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Separate thread to @padraigpost as this is more for jumps, gravity, racing...
Screams from the garden this afternoon as Reeksy2's no-hander jumps reached a critical phase.
Fortunately, he wasn't hurt. We dashed down to find him lying tangled in his bike. The Air Ambulance next door neighbour was woken from his day sleep and popped up to see if we needed any help.
Then began a discussion about his paramedic experience, which basically boiled down to people wearing a full face, neck brace and body armour tend to escape with full use of their faculties, whereas he's seen many that don't do so well if they're less well protected.
Problem here in Oz is that it's so hot all the time, but I guess that's no excuse. I've been looking at some options for gear online - Leatt Stealth Body Tee looks pretty good. Are there any other suggestions?
Fox raceframe or similar is worn by half the Dyfi/racers/everyone here. I've just bought the Leatt equivalent, which arrives today for myself.
Ah. That looks a bit like my old Acerbis moto set-up minus the elbows and kidney belt. Suppose it's not so bulky without the extras.
Fox raceframe
yeah they're an old school design but with D3O stuff to bring them up to date, i'd say about 90% of the paddock at Fort William were in similar things rather than a full jacket/jersey. I prefer the concept of the full jacket but the reality is HEAT and being quite restrictive.
lot of the fox style protectors about. the issue is seperate elbow pads are generally a bit shite and i always seem to scrape elbows.
i have a bliss protection RG suit thing (dunno if you can still get it?) which has thin D30 style protection (back, chest, elbow) but certainly helped me the other week. (broken helmet, broken wrist cracked elbow). its thin so was OK wearing it. Without pads my crash would have been BAD.
ive got one of these comfy enough for uplifting/ push up riding wearing it all day. I’ve been lucky enough not to test it in anger as of yet.
I've got the POC vest which is just a back protector - can't see the point in having a chest protector on an MTB - we're not getting rocks flung at us on a regular basis like the MX guys do.
can't see the point in having a chest protector on an MTB - we're not getting rocks flung at us on a regular basis like the MX guys do.
😟😟. The obvious point would be that often one lands on one's front when one falls off the bike. Probably far more often than the back.
My son's chest looked like a well cooked pizza when he screwed up a landing at farmer John's. There are still a few marks very visible 2-3 years later.
I've got the POC vest which is just a back protector - can't see the point in having a chest protector on an MTB - we're not getting rocks flung at us on a regular basis like the MX guys do.
Apparently there are five ways to die whilst mountainbiking, one of them is a punctured lung (either from one your own ribs or impaled by a piece of tree).
Took receipt of
Fox Clothing Baseframe Pro Sleeveless MTB Chest Guard
a couple weeks ago. Wasn’t ‘too’ hot feeling this weekend in wales. Feels like you’re wearing a backpack - in terms of feeling/heat.
I use a Leatt Airflex Body protector or a POC Spine VPD 2 MTB body protector depending on what I am attempting
The Leatt runs cooler but the POC 'feels' safer
Fox raceframe or similar is worn by half the Dyfi/racers/everyone here. I've just bought the Leatt equivalent, which arrives today for myself.
@weeksy - how does the Leatt size? I'm assuming it's the Reaflex ... i've been hovering over buying a couple.
The XXL was bigger than most XXL armours, but for me it sat a little high around the neck (i once had surgery up on my neck and that bothers me). So i've got a Fox Raceframe arriving today which i know will fit as i've used my lads one in the smaller size, i've gone larger size on the Fox.
Thanks. I bought my Acerbis by height and it was definitely too tight on me, i'm right on the cusp of L/XL and XXL so was thinking about the bigger one.
Keeping an eye on this thread with interest, I've never fully settle on the 'ideal' upper body armour for me (alps trips and uplift days).
Currently I have a POC Air VPD Tee as linked above, which fits fine and is decent quality but I do find the padding a bit cumbersome for my tastes (stealth ad if anyone wants to make me an offer). More recently I've been using Fox Baseframe Pro Tee which is much slimmer fitting but is a real pain to remove as it has no zip (massive design oversight on this model), the material is also very chafing on the nips (solved by a bit of medical tape).
I have a Leatt 3DF Airfit Hybrid jacket on order (found one half price) to try on which has the elbows incorporated (I often find separate elbows slide down over the day), but I run hot and not sure whether it's going to be too bulky.
My other option is a chest/back type armour (prob the Fox one as this seems the go-to) and look for some better elbow pads (elbow protection is a must, I've crashed on my elbows before with no pads and it's not pleasant) but I wonder about missing out on the shoulder protection of a tee/jacket. I know these are popular, but how much of this is down to fashion with it being the 'park rat' image (for full 'look' wear over t-shirt with no elbow pads).