing

Went through the same with my hip- though mostly just to protect the metalwork as it hurts like hell to land on where the bolts are! I have the 661s and they’re good, if you can still find them- good coverage in the right places. They’re comfy in use though the smell of rancid ball sweat when you take them off is amazing. (I also had their older d30 ones but they weren’t as well thought out)

POC do a set but the pads weren’t in the right place for me, and they have an annoying tiny chamois, they’d be better off without it imo.

7idp Hydro ones.
Decent armour, good chamois – nice bib shorts. Have pockets on the back too.

I’m on blood thinners so have to be careful of crashing. I have a couple of pairs each of the Troy Lee 7605 shorts and the Fox Titan shorts. Both are very good in my opinion, the Troy Lee’s are much better made and the protection has more coverage, but the chamois is comfier on the Fox Shorts. Given the choice I usually grab the Troy Lee’s from the drawer, they’re a quality product and just do the job.

G Form make some too, not crash tested them but got them on discount at Sports Pursuit.

reading this with interest.

whilst riding this years Jenn ride, i crashed on the descent down to the pub at seathwaite.
anyone who rode it, or indeed rides the lakes, knows the descent. it is a dried riverbed full of babies heads.
i went over the bars and landed on my left side, with my replacement hip and thigh taking full impact.
i thought i had broken my femur. i couldnt get up. i laid there for about 10 minutes until 2 riders came down and help me up.
i got to the pub, where the land lady cleaned my gashed elbow, and game me pain killers.
over the next 2 hours my thigh swelled to nearly twice its size.
no way could i ride the bike, so i had to get the pub to ring me a taxi to take me back to kandal for a xray. no break but a huge haematoma.

i wish i had been wearing some padding……. ;o(

I have just had my summer in the Alps with some Fox Titan padded shorts. They are shockingly comfortable but the size/shape of the “chamois” does make me wonder if it’d’ work as well when pedalling (I was DH bike park). The padding seems good, but thankfully I didn’t get a chance to test it for real…

I have the 661 and really like them. I have an alert set up on CRC for the one week a year they are in stock.

I also have gform and they are okay but the sizing is out of whack.

be realistic, if you broke your femur a 10mm bit of foam isn’t going to prevent that sort of an injury.

You will just end up with sweaty balls area.

spend the money on skills coaching to build confidence instead.

Thanks, some great suggestions here! The 7idp ones look particularly good. Also have tracked down the 661 direct from the 661 store themselves, but at over £90 I may give the 7idp ones a shot first!

be realistic, if you broke your femur a 10mm bit of foam isn’t going to prevent that sort of an injury.

I’m not expecting it to prevent another broken femur, nor am I at risk of another break just because it happened once. However a break of the femur and subsequent surgery causes a hell of a lot of trauma to the upper leg which takes many months to subside, so falling on the leg right now won’t break it but it will bloody hurt because of everything else, and a 10mm bit of foam will help with that.

Don’t think they make those POC VPD shorts anymore and anyone with stock left seems to be expensive.

I just bought a new medium pair from ebay.com as I wanted the large hip coverage for riding my electric unicycle at speed 🙂

I got the RF Flank shorts for an Alps trip earlier in the summer and had quite a big off landing on my left side. Ended up with Raceface printed in bruise reverse on my thigh but the D30 insert really protected my hip bone. Really felt I got my money’s worth – recommended.

be realistic, if you broke your femur a 10mm bit of foam isn’t going to prevent that sort of an injury.

In healthcare we use pants with hip protectors for old folk likely to fall – they have an evidence base behind them. No they will not protect from all fractures but they both spread the impact out and absorb some of it. so will reduce the chances of injury

I would guess the pads in these specific mtb shorts will be at least as good. Maybe even have some evidence behind them ;-

In healthcare we use pants with hip protectors for old folk likely to fall

that was my thinking when buying the POC VPD shorts – I can also use them when I am old to protect against falls as the percentage of old people that snuff it within a year of breaking their hips is pretty high !

My partner works in palliative and dementia care so hopefully I have that covered as well 🙂

My grandma had a set with Knox CE inserts, almost exactly the same product that I had in my motorbike gear.

Does any manufacturer made hip protector shorts for woman?

I have a pair of Dainese impact shorts, bought for use skiing and mountain biking. I’ve never properly crash tested them on the bike but they do take the sting out of a hard sideways landing on ice and hardpack snow. I wear them under regular shorts and it only looks slightly stupid.

If the risk of damage is so high without 10mm of foam on your leg you should seriously consider calming down the level of risk your activity presents.

I have injured myself in many ways the only time I have found padded shorts to be of use is snowboarding, where it is the difference between a broken coccyx when using hard pads.

get coaching and avoid the situation

“get coaching and avoid the situation” ding ding ding there it is!

@bunnyhop yes g form do, Burton do, demon do  …

Bunnyhop – get a pair of old ladies safety knickers?

In all seriousness the pads in they might be useful or get some armour from motorcycle clothing and with your sewing skills?

Thought I’d report back here in case anyone finds this thread in future and needs advice.

Picked up some of the 7idp bibs suggested above by @yourguitarhero. Decent price from CRC too.
Rode for a few hours yesterday, was pretty impressed and would recommend. Fit was good, they are padded only on the hips, which is great for what I want though others may want more extensive padding, the storage pockets on them will be very handy for riding without a pack too.
Only slight quibble I had was the chamois felt pretty uncomfortable when I put them on, once I got riding it felt fine, but for hike a bike sections it’s definitely not the most comfortable shape for me, that’s obviously very much a personal preference/shape thing, so others may be totally fine with the chamois as it is.

No one is saying a pair of shorts will stop a broken hip, but they should help disperse some of the impact in a fall. You’ll never know if the shorts saved your hip or whether a fall wasn’t quite bad enough or in the right direction to cause a break. Just the same reason we (mostly) wear helmets.

It’s usually a freak accident for anyone with normal bone density.