Okay, so yesterday I crashed on a trail I’ve been trying to crack for a while now (Wormhole in FOD) and although the rest of me was absolutely fine bar a scrape on my arm, my pedal (nukeproof horizon) slashed a big gash on my shin which I had to get fixed in MIU. I’m frustrated that now I can’t ride for a couple of weeks to let it heal and the fact that these flat pedals are just completely tearing up my shins in general.

Now my question is, are there any decent and not so bulky knee+shin pads, or shin pads on their own, or should I invest in clipless pedals to remove this issue altogether?

Did the shin gash occur as a result of the crash, or was that part of the root cause (foot slipping etc)? Prevention is better than cure.

is your technique good, are you wearing grippy mtb shoes and is your ankle dug deep on the descents. if you are riding with your foot flat on the pedal then it’ll slip off.

i used to slash my calfs and shins all the time, i rarely do now.

My feet came off the pedals because I crashed, not the other way around. My technique is fine, heels down and planted. I’ve got adidas terrex trailcross shoes with the five ten soles so it’s all grippy. I’m not looking for technique advice because that’s not the issue.

I slashed my shin about halfway up (a couple of months ago) and it was just below my knee pad line. So I revisited the RaceFace knee guards, which are a very light pad but longer than the others and I’m happier having the lower leg protection in sacrifice to slightly less padding over the knee.

Looks like the options are either

(a) change nothing and hope it was a one off crash that was a freak scrape of the shins. Those pedals are decent and your shoes aren’t too bad.

(b) Take to wearing a knee / shin pad combo and keep the pedals and shoes as s they are

(c) Go clipless. This isn’t a guarantee of no shin injuries as when you crash you’ll probably unclip and could bash your shins against the pedals anyway. Just if you have relatively smooth clipless pedals the injury shouldn’t be so bad (I run horizon clipless with Shimano AM7s when I want to be clipped in and Superstar Nano when on flats with Fiveten Freeriders). There is a trend for clipless pedals with pins which I’ve got – perhaps avoid those of pins are your worst enemy! Time DH4’s look they they have a decent size platform without pins – I’ve toyed with getting some as I was struggling to click in with the horizons until someone asked if I was using genuine Nukeproof cleats or shimano ones. I had shimano and have swapped to Nukeproof and they’re amazingly better now.

I would say its just one of those things, its not like you are using sharkbites or beartraps from the nineties where you would have bleeding shins all summer.

A clipless pedal can still hurt you if you crash and unclip, personally I would stick with flats.

Yeah I mainly brought up clipless because you can get clipless pedals without big shin-gashing pins on them.

Trailrider Jim – thanks for the suggestion, I’ll have a look at those!

joebristol – Yeah I think I’ll probably shop around for some shin guards, even if this never happens again it will be worth it to invest. It’s a bloody huge gash I’ve got now and it still hurts even the day afterwards, I wouldn’t recommend it!

Just one of those things, I spent years BMX’ing and my shins scarred from countless shinners from learning tricks, landing hard or just one off’s.

OP, you say you have Nukeproof Horizon pedals, have you removed the washers so the pins are at there most terrifying and longest? If not, Id suggest doing this, or if your pedals are a few years old maybe a new pin kit as they do wear down.

An alternative approach is to change your shoe/pedal combo.

On my ht, I use 5:10 impacts (the big heavy chunky ones) with really crappy crappy plastic pedals with no spikes.

Impacts with Horizons are too locked in for me – a big effort to change foot position.

I had some Odyssey triple traps in the 90s, now those were proper shin mashers massive platform with lots of jagged sheet metal edges and surprisingly little grip…

I still have some pretty much permanent shin scars and I’ve not really used Flat pedals for almost a decade.
It took me a long while to come around to the whole idea of riding an MTB in clips, but in all honesty life is easier clipped in (IME, YMMV). Flats don’t actually make you any more Gnarrr or “skilled”… (IMO of course)

Now my question is, are there any decent and not so bulky knee+shin pads

Have you looked at the G Form knee/shin pads?

(Not tried them, but they’re on my list as Ali Clarkson was wearing some a couple of years ago and said they were good)

I tried football shin pads a few years back and am still using them as it’s a cheap and simple shin saver for me.

https://www.endurasport.com/c/SingleTrack-Shin-Guard-Sock/p/E1202-Black

Best thing ever for getting used to flats lol.

I use them a lot haha

the fact that these flat pedals are just completely tearing up my shins in general.

That would suggest that this

I’m not looking for technique advice because that’s not the issue.

may not be completely true.

Don’t take that as a criticism, but it does take a while to get used to, how long have you been riding flats for? I’ve been riding them since the Puffer in 2014, and the only scratches I get now are from pushing up when hikeabiking, on the calf.

If you crash your feet don’t stay on the pedals. Pedal strikes are fairly common regardless of technique. I crashed, which meant I came off the bike, as I came off the bike the pedal gouged out my shin. It’s not hard to visualise.

My feet don’t come off the pedals in normal riding, the shoes and pedals are grippy, my heels are down, I’m not bouncing around on them in chunky sections or jumps. I use them for jumps, drops, tech and flow all absolutely fine.

https://www.endurasport.com/c/SingleTrack-Shin-Guard-Sock/p/E1202-Black

Best thing ever for getting used to flats lol.

I use them a lot haha

These look perfect! Just ordered a pair myself, thanks brads!

It’s not hard to visualise.

Ah, so you did take it as a criticism. Cool.

What?

Dainese combined knee / shin are good if you are trying new black trails / jumps etc…

Done full Enduro in them before, forget you are wearing after a while – was all good.

Second the footy shin pads, they’re light, easy to put on and off, cheap and you can get them in many flavours (strap, sock insert, etc).

As for technique, i tend to find slipping off the pedal more a fatigue/concentration thing, the technique isn’t difficult, just doing it for hours with all the trail feedback and rough landings causes it to happen now and again, having the right pedals and length of pin is something that gives that less chance of happening though.

On the spd front, I’ve got a scar on my right shin from an ordinary Shimano M520 spd. Gouged a hole and a little chunk of bone during a crash. I ride spds and flats on various bikes, sometimes with pads sometimes without. Shit happens.