How Much Body Armor Should I Wear for Mountain Biking?

  

Recently, someone posted a question on the Singletracks forum, asking riders what kind of helmets and body armor they use when riding. As expected, there were a variety of answers. Every rider needs some level of protection. After all, a crash could happen at any time, even on a trail as docile-looking as the one above, where it’s common to get into the low 20mph range while whizzing between pine trees.
But how much protection is enough, or too much? When I read the question I thought about my own experiences over the years, and how I settled on the body armor I currently use.  I want to share what I’ve learned and experienced in case others are struggling with this important question.

The early years

As a new rider, I loved hard shell knee and shin guards for protection against falls and pedals hitting my shins, but they impaired my flexibility and were not very comfortable.

When I first started mountain biking, my only source of protection was a helmet. After a few months of riding, and a couple of falls, I added gloves to the equation because skinned palms are no fun. Those two items suited me fine for two or three years. Then, after bouncing my knees off some roots, I decided I should also wear a pair of knee pads. This is where I got a little carried away.
I ride cross-country and light trail. There are some roots and rocks on my local trails, but nothing too extreme. Nevertheless, I chose a pair of Fox Launch knee/shin guards, which are designed for downhill riding. What they gave me in protection, they took away in comfort and flexibility, both of which were important because I was moving around a lot on my hardtail bike.

My first major crash and the aftermath

This picture was taken in August of 2015, four months after my crash. It’s no fun wearing a full-face helmet and goggles in the dead of summer.

In a previous article, I mentioned I had a bad crash. After that crash, I decided to increase the level of body armor I wore, specifically around my face. I bought a Fox Rampage full-face helmet (also made for downhill riding), and then some Fox Launch elbow guards.
Looking back, it is clear that I needed these items for psychological reasons, not for the trails I was riding. It’s rather funny to think that I wore all of this gear for over a year in Florida, even the summer months. It made for some very uncomfortable rides.
Yet, I was determined to protect myself from any possible harm that could occur, naively believing that these items had the power to do so. Over time, as my confidence returned, and my riding abilities increased, I stripped away all of this armor and replaced it with gear that was more appropriate for the trails and climate.

The body armor I use today

This is all the protection I currently use on my rides.

These days, I have settled on a lower level of protection that I feel is well-suited to my riding style and the trails that I ride on a regular basis.
My helmet is a Bell Super 2R, and I use the chin guard in colder weather and for trails with rough descents and drops.
I use Fox Dirtpaw full-finger gloves because I like the added hand protection in case of falls, and because they help with grip.
I use the Dakine Slayer “soft-shell” pull-on knee pads because they are really comfortable and flexible while still providing adequate protection in case of falls. They are so lightweight and breathable that I often forget I am wearing them. In my mind, I have found the right balance for me between comfort, flexibility, and protection, especially for the climate in Florida.

Body armor lessons learned

My experiences riding through the years have taught me some lessons when it comes to body armor. First, there is no body armor that will prevent all possible harm. That is not the purpose of body armor. Body armor is designed to reduce and dissipate the forces of impact sustained in a crash. You hit something hard enough or fast enough, you will get hurt regardless of what body armor you are wearing. So don’t buy body armor believing it will make you bullet-proof.
Second, you always need some level of protection when you ride. A helmet is a given, and should not even be part of the discussion. The only option with helmets is whether they should be half-shell or full-face, and that will depend on the rider’s comfort level as well as the terrain he or she is riding.

Besides a helmet, I highly recommend full-fingered gloves for both protection and grip. I also suggest investing in a good pair of knee pads. A broken knee cap is very painful, and has a long recovery period. Even some lightweight knee pads like mine can make the difference between a bruise and a broken bone.
Beyond those items, the rest is up to you. Choose body armor that fits your riding style. If you move around on your bike a lot, make sure protective gear is comfortable and flexible. Anything that hampers movement can actually increase the risk of a crash, which defeats the purpose of wearing protection in the first place.
Third, work on your bike handling skills. They are your first line of defense in a crash. Knowing how to save a bike that starts to slide off the trail will prevent you from having to test out the body armor. Learn how to expertly corner, brake, manual and bunny hop. I have saved myself from several potential crashes by using these skills. Along with that, it is also important to keep yourself in good riding shape. Do core-oriented workouts and balancing exercises, so that you can muscle your bike out of a jam. You need more than strong legs to mountain bike. Your whole body needs to be in good shape for you to be a great rider.
Finally, do not choose body armor based on other people’s opinions. I may have looked really dumb wearing a downhill helmet and goggles on an XC trail, but I didn’t care. It helped me enjoy riding again after a bad crash and gave me the comfort level I needed at the time. Don’t worry what other riders might think of you if you wear more body armor than they do. Body armor is a personal matter. Only you know what level of protection you need in order to have confidence on the trails and enjoy your rides.

Crashing Bikes is a Learning Experience [MTB Skills]

  

This drop on my “lunch-loop” had me on the B-line for a few months. It falls shallower than some of the jumps above it, but I had crashed on a similar drop while riding in France and couldn’t shake the fear.

The list of reasons we love riding trails has grown since sometime in the 1970’s, and each of us has a unique story of what the sport means and where it has taken us.”Continuous learning” is a phrase that sits on the top of my “why I ride” list. I love that no matter how long I have been riding, or how I excel at a particular challenge, I will never master it all.
You may have heard fellow mountain bikers throw around statements like “crashing is part of racing,” or ” if you don’t crash you’re not trying hard enough.” I have heard and said these things, both in relation to racing and riding with friends. I try not to tell other folks what their mountain biking experience should look like anymore, but I still consider crashing to be an important part of my own process. I see crashing as a form of failure, and without failure, I can’t learn new things.

Some drops appear intimidating or even confusing from the launch.

I go over the bars, or adjacent hillside, fairly often. By rough estimation, I bail once per month, and occasionally more. One of my ride partners recently said that I am the world’s best product tester because “if something can break, you will crash and destroy it.” Occasionally the thing that breaks is my own bone, but most of the time it’s a plastic component that was designed to fail on impact, like a helmet visor. Why don’t they include two or three extra visors when you buy a new lid?
In addition to professional skills courses, and following more seasoned friends, mountain bikers who want to learn new skills sometimes have to huck ourselves down or off of unfamiliar chunks of trail so we can learn how to, or not-to, ride them. For example, you have likely hit a section of track that is far gnarlier than you are comfortable with, but you know it will be less dangerous to ride than to walk down alongside your bike.

If you race, you might show up to an event and find an intimidating jump in the track that you would never want to ride, but if you choose to compete you will have to send it. For other folks, challenges and their adjacent fear come when trying to drift sweeping corners on fire roads, or other high-speed slides. Each of these situations requires some understanding, conscious or otherwise, that you may not succeed.

From below you can see that this one has a broad and solid landing. All that’s left is a few deep breaths and hard pedal strokes.

I have been in these scenarios numerous times while learning the minutia of mountain biking, and there are a few things that have helped me get to the other side. The most helpful piece has been acknowledging that I might crash and then to become as comfortable as I can with that fact. If I am only thinking of crashing when I approach the thing that is scaring me, crashing becomes nearly inevitable. When I can relax and focus on executing the problem before me, while letting a crash be the unknown possibility that it always is, I often clean the section and roll along to the next.
This is all far easier to write than it is to practice, and crashing is undoubtedly not the fun part of mountain biking. Nevertheless, if you want to push yourself toward new challenges on the trail it might be worth taking a long think through your relationship to crashing, then researching some gear and methods to make that part of the learning experience less painful.
Lastly, in that millisecond wherein images of everything you haven’t yet done in life flash past, the same millisecond you know for sure you are going to eat some dirt, hug both of your arms in tight against your chest, and put your chin against your sternum. Then, think about rolling like a ball bearing across the ground. Balling up like this will help in your newfound and immediate goal of only breaking bike components.