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I’m on a bit of a protection mission at the moment! In true STW fashion, could you tell me what, if any, armoured under kecks, you wear for bike park or pushing your skills? I’m looking at ixs, bluegrass and Leatt at the mo and not sure what to get...
I got a pair of Troy Lee shorts when I used to race DH but only used them at Fort Bill to stop my inner thighs getting battered by the seat. They worked a treat and were super comfy.
I also have bulky hard shell type shorts from decathlon for snowboarding but wouldn't used them on a bike, they're very obtrusive.
I can offer some advice here !
after fracturing my hip (i basically cracked the sticky outy bit off the outside not the main femury bit) i needed some protection for biking for some time after - Well 8 weeks after as i was going to antur/revo and snowdon!
I bought the fox titan race short first - This is basically soft foamy protection about 8mm thick.
i then bough the POC VPD shorts with D30. These are much more dense (and thick) but with no soft underlying foam.
My issue was that i was still bloody sore so i wore both - luckily i didnt need them but i did ride a bit lame.
In reality, unless you are already hurt, the poc are probably good for most crashes. The fox are fairly limited to be honest and are probably graze/minor impact avoidance only.
If i go to BPW i'll take hte POCS if im doing a longer ride (afan) or going to a jump spot i`ll take the foxes as they are nicer for longer periods of pedalling/effort.
Alot of the pads i looked at seemed to put the protection in the wrong place or have gaps so i went for ones wth a decent spread.
In a perfect world i recon some of the fox ones with a thin hard shell would be best but they dont exist. I thik alot of teh pads are just re-purposed MX or Snowboard pads and dont really take into account potential bailing onto a load of roots or rocks.
That said any protection is better than none in my rather painful experience. That said i've ridden 15yrs of stupid stuff before i had a bad hip crash so the incidence of damage is fairly low.
I have 7idp hydro bib shorts that have gform pads on the hips.
Haven't crashed them yet so no idea how good they are.
They're nice enough shorts. Have some pockets on the back for snacks
I've got a set of the 661 Evo shorts - D30 padding on the hips and a nice bit of extra cocyx protection too. Had a few decent spills in them and they have saved some nasty cuts & scrapes I reckon. The other benefit is that if you have 661 knee pads, they clip on for extra security.