Round-up: Best new lightweight knee and elbow pads
Bikes are getting faster and terrain is getting more exciting, yet the human body remains a soft tissue organism and many of us riders just keep getting older. So something has to give on those inevitable crashes and it’s usually our bones or tissue. We’ve tried armor and protection before, but while they feel right at home at the bike resorts or shuttle runs, they seem quite inappropriate for trail rides or any ride with sufficient climbing involved.
Well the industry is here to the rescue with lightweight pads! The most exciting category of protection seems to be targeted to folks ‘who wouldn’t wear pads otherwise’ and ‘who need to show up to work on Monday.’ There’s a huge market for armor and protection if compromises in climbing, ventilation and comfort are minimized.
So here is a promising new crop of products that seem best suited to address this market. Special attention has been given towards low weight, good articulation, comfort and ventilation.
But how well do they protect? None of the pads listed below are optimized for a week in Whistler Bike Park, but they all offer some level of protection. One good trend is many of the products are approved with the EN 1621.1 standard. Products sold in Europe that claim ‘bike protection’ need to pass this test. Some products are certified with this test, so take note for that in our report. And we included the definition of these EN tests at the bottom of this story.
POC VDP Air Knee and Elbow Pads
These lightweight pads from POC are less bulky and more breathable than traditional MTB body armor, making them a great choice for your All Mountain rides. This pad is much shorter and lighter than their VPD 2.0 pads. So there is less coverage but they focus the protection on the critical joint area. Their polygiene fabric wicks moisture away from the skin to improve ventilation. This pad also uses just one strap at the bottom of the pad to hold it in place. This will be available in March of 2015.
Certification: EN Standard 1621.1
Price: $80 Knee Pads; $70 Elbow Pads
More info: pocsports.com
Dainese Trail Skins
The Dainese Trail Skins knee pad has both a front and side padding protection. The main pad is made of Pro-Shape, which is a 6mm thick honeycomb structure by Dainese. With Pro-Shape, the pads articulate and vent very well. The pads are held in place on the top and bottom by Velcro straps and with silicone gripper bands.
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Weight: 292 grams Knee Pads
Certification: EN Standard 1621.1; 1621.2 Motorcycle Certified
Price: $70 Knee or Elbow Pads
More info: www.dainese.com
Dainese Hybrid Pads
These low-profile knee pads combine hard-shell technology with the comfort of a soft protector. Starting with the Dainese Trail Skins, a hard plastic plate is heat-bonded to the top of the Pro-Shape pad. This gives the pad additional puncture protection to supplement the impact protection of the Trail Skins. The outer armor gives the pad a smoother surface as well, to deflect and slide during impact. The breathable 4-way stretch, run-resistant fabric allows a conforming, comfortable fit. The silicone inner lining along the elastic openings keeps the elbow pads firmly in place when stepping on the pedal.
Weight: 430 grams Knee Pads
Certification: EN Standard 1621.1; 1621.2 Motorcycle Certified
More info: www.dainese.com
Continue to Page 2 for more knee and elbow pad picks »
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