[Atomant]

I noticed that cross country riders and roadies don't wear knee guards and elbow guards, the only protection they have is a helmet. Why is it that such important joint protection are not advocated as much as it is in inline skating? Is it due to the fact that pro's don't wear them and racing regulations doesn't require them? A mountain biker or a roadie's speed as compared to an Inline skaters. An inline skater goes at app. 1/8 the speed of a mountain biker/ roadie and on smooth terrain. It doesn't make sense that our culture does not require elbow and knee guards.

Yes, I am a wuss and I am concerned over my joints and the fact that I don't look cool if I'm gonna race a xc event with eldow and knee guards on makes me mad!! > While some people might think that it's cool or "hardcore" to race around with a bleeding knee or elbow or even have some titanium rod inserted in them. I certainly do not think so.

Well, I don't care.

Anyone knows of any brand of knee guards that is sleek enough to go with a xc outfit and looks proportionate as well? I don't see why I shouldn't wear a knee guard that I'm riding cross country. I think it's as essential as wearing a helmet.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

 

[lobos8403]

Well heres my take on it. Most people who race(me). Find that once your at the competitive level of riding u seem to fall less frequently. To me i dont even really need to think about navigating the trails, its just something that happends when im in the zone. Truthfully im more worried about getting dropped or overtaken then falling during racing. I mean when your confident enough to bomb down certain portions of trail of course there will be a slightly higher chance of wiping out. I find i fall more when im just tooling around with freinds, i see alot of people ride with protection of some sort at the local trails doesnt really make me think twice about them.. i rarely see protection at the races.

Oh and i hear those fox 911 pads are good along with roach pads.

 

[ArmySlowRdr]

I think lobos nailed it. When you become in the zone and mostly fall free so to say you wont necessarily want pads.

Or if you're like me and walk any and everything above your ability level you likely wont need them.

A certain style man at a certain mag would dis them.

Given all that---there are XC riders here on Oahu that do wear them.
And no one thinks anything of it--at lesat the one I personally know of.

 

[simian23]

Well...

I have inline skated quite a lot, and have mtn biked for years. Let me tell you, falling on pavement hurts way, way more than falling on trails. Pavement is a much higher friction surface than dirt (duh), and doesn't have any "give" at all. Also, you tend to skate on fairly level terrain, so when you fall your negative acceleration to flat ground is fairly high. When you fall going down a hill, your momentum is redirected forwards somewhat (I am not a physicist, so any real physicists feeling the need to correct my terms please stand up).

I've fallen dozens and dozens of times mtn biking, and while occassionally they result in scrapes and bruises, they aren't nearly as painful as the falls I have had skating. Also, I think bikes are just inherently more stable than skates.

If you don't like scrapes and bruises, by all means wear pads. I must add though that a few years ago, pad design really sucked. Recent improvements have made them much more comfortable even for all-day riding, so I imagine you'll see more and more riders wearing them.

I doubt I will wear them for XC ever, though. The occassional scrapes don't bother me, and I usually think if I feel the need for pads to ride over something, I probably shouldn't be riding it.

 

[datako]

They're definitely not cool - they're too HOT! I reckon they impede control. Also I spend a fair bit of time walking and pushing, and they are way too clumsy.

They're probably ok for the guys who roll downhill and do those jumps on engineless motorbikes.

 

[elerner61]

Depends....

Wearing pads while XC riding depends.....

Depends on what you ride. I ride here in the North East and the technical trails are all hairy rock strewn stuff. One badly placed fall and you're just smashed your kneecap.

Depends on what you've broken. Last year I screwed up a landing and had the bad luck of landing on a rock and fracturing my pelvis. It took 10 weeks to recover and I missed the entire summer of riding.

So...wear pad's if you're gonna worry about falling, breaking stuff and getting laid up off the bike. Wear pad's if not wearing them is going to hold you back from riding trails you'd really like to ride. I'm wearing knee/shin and arm pads (as are many I ride with) and I'm riding better than before the accident.

Stop worrying about being cool and do what you want to do. Strap on a pair pal....'nads and pads.

 

[The Squeaky Wheel]

who gives a darn what others thing?

If you feel that you need armor then wear it. I wear mine part-time and often get ridiculed by friends who wear armor full-time for forgetting mine.

 

[FoShizzle]

who gives a darn what others thing?

If you feel that you need armor then wear it. I wear mine part-time and often get ridiculed by friends who wear armor full-time for forgetting mine.

Ditto what Dr Wheel says....who gives a sh!t what other think. If I cared about what others thought, I would not take my bike out of my garage.

Last time I ended up in ER I realized what an idiot I was to not have brought the elbow/knee pads.....at least put them in the Camelback which I often do when I know there will be at least one tough downhill on my "cross country" ride. My Core rat knee/shin guards and my Fox 911 forearm/elbow pads fit in my Camelback with some creativity.

Much more embarassing to take what would otherwise be a trivial fall with pads on and have to be walked down the hill by others cause you are "too cool" not to wear pads.

cheers

 

[zenorb]

Let me get this straight. You want to wear pads but don't because other people do not. You are letting other people affect your safety? Let me guess.. .you think there should be some law that makes everyone have to wear pads so that you can wear them and feel ok about it?

We have enough rules.

Wear what you want.

Don't tell me what to wear.

Yes, I am a wuss and I am concerned over my joints and the fact that I don't look cool if I'm gonna race a xc event with eldow and knee guards on makes me mad!!

This attitude right here is what is wrong with America right now. It is ok to be a safety freak. Just be a freak over your own safety - let me worry about me - I am a big boy.

 

[Guest]

Please note that my reply is from a racers standpoint, so i ride under different cirumstances than many of the XC riders in this forum.

try riding a 2+ hour race with knee pads, and let me know if you have any skin left where the pads rub against your legs. You won't.

I don't wear pads because
-they're hot, when im racing i want to be as cool as possible
- chaffing, as i mentioned above those things will rub you raw after 2 hours of straight pedaling
-Though i often crash during races when the conditions are bad, i rarely fall otherwise. I have also become rather good at ejecting myself from my bike and landing on my feet.


i wear pads when skating because i fall on pavement at least once pretty much every time I go out. I ride thousands of miles a year on my road bike and last year I only had one fall.

 

[Picard]

don't worry about coolness. It is best to wear pads for protection instead of getting injured without it.

 

[keen]

I wear knee & elbow pads riding XC trails. I ride in a group that is usually armorless. I don't mind the extra bulk if it means saving my skin & bones. More than once I have seen a fellow rider go down w/ injury that could have been avoided w/ some simple padding. Not entirely buying the racer's outlook or in the zone outlook - Shi* happens, I am going to wear my pads.

 

[Mr. GT]

I wear knee/shin pads and sometime my elbow pad and i ride XC.

I'm tired of being bloody and sore all summer, I have never cared what ppl have said bout it its my body not theres.

my knee/shin pads are Fox
my elbow pads are some off brand i got at the local sporting good store


so dont listen to others wear what ya want

 

[Prexus2005]

I just bought a pair of the Standard Fox knee/shin pads yesterday for $11 and love em. =) I've only been riding for a few months and it's mainly intermediate level XC trails with nothing really scary yet. I'm also still using the stock platform pedals that left a nice deep cut on my shin a month ago that's still not fully healed yet. Going to stay with the pedals till I can bunnyhop! then I'll go with clip-ins. =)

The pad seems like they wouldn't offer much protection since there are only 2 straps holding each pad on the shin/calf. The top knee pad is lose with no straps. I imagin if I did fall, there is 80% chance the pad will slide ever which way.. but would take that initial direct hit just fine and maybe I'll get some scrapes. Given that I've only fallen once and taken the pedal in the shin once in the 4 month's I've been riding, these pads should be all I need.

When riding with them on, they aren't hot at all and barely slid any. There are no restrictions on my pedalling since the straps on on the shin/calf and nothing is rubbing. I loved how they saved my shin from the 10,000 lashes I usually get from various plants alone the edge of the trail and who knows if any poison oak could be hiding in there. And I'm sure it saved me from a catus although I don't remember feeling the impact or see any needles in the shin pad...( i was going.. oh crap! Catus!! as i manuvered by. i could have fallen right into the sucker)

I tried on a few other kneepads such as the 661 Race and Race Lites. They have lot more straps and looks like they would offer alot more protection for more aggressive/free riders. Because they had lot more straps, I can see how they can get hot and rub when peddling.

Anyways, wear what you think you need for the riding style that you do and don't worry about what people think.


Phil.

 

[mattbikeboy]

Shin guards

I use light weight neoprene shin guards when riding in technical terrain and it's not really hot. I also use them at night when the chances of falling are greater or on trails that are grown in. Even the leafy (relatively) green plants in our desert around here are very sharp and like to scratch riders (it's not the 1st 10 times the brush scratches you -- its the 50th time -in the same place- that it is when it really begins to hurt.

Last night I was bombing down the trail back to the trailhead and a creosote nailed my across my face -- oweeeeee! It didn't look that solid.

mc

 

[Rivet]

I noticed that cross country riders and roadies don't wear knee guards and elbow guards, the only protection they have is a helmet. Why is it that such important joint protection are not advocated as much as it is in inline skating? Is it due to the fact that pro's don't wear them and racing regulations doesn't require them? A mountain biker or a roadie's speed as compared to an Inline skaters. An inline skater goes at app. 1/8 the speed of a mountain biker/ roadie and on smooth terrain. It doesn't make sense that our culture does not require elbow and knee guards.

Yes, I am a wuss and I am concerned over my joints and the fact that I don't look cool if I'm gonna race a xc event with eldow and knee guards on makes me mad!! > While some people might think that it's cool or "hardcore" to race around with a bleeding knee or elbow or even have some titanium rod inserted in them. I certainly do not think so.

Well, I don't care.

Anyone knows of any brand of knee guards that is sleek enough to go with a xc outfit and looks proportionate as well? I don't see why I shouldn't wear a knee guard that I'm riding cross country. I think it's as essential as wearing a helmet.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Our culture doesn't "require it" because we don't live under a Marxist regime. For North Shore type stuff I'd wear them otherwise it's overkill. Just because you live in constant fear of the unknown don't project those fears onto other people, it's people like you who are the reason we are losing more and more of our civil liberties. Frankly I'd laugh my ass off if I saw someone on a road bike with knee and elbow pads. Just go back in the house and play video games.

 

[Ericmopar]

Hmmmmm...

I ride at Bootleg Canyon a lot and find that many of the XC riders there are wearing pads.
Riding at places like Bootleg can be dangerous without them, even when "only" riding XC.
I don't wear them myself, because I get overheated and because my skill level " slow man " doesn't warrant it.
Most of the expert dudes including Brent Thompson himself, usualy wear more than the usual amount of protection when riding XC and I have been chastised a couple of times for not wearing some lightweight pads, at least on my shins, when riding.
So much for the " expert riders don't need pads " theory. He, He.
Those that don't, sometimes end up with a lot of stitches for deep cuts after what would in most areas, have been a minor crash.
Of course this is some pretty extreme terrain around here. Some of what is called XC around here, others might call light duty freeriding. I'm talking about an area where XC bikes brought here from out of state, quite frequently end up having put on them, a heavy duty wheelset made from Rhyno Lites ect. and light weight 2.35 tires .
I think pads for beginers, is not at all a bad idea, especially when learning to use clipless pedals for the first time.

Later, Eric

 

[Vecsus]

I wear my Roach shin/knee pads when I ride certain trails....ones with a lot of rocks and roots. I'm not afraid of pain. I''m afraid of an injury that will keep me off the bike. The pads I have are, of course, hotter than riding without them but at some point sweat is sweat. When its 95 with 70% humidity, no matter what you wear you will sweat buckets.

 

[Kallisti]

Love my sixsixone gear

Veggie wraps shin guards and knee pads, and chicken wings elbow pads.
I never ride without the shinguards (but I run spiky flat pedals), and elbow pads. I don't even feel them. I stick the knee pads in my camelbak for the uphills, then wear them on the downhills.
BTW, I've been riding road forever, and inline skating for halfever. I don't wear pads for these activities even though I'm usually going much much faster for them. To me the difference is that I can roll really well on pavement, and have saved myself from mega-damage by rolling properly. Not so easy when there's rocks jutting out, roots etc. I also just don't fall nearly as much in those sports, and never did. But if I did, you better believe I'd gear up.
What do I care what other people think? I could give two rat's patooties.

 

[Blue Shorts]

Like other have said here. Wear what you want and stop worrying about opinions.

When's it smart to wear armor?....when your likely to get injured with a simple fall....or when a fall can result in a nasty injury.....like riding on slickrock, or around pointy rocks. You may not do anything outrageous, but when you fall on slickrock, you will get roadrash like you wouldn't believe. It's a game of chance. You decide if you're willing to take the chance.

There is no right or wrong....until you get injured.