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What happened to all the neck braces in DH?
There seemed to be loads wearing them over the last couple of years.
This year I don't think I've seen one being worn.
Why do they seem to have fallen out of favour?
Would one have stopped Greg Minnaar braking his vertibrae?
I think as generally they restrict you more than help you.
Neck brace manufacturers obviously don't have a strong enough case to their 'good', as otherwise many more companies would make them and plenty more riders would wear them.
Whilst i do think they probably help in certain situations, they can also just transfer the impact to another part of your body.
I wore one when they were 'cool', it was a pain in the arse.
didnt GM have a massive shunt, landing on his back? So a brace wouldnt have help? Maybe?!
I wore one when they were ‘cool’, it was a pain in the arse
I think you might have been wearing it in the wrong place?
@dirkpitt74 yeah, you could well be right. I just read vertebrae and assumed somewhere in his back.
Bernard Kerr used to wear one. Since he has stopped... he is much faster 😛
There seemed to be loads wearing them over the last couple of years.
I dont think you could call it "loads"
Most high profile was probably Bernard Kerr, who has since stopped. And he was and still is sponsored by Leatt, the most well known maker of them.
Hmm, wonder what the deal is with BK? he's one of the protection nay sayers who tapes a bit of cardboard into the back of his jersey at the races where back protection is mandated. But I do recall images if him with neck brace in the past.
Do we know which 3 vertebrae yet?
Marine Cabirou broke her back by going head first onto the floor. Early comments from the armchair riders were all about back protectors/their rating/their use or lack of.
Doubly ironic about Kerr as he is sponsored by Leatt
They'll only help if it's compression fracture from landing on top of the head and even then won't always help etc. There's just not enough to say they're definitely worth using to out weight the negatives.
Doubly ironic about Kerr as he is sponsored by Leatt
only woman I can mentally picture with one was Siegenthaler - also on the Pivot/Leatt team
They’ll only help if it’s compression fracture from landing on top of the head
That's not true. They are designed to restrict extreme movement of the helmet meaning your neck is less likely to move drastically out of its normal movement. They protect against impacts from lots of directions. But obviously they also restrict the movement of your head when you want to move which is a big reason not many wear them I would imagine.
yeah, i thought the main point of them was to stop hyper-extension of your head/neck.
Often you'll see a crash where a bent neck means the rider just avoids hitting their head. Extra neck mobility must have some positives in a crash situation.
Pretty sure Danny Hart was also one of the last riders to regularly wear one. Not recently though.
Judging by Cathro's comments about how many were injured this weekend and a need for a new course, I suspect the issue isn't wearing more PPE.
Reece Wilson mentioned better spec motorbike helmets being used next year.
uniqueusername
Full Member
Hmm, wonder what the deal is with BK? he’s one of the protection nay sayers who tapes a bit of cardboard into the back of his jersey at the races where back protection is mandated. But I do recall images if him with neck brace in the past.
There was a stage where they were "cool" or at least trendy and you saw a lot of kids riding with a brace and Hemet but not other protection. ie they were very concerned about the tiny risk of breaking their neck but chicks dig scars mkay. It was daft and thankfully (for the aesthetics) it appears to be over. I guess people realised that they were uncomfortable and simply not worth it.
Mr Leatt obviously obviously believed in them and managed to convince a lot of other people of his research to the extent that other companies started offering them but it's telling that Leatt has now diversified into full on Moto/DH clothing ranges. I guess the **** has fallen out of the brace market.
BK has now gone full to full LEATT who now supply all his gear so I guess that frees him up from having to wear the brace while still keeping the cash. It's a commercial relationship and he's pretty good at repping his sponsors. Just watch his LSDs for extensive promotion of Pivot/Conti/Shimano/Leatt etc - seems he does all right out of it.
There was a stage where they were “cool” or at least trendy and you saw a lot of kids riding with a brace and Hemet but not other protection. ie they were very concerned about the tiny risk of breaking their neck but chicks dig scars mkay. It was daft and thankfully (for the aesthetics) it appears to be over.
ah, the Chatel fashion show. It least one year, it was jeans, wife beater, neck brace, full face. By thursday/friday at least 2/3 or them had shoulders like a raw hamburger.