It’s been years since I’ve done much mountain biking and even then I didn’t ride that much. Certainly wrecked enough but all mild. It seems since then body armor is not just for those flying downhills but just general trail riding. I’m assuming it’s marketing but also improvement in weight and brea…

It’s really your call based on what you are comfortable with - or without. Don’t pay much attention to what others are doing, as you’ll see everything from no pads, to full body armor (I saw a guy in Moab last year in head to toe body armor; no skin visible). As you ride more, you’ll find you’ll be…

Bluegrass do really nice close fitting Seamless armor. It stays well in place - this is often the challenge with armor and fits like a second skin so really easy to wear under other clothing.

I always ride with a minimum of knee pads (Sam Hill 7iDP at present). This is for general foresty/loamy trails, dirt jumps etc. If it gets a bit more parky/rocky then I’ll also wear elbow pads (POC at present) and if I’m doing pushup/uplift then I’ll wear full face helmet and full body armour which…

[image] DaveWh: the most common injuries I’ve seen have been to knees - so knee pads seem like a good place to start. Really? I’ve never seen this in my 5 years of MTB. Also, anecdotally never experienced it and I’m a regular crasher with 2 separated shoulders, a broken rib and numerous scra…

After that time I broke my kneecap and put a gaping hole just above my knee I wish I had been wearing kneepads. Which I typically do now. All depends on what trail I’m riding and what I plan on doing that day. The lighter weight kneepads will protect against scrapes and cuts from the typical washou…

[image] DaveWh: I’m definitely in the camp of optimizing for not crashing. That’s certainly me as well. It’s just a fun hobby and I’m pretty risk averse anyway. For now, I’ll likely just stick with knee pads as I won’t be too technical stuff and not much interest in jumping

Thanks. I did stumble upon that brand recently. I will check them out

The 7idp Sam Hill knee pads are what I ordered. Lots of good reviews. I’m not doing any super technical stuff but anyplace there’s roots and rocks it’s not hard to imagine having a crash and smashing a knee.

[image] MI-XC: never experienced it and I’m a regular crasher with 2 separated shoulders, a broken rib and numerous scratches and bruises. I should have clarified - the piece of practical body armor that seems most useful based on injuries I’ve seen is knee pads. If you crash hard enough whe…

They’re also excellent for peddling in. I do good, peddly 3-4 rides in them with no chafage or discomfort.

Body armor for mountain bike

Equipment

TooManyDogs September 28, 2022, 5:30pm 19

Yep. That’s what I have now. Half shell helmet. Knee pads, and gloves.

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Body armor for mountain bike

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