Pad Recommendations

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Looking for pad recommendations, starting out and loving it but broke and fell off last weekend, and the bruises and bruising!
Anyone have any decently priced knee and elbow pad recommendations?

Tenzor07

nee wrote: »

Looking for pad recommendations, starting out and loving it but broke and fell off last weekend, and the bruises and bruising!
Anyone have any decently priced knee and elbow pad recommendations?

Do you want to go by lowest price or best? Also do you have a preference for soft or harder pads? Will you being doing mostly XC/Trail or DH/Enduro?

prunudo

I use a pair of 661 knee pads, have had them years so not sure what modal they are but can't fault them. Don't use elbow pads, although I may get a long sleaved upper body protection in the future which would have them built in.

eeeee

I'm thinking soft pads, I've only started so not gonna be hammeing DH for a while (if ever!). I have some pretty good arm bruising so elbow and knee/shin pads look like a good idea right now.
I'm broke, so my budget isn't great. I'm thinking about €35 for the elbow pads max, and as close to €50 as I can get for the knee/shin situations.

Tenzor07

nee wrote: »

I'm thinking soft pads, I've only started so not gonna be hammeing DH for a while (if ever!). I have some pretty good arm bruising so elbow and knee/shin pads look like a good idea right now.
I'm broke, so my budget isn't great. I'm thinking about €35 for the elbow pads max, and as close to €50 as I can get for the knee/shin situations.

Soft pads are good for wearing on longer spins, will stop cuts from rocks that may flip up, or if you have an off it will save you from bigger cuts...

Cheapest I could find; LINK and LINK

eeeee

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Soft pads are good for wearing on longer spins, will stop cuts from rocks that may flip up, or if you have an off it will save you from bigger cuts...

Cheapest I could find; Elbows Knees

Great. Those links won't open for me

Lemming

Before you buy any knee or elbow pads; check the sizing. Go onto the manufacturers website if you have to (for example , in the above-linked knee pads both size measurement links are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard as none of the measurements have thigh/calf measurements for knee pads). And once you've done all of that, go back and check it again whilst measuring yourself twice. Much like with cycling shoes, pad sizing ranges wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer and there is nothing worse than fighting your own gear whilst trying to cycle.

Tenzor07

nee wrote: »

Great. Those links won't open for me

Try now...

Alkers

Lemming wrote:

Before you buy any knee or elbow pads; check the sizing. Go onto the manufacturers website if you have to (for example , in the above-linked knee pads both size measurement links are about as much use as a chocolate fireguard as none of the measurements have thigh/calf measurements for knee pads). And once you've done all of that, go back and check it again whilst measuring yourself twice. Much like with cycling shoes, pad sizing ranges wildly from manufacturer to manufacturer and there is nothing worse than fighting your own gear whilst trying to cycle.

+1 and if they don't fit perfectly they can make pedalling a proper pain in the ass

eeeee

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Try now...

Thank you. I was looking at those elbow pads today :pac:

Noted re sizing, I'm going for lightweight ones cos I know they'll be a pain in the ass.

nak

nee wrote: »

Thank you. I was looking at those elbow pads today :pac:

Noted re sizing, I'm going for lightweight ones cos I know they'll be a pain in the ass.

Firstly yay to mountain biking!

Elbow pads tends to be annoying and uncomfortable. I always wear knee pads on MTB. Have a softer pair but wear my IXS ones more often - can remove the padding to wash the fabric.

Tenzor07

nee wrote: »

I'm going for lightweight ones cos I know they'll be a pain in the ass.

Yeap sure the light ones will stop abrasions and any cuts from being too bad, generally people go down on their side and put the arms out first, so soft pads will keep your skin intact on lower speed impacts..

boomdocker

IXS Flow for me - ain;t cheap, but you get what you pay for!

Sizing is notoriously odd on knee pads, I reckon I tried half a dozen or so brands/sizes before settling on the IXS Flow

Shotgun Sister

I use the Troy Lee ones and find them super comfy, particularly on long days in the saddle: https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/troy-lee-designs-speed-knee-sleeve/rp-prod142805

iwillhtfu

I use these and find decent and comfortable/breathable

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/ixs-flow-evo-knee-guard-2018/rp-prod167197

These are good if you have a lot of pedaling planned

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/g-form-pro-x-knee-2018/rp-prod171105

bought a pair of these sizing is very small - might be available very cheap if you're local

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/race-face-ambush-knee-d3o-guard-2017/rp-prod113076

Lemming

nee wrote: »

Noted re sizing, I'm going for lightweight ones cos I know they'll be a pain in the ass.

If you want lightweight, perhaps look at G-form pads; the more lightweight (pardon the pun) knee pads can be had for €40 currently on CRC. The larger padded ones will cost you upwards of €70/80. Which brings me on to ...

[edit: iwillhtfu has already beaten me to the mention of g-form pads]

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Yeap sure the light ones will stop abrasions and any cuts from being too bad, generally people go down on their side and put the arms out first, so soft pads will keep your skin intact on lower speed impacts..

Generally if you are unlucky enough to go down on your elbow, the top half of your arm and the shoulder wont be far behind to take more of the impact as your body will already be rotating as you land. It's the knees that will slam & dig in when the bottom half of your body lands. With that in mind; I might consider forgoing elbow protection and putting the combined budget into the best knee pads that you can afford whilst meeting your requirements.

covey123

Have these...

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/ie/en/troy-lee-designs-kgl-5450-knee-shin-guards/rp-prod59944

Picked them up for a better price,very comfortable, good protection too below the knee without being cumbersome

eeeee

Thanks for the recommendations, I'm gonna pore over size charts now and see what fits.
Good few votes for the ixs ones so I'll start there.
In my first fall* I battered my forearm so I'm keen to add elbow pads until I know what I'm doing
*you cannot take in the view mid descent I learned :pac:

nak

IXS for me too - I'm a size large in those knee pads 🙠and a small in cycling clothes. Knee pads only with baggies!

eeeee

nak wrote: »

IXS for me too - I'm a size large in those knee pads 🙠and a small in cycling clothes. Knee pads only with baggies!

Oh I'm gonna be a holy show with knee pads+lycra.
Probably outside the lycra.*

Stand well back :pac:

*I'm not against leg/ knee warmers over shorts. This travesty may well continue into this new discipline #noshame

Tenzor07

If you're wearing knees and elbows, i'd go for these also, great for protecting the hips...

endura-mt500-protector-undershorts-

iwillhtfu

eeeee

^^^^
Perfect

nak

nee wrote: »

Oh I'm gonna be a holy show with knee pads+lycra.
Probably outside the lycra.*

Stand well back :pac:

*I'm not against leg/ knee warmers over shorts. This travesty may well continue into this new discipline #noshame

Was going to suggest joining you for a MTB spin, not so sure now.

eeeee

nak wrote: »

Was going to suggest joining you for a MTB spin, not so sure now.

I'll embarrass anyone, anywhere

covey123

nee wrote: »

Oh I'm gonna be a holy show with knee pads+lycra.
Probably outside the lycra.

*I'm not against leg/ knee warmers over shorts. This travesty may well continue into this new discipline #noshame

You better delete that post quickly, pretty sure if you read through the forum rules that kind of talk can result in an immediate and lifetime ban

eeeee

covey123 wrote: »

You better delete that post quickly, pretty sure if you read through the forum rules that kind of talk can result in an immediate and lifetime ban

I have no shame