[Closed] kneepads for XC - acceptable or fashion faux pas?

I've been wearing POCs with 3/4 length baggies all summer for xc and hoping no one notices...

what you need is a pair of Ron Hills, with a purple go faster stripe on each seam.....nice!

no no no no no. There is nothing worse. although I guess its all down to personal preferance. it is a faux pas though. so in summary no but yeah but no.

Wha care what they look like. want to wear them wear them. Your choice

meh - if you want them/ need them wear them.

knee warmers might be better if you just want the warmth though?

I've been known to wear my Race Face knee shin combo's for XC whenever its a bit cold, keeps my knees nice and warm. Don't really care what the mtb fashion police (surely an oxymoron) think!

do you intend on falling off doing XC? I hope to do XC as fast and as safe as possible. falling increases the time taken and the safety of the exercise.

kneepads will add weight, slow you down and make you fall off so don't bother.

thats my reasoning and i'm sticking to it! 🙂

I hardly think 661 knee pads are fasionable any more (speaking as someone who is under 21), but as TJ said who gives a sh!t what you wear! You want them, buy them; no one's going to care (except complete c#cks, but their opinion is ireelevent).

661 out of fashion? Didn't know there was an in/out of fashion for this. I must be getting old.

Who cares? If your that worried what the kids think it's too late any hoo.

I started wearing 661's or my wife's fox things around trail centres a year ago and now don't notice them at all so i'm at one with my knee pads as well as the trail. 🙂

Out of habbit i now wear them when doing xc too when we are doing more technical stuff especially at night or in poor conditions. It must be said out of a group of 15 or so on our weekly xc evening ride, i'm the only one who wears them. Having 5 ops on my knee over 20 years i really need some protection and in the cold they also help stop it locking up.

get rid of the knee pads and gloves and get a leatte brace.

You'll be down with the kids.

;-P

I wish roadies would wear knee pads, over their lycra. Always scares me to see the little poppets out there unprotected.

Wear what you want and don't care about what anyone thinks. I sometimes where pads on xc and they've stopped an off ruining a ride a few times. If you were asking if you should wear a helmet for xc, coz you don't plan to fall off, and you think it's cooler without one, what would people say then?

I like my 661 Kyle Straits. Started wearing them again now the weather is cooler. Oh and they save your knees when you fall off, which I do sometimes.

Why does STW get so "exercised" by such simple accessories? Have the balls to wear what you like.

I thought the mantra be [i]'chicks dig scars'[/i]?

I never leave home without my veggies.

(Mr MC posting)

I regularly ride with dainese knee/shin pads as I am learning to ride flats and dont want to muller my shins, and I am learning to ride flats cos I broke my leg DHing in Morzine when an spd failed to unclip in a crash. So even riding XC in the chilterns I have some max gnarl to the power of rad.

Seriously though I dont give a chuff what people think, and they (the Pro Air model) are vented enough to be comfortable in 100F heat and I usually forget I have them on.

I think the 661 knee pads are OK for pretty much any riding. Not sure i'd wear them with Lycra but with baggies they're fine.

I have the 661 Evo's which are pretty thin so you just wear them under your baggies

Hey man, wear your pads. If anyone worries about it then just stop and reflect for a minute upon the ****edupness of their priorities.

I used to not bother with pads if say I was just going for a quick ride and simple trails.

I came off 4 weeks ago 3 miles from home, hopping over a little log with my knee pads hung in the shed. My knee is still slightly swollen with bruising of the tendons and I'm doing my nut trying to stay fit with gentle spins on my rollers.

Since then, it's turned cold, rained a load and the evenings have drawn in......just wish I'd been wearing my pads, feel like I've missed out on a load of autumn riding!

Define 'xc'

I wear my We The People that I got cheap off CRC. Keep my knees warm and have taken a few small offs without any damage.

Anyone looking at your knees long enough to then dislike them is going to criticise something else about you anyway. It's the nature of the heckling tw*t. I reckon there are more efficient/comfy ways of insulating yourself and I personally don't think XC warrants pads due to the low risk. But if you are riding where there are frequent bail opportunities it probably isn't XC!

If you're likely to leak, lag the pipes. Base layer tights+knee warmers may do the job in a faster drying and less chafy way.

after thinking about it for ages I bought some raceface knee & shin guards, can't rememer the name but they are halfway between xc & Fr sized pads.

yeah so cost me £40 or so, used them once, burn't and itched the entire time, washed em and stuck them back in the cupboard!!!! Its been 3years and I BET they are still there 😉
veggies or something would prob be better or has someone designed something lighter and more comfortable in the mean time?

[b]who cares about fashion?[/b]

I ride my 160mm all-mountain on cross country trails, I ride fast up big hills, fast along the singletrack, and very fast down the big hills!

-if its cold, I wear [b]661 Kyle Strait knee pads[/b], purely to keep my knees warm to prevent damage from the effects of bare knees in the cold air

-if its warm and I am trail riding, I don't wear them

-if I am doing an uplift day at a DH facility, doing a DH race, or a day in a bike park, I will wear them to protect my knees from crash damage

[b]simple really?[/b]

1) keeps yer knees warm
2) stops the brambles and the gorse ripping your legs to bits, and keeps the nettles away ...
3) pedal to shin interface
4) If it makes some fashionista poseur unhappy that's a win for me

Hoopsie! Quick! Somebody has hijacked your login on here and is making out you're going to wear gay knee protectors! The very cheek of it!

I wasted so much of last winter with sore knees from some stupid falls that the 661 D30 pads that I got on the premise of wearing them only when I visit Lee Quarry... ahem... now get worn on practically every XC ride. With a ride buddy oozing red stuff recently on one of our 'XC' downhills, and his pads flung back in his house as we left, further hammers it home!

Plus - they keep the knees warm, and as, I think, STW's recent review suggested, in some ways it doesn't matter how well those D30 ones perform - within reason - the fact that they're so comfy and unobtrusive means you're going to wear them, and who gives a stuff what they look like. I mean - we're grown men playing on bicycles in the woods, and probably all have something made of lycra at home. Knee pads are the least of our problems! 😕

[s]I'm not going to type that I've not had a proper crash since I've been wearing them because that's just tempting fate.[/s] 😯

kyle straits are too soft . fuse pads are cool if you want soft cup with paddijng, the new scott pads are the same as straits but with a hard cap= winner

Why worry about what judgemental people think?

I agree that the straits are soft and not really that good for Serious hard impacts. but Their comfort is what makes them attractive for xc use. I'll check out the fuse pads when my straits wear out.

aaaah le Monk est returna. Un S&M saddle maintenant!

ooOOoo - Member

I wish roadies would wear knee pads, over their lycra. Always scares me to see the little poppets out there unprotected.

I've warn knee pads on XC rides for the past 3 years, the deep gouges in the plastic remind me why! Plus I look radcore especially when I pull skidzzz and ride thought puddlezzz!

Can be the first to say

MTFU

That will be all.

There's a video on facebook of me doing a spectacular OTB on a very jaycore trail wearing full face and knee/shin pads on an all day ride.

What does that tell us, other than that I thought my forks weren't locked down when they were?

xc-steve, I likez da cut of yer jib, (crazee rad pirate speak)

respec'

puddlezzzzzzz is so much more rad than puddles innit!

I cut me knee open down to the bone, on something even lamer than XC - [i]a local park [/i] Stitches, physio, off the bike for weeks....it truly sucked and I've now got far too much understanding of all the things you can break in your knee.

Still don't always wear my pads though...yes i'm an idiot

I've been known to wear my Race Face knee shin combo's for XC whenever its a bit cold, keeps my knees nice and warm. Don't really care what the mtb fashion police (surely an oxymoron) think!

😉

A voi signore Hoopsie, una ventina di tuo inglese sterline. Incontriamoci al semaforo college, non l'olio di bambino richiesto....l'olio di bambino richiesto a meno che il vostro appassionato.