Should I get body armour or try and crash less.

My latest crash at BPW has left a mystery lump on side. The bruised ribs legs and hip have calmed down though. At the same time I’ve decided to try some bigger jumps, and the last unprotected bit I have is the torso. Are those upper body protective shirt things any good? They are expensive so it puts me off having a go in case I hate it, or they are too hot.

Both.

Yes the armour is hot though

Yes it gets hot when it’s hot weather but I wouldn’t ride at any bike park without it now. Same as a full face helmet really. Had a big crash last year that busted me up pretty badly but if I hadn’t been wearing armour god knows how bad I’d have been.

Sport pursuit might have some a bit cheaper?

Git gud and get protection. If the armour turns out to be too hot, get an eBike.

body armour is unlikely to stop you getting a lump on the side.

I just try to crash less

Thing is, protection on a pushbike is quite hard. It’s good for protecting against scrapes, bruises, hard edges etc but a lot of the injuries we get are basically our own bodies hurting ourselves with momentum when we stop too fast and that’s very hard to prevent, without a lot of bulk. Ribs especially are mostly about this, same with shoulders, collarbones. It’s not that the protective shirts etc are useless, they’re definitely not but they’re quite specific, so while you protect against a bunch of injuries they make very little difference to others. So it’s fairly unlike a proper kneepad, for example, which is effective pretty much all the time.

(also, some mtb suits are very influenced by motocross gear, and that’s a whole different use case, we just don’t benefit much at all from chest roost guards in most crashes but mtb kit keeps on getting them anyway, almost always at the expense of some more useful protection. Still, it might just save your life if you ride into a spiky branch)

I always think of it as being a bit like cars- crumple zones and bumpers don’t help much when you’re hit by all the heavy stuff you had in the back seat.

TLDR modern suits can be pretty comfy to ride in, sweatier but not as bad as you’d think. Just don’t expect it to always work.

I think I’ll look out for a bargain one.

 Still, it might just save your life if you ride into a spiky branch

I did that once with no armour , fist-size lump rather than a spike though, cracked a rib. But I’m still not wearing armour, other than my helmet, in a 24hr race.

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I often ride techy stuff with a full face and knee pads and actually find I crash less than I do without them. My theory is I’m more confident, and it’s usually hesitating at the wrong moment which leads to crashes.

I have a Poc one… nice and comfy… but too hot to use without uplifts, really.

My latest crash at BPW has left a mystery lump on side.

Probably a hematoma. It’ll go eventually. But I’d get it checked out if you haven’t already to make sure you haven’t damaged something you can’t see.

I am not a doctor. But I have crashed with similar results 😉

I used to ride with a short sleeved 661 upper body thing. It had hard shoulder cups with padding underneath, padding on the ribs and an articulated back protector that made me look like an armadillo.

Were going back a few years and the modern stuff all seems lower profile but it was still far to hot to pedal around in.

It was really good for small offs (the type where you go flying and think it going to really hurt until you hit the deck and find it wasn’t as bad as you thought). It didn’t stop me breaking my ribs or my arm in a bad one though.

Bit like knee pads… I think they’re worth it to stop (relatively) minor impacts from making you walk funny for a few days but they’re not going to stop you breaking bones if you hit a tree hard enough to break something.

I thought maybe I’ve knocked the spleen off or dislodged a kidney. Hopefully if either of these things, they will reattach.

How old are you?

I was the teflon boy, then young man and then young middle aged man. I took a knock and seemed to come right back. Now I’m 52 and 3 of the last 4 years I’ve been carrying issues from mild niggles to significant annoyances. A shoulder injury turns into a frozen shoulder….3 times. Finger injuries, knees, lower back, neck. I just don’t bounce no more.

Fortunately my appetite for  putting my body in harm’s way seems to have naturally abated. I ‘think’ I have just as much fun as I always did – it’s just different fun. I’m a long way from an afternoon at the garden centre and thinking I’m living the high life, but I’ve stopped looking at stuff and wondering what it would be like to jump off it. I’m lucky that my head is toning down my risk taking naturally, aligned with my ability to physically handle it.

Protection is good. Learning to do rad stuff better is betterer. And then toning it down when you need to is fine too.

Wear more protection and you’ll just crash more – probably at a higher speed too.

Convert I’m 52 as well, and only started breaking bones in the last 10. My worst crashes have always been doing stuff I do easily all the time, mainly on bits that link features rather than trying new jumps etc.

Probably a hematoma. It’ll go eventually.

I similarly still have a hematoma just above my hip from a crash in whistler. It happened in 2008. Death may come before “eventually”..

Hopefully if either of these things, they will reattach.

I think you need better medical advice – see a doctor.

Wear more protection and you’ll just crash more – probably at a higher speed too.

Urban myth? I’ll buy your helmet off you ?

I’ve got the 661 d30 body ‘armour’. It’s just a vest with floppy d30 pads that go rock solid in an impact. It’s saved my shoulder in a crash I reckon – I have a scar from the impact that I got through the armour so I can’t imagine what it would have been like without the armour. It’s light enough that I wear it on every ride (I prefer lower risk trail riding if you know what I mean, but that can lead to little jumps or steep chutes etc). It’s hot in the summer but is a great insulation layer in the winter.

I started getting occasional skills coaching over the last 5 years and the main thing I’ve gained is being able to push my limits in a way where things don’t get out of hand. Previously I’d push harder and end up crashing hard. Usually these days I just end up running wide or getting a little sketchy, much less crashing, despite going abit quicker/bigger jumps.

I similarly still have a hematoma just above my hip from a crash in whistler. It happened in 2008. Death may come before “eventually”..

Lol. Yeah, mine is still visible from 2022, but I’m remaining optimistic!

As solamanda suggests, have you had any skills coaching OP?

Sounds like you’re pushing your envelope, which is great, but perhaps a bit of focus on technique might help?

Protection is good. Learning to do rad stuff better is betterer. And then toning it down when you need to is fine too.

This. I’m 54 and still progressing but in a measured way. Regularly do uplift days and trips to the alps etc. I wear a fox mesh thing with lots of plastic attached to it and its saved me a few times (especially a nasty off on Dyfi Race Track). If its for uplift, why not? Its not too sweaty if you wear minimal stuff over the top.

“da yoof” seem to do all this stuff in jeans and a t shirt these days (and no gloves??) but thats on them, ive had way more injuries than they have 😉

As suggested – skills training?  Might identify why you are crashing?

Well, the worst crash I had was on the first run of the first day after lock down. Hit a tree on a blue bit that I normally do the red. I broke my wrist so bad my hand was about an inch over
I also think I may have knocked myself unconscious but I cant remember. Similarly a couple of weeks ago again at BPW I cleared the bigger bits on locomotion resulting in carrying too much speed into the little double doubles and went off the trail into the sign that says trails merging.
I have also crashed on the way to the uplift a couple of times.
It seems to be too much speed on an easy bit that is my problem. I would like to get some coaching to learn to do the big stuff as I quite like getting air.

Coaching will help you ride your bike better, but it won’t mean you never crash.

BPW is savage tbh.  Speeds are high and ground is hard.  Any crash is going to leave cuts and bruises at best so if you’re uplifting and you feel better wearing it, go for it.

I don’t think anyone chooses to crash so not sure how you can make yourself crash less unless you ride well within yourself and walk sections you can’t roll.  But that’s not practical when you’re trying to have fun.  This assumes you’re not some evil kneival with zero skill.

I can’t say I bother with upper body protection, anything that spread out enough blunt trauma to stop it from injuring you will be horrendously bulky to ride. And I say that as someone who’s broken 3 ribs, its painful but you recover.

Knee pads are essential to me, and I ride with a back protector and neck brace when uplifting as theyre the body parts I really want to avoid damaging.

At the same time I’ve decided to try some bigger jumps

I have also crashed on the way to the uplift a couple of times.
It seems to be too much speed on an easy bit that is my problem. I would like to get some coaching to learn to do the big stuff as I quite like getting air.

Are you doing bigger stuff and going faster, fuelled mainly by bravery and willingness to give things a go and brake less?

I was like that, didn’t have any crashing issues but did a skills course out of interest. After that I rode faster and did gnarlier stuff, but it felt slower and safer.