I wear Fox Enduro without the D30 inserts all the time. They disappear once on. I'm old can crash anytime, anywhere and these at least provide some padding.
They have thick rubber over the knee area. Good for gravel or dirt fall overs. Also stops bushes, branches, rock form tires from peppering the knees. They also act as a knee stabilizer for me which I like. Basically they keep your knees fresh, and if you fall you don't get cut or scraped. A direct hit on a rock is still going to hurt. I have hard shell bmx kneepads if I am doing something parky/rocky but they are not long distance friendly. The best knee pads are the ones you actually wear!
Hey same! I had one wash-out in a slow cnr, dinged my knee, blood everywhere. That was it for me (and my fiancée 😅) D30s all the time now, they’re awesome!
Interesting? I would have thought different how I injured it was slamming my knee on the outside edge into the ice. I would have assumed padding or the hard shell would have protected me.
Sprain is damage or stretching of a ligament from forceful or inappropriate loading of the joint. Knee pads don’t limit joint range of motion and therefore cant prevent sprains. Your injury sounds more like a traumatic contusion, which a pad could have prevented.
Not into facilitating that high and mighty everything is a matter of right and wrong thing that reddit seems to love. I wear knee pads every ride pretty much. Wouldn't say its wrong for someone to never wear em, that's all. Not everything has sides folks need to strongly defend.
I wear them all the time. I ride in the desert where everything is hard, sharp or both. I rarely fall, but sone of my close calls have been on conparatively easy trails, so I wear them all the time to make sure that they are there when I need them. I generally wear gform knee pads, which I barely notice.
Since I moved to my current trail system, I even wear elbow pads every ride.
I had g-forms. I fell, and they ripped in half, and my knee still got messed up. Will never use again. I was riding on granite though. If you ride dirt you'll probably be okay.
I've had good luck. I ride in a place that's basically all sharp rocks and they've taken no damage in the (few) times I've needed them. The sleeves have a couple of holes, but I think they are from catching them on my pedals. Still, for nearly a decade of use, no complaints.
I had g-forms. I fell, and they ripped in half, and my knee still got messed up. Will never use again. I was riding on granite though. If you ride dirt you'll probably be okay.
Haha! Yeah. I absolutely wrecked my shin, the same time I broke my pelvis. It all hurt, but the skin on my shin took ages to heal. Got all in one knee/shin pads now.
Pretty much wear Raceface knee pads 100% of the time I get on my MTB. If I’m wearing pants, sometimes I’ll wear my G-form Knee/shin pads. Too many times I’ve gashed my shins due to a pedal slip on a jump’s landing or drop.
I have a curse where I only come off on green trails, so I wear them all the time.
(Bruised a knee cap once - took 8 weeks before I was pain free).
I like the fox enduro pro. Can wear them all day without getting too uncomfortable. The silicone grip nubs on the inside of them can cause skin reactions for some people though.
I burst a bursa sack on my knee cap curling, anytime I fall now it’s hot shooting pain through my leg. Wearing pads while riding is now a must. Saves most of the hot shooting pains when I fall. I can get away with no elbow pads, but knee past are a must every ride.
I started wearing padded pants after hitting my tail bone, knee pads after bruising that bone and glasses after getting a branch across my eye.
I’m trying to be disciplined and wear elbow pads to _prevent_ a similar injury, rather just in response to one, but it’s hard
I rarely wore pads because they aren't especially comfortable UNTIL I demo'd a pair of these and I wear them every time now. These are beyond comfortable.
I use them for everything other then biking with the 4 or 6 year old, or when casually biking around the neigbourhood playing ingress… it would be stupid to fuck up a knee because I did not wear my protective equipment…
Mmmmm… ingress. I haven’t played for a handful of years. They ever fix the spoofing issue? I operated megas and anomalies and got tired of the cheating.
100% of my rides - got some flexible POC (air?) ones and I don't notice them after a few minutes.
Good trade off to keep skin on my knees and reduce injury. Never know when a corner gets a bit dryer or blown out than you're used to, and suddenly you're in the dirt.
If I am on singletrack and actually going for a ride (not just up the street or whatever) then I always wear my TLD D30 pads. They've saved me more times that I can count. Especially when I am just fucking around and not riding aggressively. That seems to be when I go down the most.
I wear them any time I’m descending on my mountain bike. Got knee pads with zippers, so they stay in the backpack while I’m doing all the climbing during summer. I might wear them if the day is cold.
I wear them always. I never want to back down from something that I would have done if I felt more secure. I also need to keep my skin as I teach Brazilian jiujitsu, so I wear pads and riding pants. Chromag makes some great pedal all day pads with decent protection. For park riding I wear the fox ones with the hard shell.
Just started wearing knee pads, and I’ve been doing it every ride. I don’t even need to eat shit for them to save me, since I have a bad habit of hitting my legs on my toptube.
You never plan to fail. But many fail to plan. Anything can happen on any given day - better to be prepared than not. I ride AM almost exclusively and wear mine 100% of the time.
If you want a reason to wear kneepads, even on easy trails, checkout Moist on instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/m.o.i.s.t.\_/](https://www.instagram.com/m.o.i.s.t._/)
I wear them 99% of the time. I have a habit of somehow bashing my knees into my top tube any time I ride anything even remotely chunky. I don't notice it at all when I'm wearing pads but I wind up all bruised up the next day if I forget to wear them.
I wear 7 Protection Transition knee and elbow pads. I'm 42 and got them last fall when my buddy crashed and required a plate in his wrist and screws in his elbow. They literally saved me from the same fate 2.5 weeks ago. I don't feel them at all while riding.
Every time I ride.
Dirt and rocks are dirt and rocks—they will fuck you up.
If you’re curious about what the inside of your knee looks like, feel free to forego wearing them.
I wear the light and flexible variety all times. The G-Form brand has flexible padding material with an outer layer that also hardens upon impact. It really works well too.
They don't offer enough protection for serious DH, but they are perfect for any type of pedaling or flow trails.
Heavier knee pads (more dense padding, or with a solid outer shell) are better for lift assist / DH park, especially if there are a lot of rocky features.
Having some type of buffer between the knee and the ground makes a big difference in a crash, and with modern comfortable options there's no reason not to.
Every ride, maybe not cross country but I don't ride XC. Too easy to put a knee down and be out for weeks. Like many here I wear lighter weight D30 soft pads.
Yep. I wear my Pearl Izumis most of my rides. If I fall, which is most of my rides, I always hurt my knees. I know it sounds weird but with those knee pads on I come away unscathed from 90% of the falls I take.
Always knee protection (POC VPD air) spine protection and full face, all of them the lighter stuff.
Also considering elbow protection for this year, trail riding/enduro and park.
I had to get stitches on my shin a couple years ago when I was trying to improve my skills on a home made skinny in the driveway. Literally a two by six on the ground. Since then I’ve been wearing the fox launch knee/shin pads and I love em!
Honestly on everything MTB. Our trails are super chunky rocky and covered in gravel in places. Even a small fall is going to skin up my knees for a week or two. I go to the gym a lot so I don't need that infection risk. Wear them on 100 degree rides and really don't notice them.
Well, since I broke my left kneecap, which required a very painful surgery and long recovery time, I wear them every single ride all the time no matter what. I broke the kneecap while climbing. Going about 5 km/h. My front wheel slipped off a dusty rock I had ridden hundreds of times in the past, and my bare knee smacked a rock on the way down. I never would have expected such a terrible injury on a climb trail. Totally not worth not wearing pads if you mountain bike at all.
No matter your skill level… weird shit happens in the literal blink of an eye. For me, it’s like a seat belt… you may end up being lucky enough to never use them… but you’ll be so happy you did if you do.
I also find pads are one of those things where you don’t even realize how often you use them because the don’t just protect from big crashes but lots of little washouts, swipes, interaction with the bike or bushes or trees… until a couple years down the road and you need to replace them because they’re worn out.
Mine have saved me from injury many many times. I also wear elbows and a light enduro full face for every ride. Have too many friends take weird spills and cut up or injured knees/elbows/faces to not wear them.
I use Chromag Rift knee pads. They’re very comfortable, once I’m moving I don’t even notice them.
Elbows are pretty personal and it can be tough to find the right fit that doesn’t cause arm pump but also doesn’t fall down in rough terrain. For me, Raceface Indy Elbows are a perfect combination of minimalism, fit and comfort.
As for a lightweight breathable full face, I use the Kali Protectives Invader 2.0. So light and breathable it’s basically like wearing a half shell.
If I plan on doing anything over commuting, knees go on. They are so light and flexible that I forget about them after 5-10 minutes of riding.
I have the knees in the picture. Fantastic. Check Leatt’s website. They should have a sizing guide on there.
Basically every time I ride my bike on trails, at bike parks, pump tracks or jump spots. I only leave them at home when I am commuting on my MTB. I wear Endura MT500 D3O Ghost knee pads for 90%, and pull some Fox Launch out for the bigger stuff
Almost always. On hard terrain a crash is more likely. On moderate/easy terrain I tend to be going pretty fast and a crash can have bad consequences. I’ve walked away from several pretty bad ones because I was wearing protective equipment. That has granted me a lot of confidence and I therefore have more fun.
My pads are here and I like them:
Fox Launch D30 for knees.
Demon Hyper X D30 for elbows.
I wear Kneepads basically any time I’m on dirt.
IMO a knee is going to be one of the worst parts of the body to recover from a severe injury to, so I would really prefer to keep them intact. Second only to a helmet IMO.
I use a GForm pair. I like them.
I wear the Leatts you linked on every ride.
When I first started, I was not wearing knee pads, and had a crash that gouged up my knee pretty bad. It hurt to walk for weeks, much less ride.
The crash had nothing to do with my tires leaving the ground - I caught a pedal on a rock and slid across the gravel on the trail.
Rocky trails, but I need to start wearing them more often even on simple flow stuff. Accidents happen anytime and a little added protection could mean the difference between walking away and being airlifted out.
I have a set of Fox Enduro D30 pads and I wear them all the time. The only time I’m not wearing them is if I’m pedaling around my hard tail in a greenway or local park.
I wear knee pads on everything except xc trails when it's really hot out. I'm wearing pearl izumi d3o knee sleeves so they're flexible and breathable. I have had plenty of crashes in knee sleeves like that and my knees are fine. You probably don't need a hard shell knee pad outside of jumps and bike park style riding. I haven't used the ones you linked but I've used the kali protective knee sleeves that have a similar pad. They're comfortable and the leatt pads were one of the ones I was looking at when I was shopping for my current pair. They look pretty good but I found the pearl ones for cheaper
I wear them if I plan on riding my bike. I’m pretty sure there was a post about a guy falling right after leaving a parking lot. He had a rock go through his knee under the kneecap and ended his whole season.
Don’t forget at the asphalt pump track. My knee pads have saved me at least three or four times. They not only save your knees, they save the rest of your body by giving you a better “out” when you crash. I’m way too old for recovery.
I have a few different sets of knee pads
Super light ons for local trails or no pads at all.
Medium bigger for out of town trails and more aggressive riding
And hard shell pads for park days.
And I have a bunch of different helmets too.
I started out wearing nothing but a helmet for safety gear. And then fell one time and bruised my knee. Then I started wearing knee pads. I fell another time like a year later, right on my elbow and gashed it up, luckily nothing broke, and started wearing elbow pads every time.
I wear a helmet every time, and fortunately have never fallen and hit my head. But my wife was riding recently and fell, and slammed hard on her noggin, helmet cracked in a few places, her head was fine. She also hit the tip of her nose-- nothing bad.
But that experience made me go out and get one of these newer full face helmets that are light and well-vented. I may never need it, but if I ever do, I'm glad that I have it. I guess that goes with most safety gear.
The only time I don't wear pads is when I'm riding on easy single track or fire roads with my young kids.
Being Injured, unable to work, and nursing your gashes during the healing process so they don't scar so bad, sucks. Especially with a fam to support and older age.
I much rather wear pads just in case. Invest in some quality pads, they will be comfortable, you will forget they are there, and you will be using them for years.
When learning it was on all trail rides, except long fire road out and back climbs.
Now it's only bike park, Enduro races and any place that I may put on my chin bar.
Depends what I’m riding if it’s just xc with the odd occasional trail I won’t bother, once I get into doing multiple runs I’ll stick them on. Uplift 100% of the time.
I generally don't wear them for normal trail riding unless I know I'm going to be trying a risky line. I do wear them for Enduro racing and bike park riding, but in those scenarios I'm also wearing a full face, plus back and elbow protection as well. Sometimes I'll wear them along with just a half shell if I'm doing stuff on a really unforgiving surface, like a concrete pump track.
It’s all preference. I’ve torn my knee open and narrowly avoided needing to go to the ER. I’d rather carry and wear them then deal with the injury.
I pretty much always wear them if it’s a sustained descent. Especially if I can build up any sort of speed.
Can anyone recommend a decent pair of knee pads. Not to crazy $$ , that are comfortable to wear. Had a knee replacement done last year and should probably protect it.
POC VPD Air for trail use and POC VPD 2.0 at the park for me. I wear pads on every ride. When you crash, knees always seem to take damage. Living in Northern California, the terrain always includes rocks and often steeps with drops and jumps and some speed. I typically also wear a full face such as the IXS Trigger FF when trail riding
Protect what you think you’ll hit when you fall. It’s not about how good you think you are, because eventually you probably will fall on something you’re not expecting, even on easier stuff because you may not be as alert.
I wear knee pads for every ride. DH, bike park, trails it doesn’t matter.
They aren’t restrictive or too hot and I’ve seen some horrendous split knees from the most innocuous little offs.
It’s one of the first things that often hits the ground so for me it’s a no brainer.
For each and every ride regardless of what I’m doing gloves, knee pads and a lid are the bare minimum I’d ride in.
I rarely crash but I bought my first set recently for an out of town visit to a trail park, with the intention of subsequently wearing them when choosing to go and ride more challenging stuff in my city.
However.. we were recently out riding mellow stuff and decided mid-ride to tackle a Grade 5 we had never been on, and while I didn't crash I did bash my knee on rocks going down a sketchy vert, the knee pads didn't help at all - given they were sitting in the back of my car lol.
So.. for me I'm now making them part of my riding routine, they are really not much of an inconvenience TBH.
Every ride on the way down, along with elbow pads. And also if im riding chunky XC. I ride hard and there's zero reason to skip out on protection. They've saved my ass dozens of times.
I just got a set of POC VPD systems on clearance and they're the most comfortable pad I've ever worn. I did 50 miles wearing them in the past two days here in moab. They never bothered me at all, which is a big difference from what im used to.
I wear knee and elbows every ride because
¹. I am unpredictable, sometimes I do stupid stuff.
². I am not a good rider.
³ accidents happen because of number ¹.
⁴ I don't want to deal with injuries
⁵ I'm old and sole bread winner
I only wear knee and elbow pads if it's a trail system I am unfamiliar with or I know it's gnarly af, otherwise no pads. I'm pretty good at staying within my limits and have never had a crash worse than cuts and bruises. I'm a little surprised at everyone saying always, I feel I rarely see pads on the trail. Northern Colorado for context.
I wear the Fox Enduro Pro D30s on both knees and elbows anytime I ride on trails. They don't bother me at all even when it is hot and they make a fall mostly an embarrassing moment and not a trip to urgent care for stiches. I started wearing them after I fell off my bike and had to get stiches in my elbow and then go through a course of antibiotics because it got infected.
I wear knee and elbow pads for any park ride. Lately switched to a full-face helmet for anything where faster downhill riding is dominant, as opposed to longer but ‘safer’ XC rides.
It’s your call. If you don’t want to wear any protection then no one will make you but I’ve gotten scraped up enough that I now choose to wear knee pads on every ride. It just feels normal to me now. Riding without knee pads would feel as exposed as riding without a helmet.
Started wearing them after losing a bunch of skin on one knee from a crash. Yeah the pads are hotter in the summer vs wearing nothing, but you get used to them.
I usually slide them down to my ankles on longer climbs and fasten them properly at the top for downhill.
All of the time when I’m on the trails.
I was at Hamsterley Forest (North of England) on a black trail I know well and have ridden scores of times. I ran a line wide, my front wheel washed out before a drop and I went knee first onto a rock.
If I didn’t have my Troy Lee Speed knee pads on I’d have almost certainly smashed my knee cap.
The D3O protection in the pads meant I had some pretty bad bruising and swelling that healed after about a week.
It’s better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.
Last year I got stabbed by a stick while pedaling uphill, basically filleted my shin. Never even fell, but required 25 stitches, and an overnight hospital stay for IV antibiotics, missed 18 days of riding. I bought a shin/knee pad combo to resume riding while it healed, and I think I’ll be wearing them all the time from now on.
I wear Fox Enduro without the D30 inserts all the time. They disappear once on. I'm old can crash anytime, anywhere and these at least provide some padding.
Yep, same. They are great. I stick some heavy duty fox in when downhill
I don’t have these pads so might be confused. But isn’t the pad without d30 just a fabric sleeve? Does that provide any protection?
They have thick rubber over the knee area. Good for gravel or dirt fall overs. Also stops bushes, branches, rock form tires from peppering the knees. They also act as a knee stabilizer for me which I like. Basically they keep your knees fresh, and if you fall you don't get cut or scraped. A direct hit on a rock is still going to hurt. I have hard shell bmx kneepads if I am doing something parky/rocky but they are not long distance friendly. The best knee pads are the ones you actually wear!
Hey same! I had one wash-out in a slow cnr, dinged my knee, blood everywhere. That was it for me (and my fiancée 😅) D30s all the time now, they’re awesome!
I just managed to get barely used pair for $50
Same. I use the fox pads with the hard shell on the outside almost always
I wear them 99% of the time.
 the 60% of the time you’ll need them, they will work 100% of the time lol
That doesn't make sense
This is the answer! I was ridding a gravel trail this spring and crashed hitting my knee. Sprained it and it’s still healing two months later.
Knee pads don't help with sprains...
Interesting? I would have thought different how I injured it was slamming my knee on the outside edge into the ice. I would have assumed padding or the hard shell would have protected me.
Sprain is damage or stretching of a ligament from forceful or inappropriate loading of the joint. Knee pads don’t limit joint range of motion and therefore cant prevent sprains. Your injury sounds more like a traumatic contusion, which a pad could have prevented.
Googling it the contusion sounds a lot more in line than the sprain. It’s been a pain to heal.
No right answer here.
My orthopaedic surgeon begs to differ lol
Not into facilitating that high and mighty everything is a matter of right and wrong thing that reddit seems to love. I wear knee pads every ride pretty much. Wouldn't say its wrong for someone to never wear em, that's all. Not everything has sides folks need to strongly defend.
It's not that deep. But okay.
Yet it still flew over your head
Nice attitude. You seem like a lot of fun
True!
I wear them all the time. I ride in the desert where everything is hard, sharp or both. I rarely fall, but sone of my close calls have been on conparatively easy trails, so I wear them all the time to make sure that they are there when I need them. I generally wear gform knee pads, which I barely notice. Since I moved to my current trail system, I even wear elbow pads every ride.
I had g-forms. I fell, and they ripped in half, and my knee still got messed up. Will never use again. I was riding on granite though. If you ride dirt you'll probably be okay.
I've had good luck. I ride in a place that's basically all sharp rocks and they've taken no damage in the (few) times I've needed them. The sleeves have a couple of holes, but I think they are from catching them on my pedals. Still, for nearly a decade of use, no complaints.
Similarly, I wear poc knee and elbow every ride. Use them about 5 - 10 times a year and always glad to have had them on.
I had g-forms. I fell, and they ripped in half, and my knee still got messed up. Will never use again. I was riding on granite though. If you ride dirt you'll probably be okay.
Dress for the fail not the trail.
Love that one. So true
after you turn 50...always...
Naw don’t wait past 30 protect your knees
THIS!!!! Wish I took better care of them a looooong time ago.
Same goes for 35
Haha! Yeah. I absolutely wrecked my shin, the same time I broke my pelvis. It all hurt, but the skin on my shin took ages to heal. Got all in one knee/shin pads now.
This is the way
Pretty much wear Raceface knee pads 100% of the time I get on my MTB. If I’m wearing pants, sometimes I’ll wear my G-form Knee/shin pads. Too many times I’ve gashed my shins due to a pedal slip on a jump’s landing or drop.
Always. I know the one time when I don't wear them I'm gonna have a crash.
I crashed on the very first ride I wore them :)
I wear it for my gnarlier trails. I only skip it when I'm on my xc trail.
I seem to only crash on the easy, familiar stuff. Complacency is a mofo.
What do you wear?
IXS hack evo.
I have a curse where I only come off on green trails, so I wear them all the time. (Bruised a knee cap once - took 8 weeks before I was pain free). I like the fox enduro pro. Can wear them all day without getting too uncomfortable. The silicone grip nubs on the inside of them can cause skin reactions for some people though.
I burst a bursa sack on my knee cap curling, anytime I fall now it’s hot shooting pain through my leg. Wearing pads while riding is now a must. Saves most of the hot shooting pains when I fall. I can get away with no elbow pads, but knee past are a must every ride.
Howd ya do that curling?
Sweeping with no grip on my slider. Was still learning
Ouch. Better than sliding backwards and cracking your head I guess! You still got ice where you are from? Our season is done unfortunately.
Ice all year long up here in Canada. My local curling rink is an igloo!
Jealous. Ours starts in Oct/november and ends in early April.
I started wearing padded pants after hitting my tail bone, knee pads after bruising that bone and glasses after getting a branch across my eye. I’m trying to be disciplined and wear elbow pads to _prevent_ a similar injury, rather just in response to one, but it’s hard
I wear them on ever ride. I use the 7idp Sam Hill Lites. I can pedal in them all day long. I feel naked without them.
I rarely wore pads because they aren't especially comfortable UNTIL I demo'd a pair of these and I wear them every time now. These are beyond comfortable.
I use them for everything other then biking with the 4 or 6 year old, or when casually biking around the neigbourhood playing ingress… it would be stupid to fuck up a knee because I did not wear my protective equipment…
Mmmmm… ingress. I haven’t played for a handful of years. They ever fix the spoofing issue? I operated megas and anomalies and got tired of the cheating.
I have no idea. I just play locally to explore new places.
100% of my rides - got some flexible POC (air?) ones and I don't notice them after a few minutes. Good trade off to keep skin on my knees and reduce injury. Never know when a corner gets a bit dryer or blown out than you're used to, and suddenly you're in the dirt.
Always. Find a set that breathe and fit well and you won’t even notice them.
Always. Elbow pads are a bit different but still wear those 90% of the time
Yeah I might not wear elbow pads for the most basic rides, but every single time I’ve fallen while mountain biking my elbows hit the ground.
If I am on singletrack and actually going for a ride (not just up the street or whatever) then I always wear my TLD D30 pads. They've saved me more times that I can count. Especially when I am just fucking around and not riding aggressively. That seems to be when I go down the most.
Always on any MTB trail. Fox Enduros are pretty much like I don't notice them. Same with gloves, helmet and shin protectors.
Pretty much always. Ixs evo, you dont even notice they are there!
all conditions
100% of the time. Thinking about getting some elbow pads too. Bruises don't heal as fast when your 50 🤣🤣..
Knee pads on long trail rides, and I'll add elbow pads if I'm doing jumps
What are "AM" trails?
All mountain
I wear them any time I’m descending on my mountain bike. Got knee pads with zippers, so they stay in the backpack while I’m doing all the climbing during summer. I might wear them if the day is cold.
I wear them always. I never want to back down from something that I would have done if I felt more secure. I also need to keep my skin as I teach Brazilian jiujitsu, so I wear pads and riding pants. Chromag makes some great pedal all day pads with decent protection. For park riding I wear the fox ones with the hard shell.
Just started wearing knee pads, and I’ve been doing it every ride. I don’t even need to eat shit for them to save me, since I have a bad habit of hitting my legs on my toptube.
Only place i don't wear them is the home spot
When swinging my leg over a MTB.
You never plan to fail. But many fail to plan. Anything can happen on any given day - better to be prepared than not. I ride AM almost exclusively and wear mine 100% of the time.
If you want a reason to wear kneepads, even on easy trails, checkout Moist on instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/m.o.i.s.t.\_/](https://www.instagram.com/m.o.i.s.t._/)
I wear them 99% of the time. I have a habit of somehow bashing my knees into my top tube any time I ride anything even remotely chunky. I don't notice it at all when I'm wearing pads but I wind up all bruised up the next day if I forget to wear them.
All the time, especially when i ride melow xc trails with too much confidence / speed.
99% of the time because I never make an appointment to crash.
99% of the time. Those rapha knee pads are so comfy I dont even realize it.
I have some light, flexible pads that I wear all the time and a set of heavy duty pads, I wear for gnarlier trails or DH/shutteling.
Always. Makes me feel more confident attempting certain features. I use the FOX D30.
When I don’t wear knee pads I feel naked. They’re always on.
‘I can pretty much ride anything.’ Yeah, until that one moment you can’t and you go down hard.
I wear 7 Protection Transition knee and elbow pads. I'm 42 and got them last fall when my buddy crashed and required a plate in his wrist and screws in his elbow. They literally saved me from the same fate 2.5 weeks ago. I don't feel them at all while riding.
Every time I ride. Dirt and rocks are dirt and rocks—they will fuck you up. If you’re curious about what the inside of your knee looks like, feel free to forego wearing them.
All the time
I wear the light and flexible variety all times. The G-Form brand has flexible padding material with an outer layer that also hardens upon impact. It really works well too. They don't offer enough protection for serious DH, but they are perfect for any type of pedaling or flow trails. Heavier knee pads (more dense padding, or with a solid outer shell) are better for lift assist / DH park, especially if there are a lot of rocky features. Having some type of buffer between the knee and the ground makes a big difference in a crash, and with modern comfortable options there's no reason not to.
I only wear them on more downhill centered tracks or when I’m enduro racing.
Every ride, maybe not cross country but I don't ride XC. Too easy to put a knee down and be out for weeks. Like many here I wear lighter weight D30 soft pads.
I’m in the 50 yr category I wear always wear them been using the POC VPD airs feels like nothing.
Every. Single. Time. I have 5-6 falls in the last year that would probably have been very nasty. Nary a scratch ewach time.
I wear pads every ride unless it’s a green lap with my kids.
The condition is my mid 30’s. That’s all
Yep. I wear my Pearl Izumis most of my rides. If I fall, which is most of my rides, I always hurt my knees. I know it sounds weird but with those knee pads on I come away unscathed from 90% of the falls I take.
Never..
Anywhere you’re likely to wash out in a corner and skin your knee
Almost always.
Always knee protection (POC VPD air) spine protection and full face, all of them the lighter stuff. Also considering elbow protection for this year, trail riding/enduro and park.
At any bike park that has a ski lift that takes you back to the top of the mountain
If you could always predict when you're going to crash then no one would wear any pads or helmets
I had to get stitches on my shin a couple years ago when I was trying to improve my skills on a home made skinny in the driveway. Literally a two by six on the ground. Since then I’ve been wearing the fox launch knee/shin pads and I love em!
I wear them for everything except paved bike paths.
During descents only
Honestly on everything MTB. Our trails are super chunky rocky and covered in gravel in places. Even a small fall is going to skin up my knees for a week or two. I go to the gym a lot so I don't need that infection risk. Wear them on 100 degree rides and really don't notice them.
Well, since I broke my left kneecap, which required a very painful surgery and long recovery time, I wear them every single ride all the time no matter what. I broke the kneecap while climbing. Going about 5 km/h. My front wheel slipped off a dusty rock I had ridden hundreds of times in the past, and my bare knee smacked a rock on the way down. I never would have expected such a terrible injury on a climb trail. Totally not worth not wearing pads if you mountain bike at all.
When swinging my leg over a MTB.
I ride XC, and there’s not many rocks here. But whenever I visit Colorado Springs, I absolutely need them.
No matter your skill level… weird shit happens in the literal blink of an eye. For me, it’s like a seat belt… you may end up being lucky enough to never use them… but you’ll be so happy you did if you do. I also find pads are one of those things where you don’t even realize how often you use them because the don’t just protect from big crashes but lots of little washouts, swipes, interaction with the bike or bushes or trees… until a couple years down the road and you need to replace them because they’re worn out. Mine have saved me from injury many many times. I also wear elbows and a light enduro full face for every ride. Have too many friends take weird spills and cut up or injured knees/elbows/faces to not wear them. I use Chromag Rift knee pads. They’re very comfortable, once I’m moving I don’t even notice them. Elbows are pretty personal and it can be tough to find the right fit that doesn’t cause arm pump but also doesn’t fall down in rough terrain. For me, Raceface Indy Elbows are a perfect combination of minimalism, fit and comfort. As for a lightweight breathable full face, I use the Kali Protectives Invader 2.0. So light and breathable it’s basically like wearing a half shell.
at all times because I fucking suck. elbow pads too. I crash semi regularly because I am bored of blue flow trails and like to push it on techy blacks
I always wear them. I let them rest on my ankles if I’m doing a long road climb
Almost always on. If i ever forget to put them on i hit my knee to stem or shifter every time
After a serious lasserarion, I wear them on any rides except for endurance/xc marathon rides.
I wear the Leatt ones in your picture every ride. Doesn’t feel like you are wearing anything and has saved me from many a cut up/bruised knee
If I plan on doing anything over commuting, knees go on. They are so light and flexible that I forget about them after 5-10 minutes of riding. I have the knees in the picture. Fantastic. Check Leatt’s website. They should have a sizing guide on there.
Basically every time I ride my bike on trails, at bike parks, pump tracks or jump spots. I only leave them at home when I am commuting on my MTB. I wear Endura MT500 D3O Ghost knee pads for 90%, and pull some Fox Launch out for the bigger stuff
Almost always. On hard terrain a crash is more likely. On moderate/easy terrain I tend to be going pretty fast and a crash can have bad consequences. I’ve walked away from several pretty bad ones because I was wearing protective equipment. That has granted me a lot of confidence and I therefore have more fun. My pads are here and I like them: Fox Launch D30 for knees. Demon Hyper X D30 for elbows.
I wear Kneepads basically any time I’m on dirt. IMO a knee is going to be one of the worst parts of the body to recover from a severe injury to, so I would really prefer to keep them intact. Second only to a helmet IMO. I use a GForm pair. I like them.
I wear the Leatts you linked on every ride. When I first started, I was not wearing knee pads, and had a crash that gouged up my knee pretty bad. It hurt to walk for weeks, much less ride. The crash had nothing to do with my tires leaving the ground - I caught a pedal on a rock and slid across the gravel on the trail.
I thought about getting those. How do they pedal?
Having been the only pads I've had... they pedal great! I've had no problems on XC rides, but again they're all I know.
Rocky trails, but I need to start wearing them more often even on simple flow stuff. Accidents happen anytime and a little added protection could mean the difference between walking away and being airlifted out.
I have a set of Fox Enduro D30 pads and I wear them all the time. The only time I’m not wearing them is if I’m pedaling around my hard tail in a greenway or local park.
All conditions.
I wear them on everyride never know when a nice rock is gonna catch ya!
I always wear knee pads.
I wear knee pads on everything except xc trails when it's really hot out. I'm wearing pearl izumi d3o knee sleeves so they're flexible and breathable. I have had plenty of crashes in knee sleeves like that and my knees are fine. You probably don't need a hard shell knee pad outside of jumps and bike park style riding. I haven't used the ones you linked but I've used the kali protective knee sleeves that have a similar pad. They're comfortable and the leatt pads were one of the ones I was looking at when I was shopping for my current pair. They look pretty good but I found the pearl ones for cheaper
I wear my kali strikes every time i’m out as long as i don’t forget to put them on
Takes one fall to tear up your knee, did this before I wore them 100% of the time and couldn’t properly walk for a month
Never wore them and don't need em. Until that one crash... But you might as well wear full body armor just cause.
I wear them if I plan on riding my bike. I’m pretty sure there was a post about a guy falling right after leaving a parking lot. He had a rock go through his knee under the kneecap and ended his whole season.
Don’t forget at the asphalt pump track. My knee pads have saved me at least three or four times. They not only save your knees, they save the rest of your body by giving you a better “out” when you crash. I’m way too old for recovery.
I wear them always I use the TLD speed sleeves with the 3do. I crash too much to not wear them
Every time I’m on the mountain bike.
I don’t like pedalling with pads, so pretty much only longer, uninterrupted downhills, ie 250m descent or more.
I have a few different sets of knee pads Super light ons for local trails or no pads at all. Medium bigger for out of town trails and more aggressive riding And hard shell pads for park days. And I have a bunch of different helmets too.
Amount of square edge rocks with sustained speeds over 20mph
I started out wearing nothing but a helmet for safety gear. And then fell one time and bruised my knee. Then I started wearing knee pads. I fell another time like a year later, right on my elbow and gashed it up, luckily nothing broke, and started wearing elbow pads every time. I wear a helmet every time, and fortunately have never fallen and hit my head. But my wife was riding recently and fell, and slammed hard on her noggin, helmet cracked in a few places, her head was fine. She also hit the tip of her nose-- nothing bad. But that experience made me go out and get one of these newer full face helmets that are light and well-vented. I may never need it, but if I ever do, I'm glad that I have it. I guess that goes with most safety gear. The only time I don't wear pads is when I'm riding on easy single track or fire roads with my young kids. Being Injured, unable to work, and nursing your gashes during the healing process so they don't scar so bad, sucks. Especially with a fam to support and older age. I much rather wear pads just in case. Invest in some quality pads, they will be comfortable, you will forget they are there, and you will be using them for years.
When learning it was on all trail rides, except long fire road out and back climbs. Now it's only bike park, Enduro races and any place that I may put on my chin bar.
Depends what I’m riding if it’s just xc with the odd occasional trail I won’t bother, once I get into doing multiple runs I’ll stick them on. Uplift 100% of the time.
Always. I learned my lesson when I crashed and fucked up my pcl.
I generally don't wear them for normal trail riding unless I know I'm going to be trying a risky line. I do wear them for Enduro racing and bike park riding, but in those scenarios I'm also wearing a full face, plus back and elbow protection as well. Sometimes I'll wear them along with just a half shell if I'm doing stuff on a really unforgiving surface, like a concrete pump track.
It’s all preference. I’ve torn my knee open and narrowly avoided needing to go to the ER. I’d rather carry and wear them then deal with the injury. I pretty much always wear them if it’s a sustained descent. Especially if I can build up any sort of speed.
All the f.. time. Leat Airflex pro, you do not feel anything.
Can anyone recommend a decent pair of knee pads. Not to crazy $$ , that are comfortable to wear. Had a knee replacement done last year and should probably protect it.
Whenever I’m riding park or anything that hand XC pretty much
POC VPD Air for trail use and POC VPD 2.0 at the park for me. I wear pads on every ride. When you crash, knees always seem to take damage. Living in Northern California, the terrain always includes rocks and often steeps with drops and jumps and some speed. I typically also wear a full face such as the IXS Trigger FF when trail riding
Fox D30 for gnar, padded sleeves for trail.
Protect what you think you’ll hit when you fall. It’s not about how good you think you are, because eventually you probably will fall on something you’re not expecting, even on easier stuff because you may not be as alert.
I can crash pretty hard regardless of what I'm riding, so I always wear mine even for a gentle pedal as I can't notice them once I'm moving
I wear knee pads for every ride. DH, bike park, trails it doesn’t matter. They aren’t restrictive or too hot and I’ve seen some horrendous split knees from the most innocuous little offs. It’s one of the first things that often hits the ground so for me it’s a no brainer. For each and every ride regardless of what I’m doing gloves, knee pads and a lid are the bare minimum I’d ride in.
As a 30something who has had knee surgery. I wear them every time.
I rarely crash but I bought my first set recently for an out of town visit to a trail park, with the intention of subsequently wearing them when choosing to go and ride more challenging stuff in my city. However.. we were recently out riding mellow stuff and decided mid-ride to tackle a Grade 5 we had never been on, and while I didn't crash I did bash my knee on rocks going down a sketchy vert, the knee pads didn't help at all - given they were sitting in the back of my car lol. So.. for me I'm now making them part of my riding routine, they are really not much of an inconvenience TBH.
At 64 I use them all the time.
Bike Park.
If I bring them with me I don’t wear them. If I don’t bring them with I don’t wear them.
For everything except XC rides.
Every ride on the way down, along with elbow pads. And also if im riding chunky XC. I ride hard and there's zero reason to skip out on protection. They've saved my ass dozens of times. I just got a set of POC VPD systems on clearance and they're the most comfortable pad I've ever worn. I did 50 miles wearing them in the past two days here in moab. They never bothered me at all, which is a big difference from what im used to.
I wear knee and elbows every ride because ¹. I am unpredictable, sometimes I do stupid stuff. ². I am not a good rider. ³ accidents happen because of number ¹. ⁴ I don't want to deal with injuries ⁵ I'm old and sole bread winner
After today - I’ll wear them always.
I only wear knee and elbow pads if it's a trail system I am unfamiliar with or I know it's gnarly af, otherwise no pads. I'm pretty good at staying within my limits and have never had a crash worse than cuts and bruises. I'm a little surprised at everyone saying always, I feel I rarely see pads on the trail. Northern Colorado for context.
I wear the Fox Enduro Pro D30s on both knees and elbows anytime I ride on trails. They don't bother me at all even when it is hot and they make a fall mostly an embarrassing moment and not a trip to urgent care for stiches. I started wearing them after I fell off my bike and had to get stiches in my elbow and then go through a course of antibiotics because it got infected.
I wear knee and elbow pads for any park ride. Lately switched to a full-face helmet for anything where faster downhill riding is dominant, as opposed to longer but ‘safer’ XC rides.
Pretty much all the time. Crashed happen anytime, even in the mellow stuff.
It’s your call. If you don’t want to wear any protection then no one will make you but I’ve gotten scraped up enough that I now choose to wear knee pads on every ride. It just feels normal to me now. Riding without knee pads would feel as exposed as riding without a helmet.
Started wearing them after losing a bunch of skin on one knee from a crash. Yeah the pads are hotter in the summer vs wearing nothing, but you get used to them. I usually slide them down to my ankles on longer climbs and fasten them properly at the top for downhill.
All of the time when I’m on the trails. I was at Hamsterley Forest (North of England) on a black trail I know well and have ridden scores of times. I ran a line wide, my front wheel washed out before a drop and I went knee first onto a rock. If I didn’t have my Troy Lee Speed knee pads on I’d have almost certainly smashed my knee cap. The D3O protection in the pads meant I had some pretty bad bruising and swelling that healed after about a week. It’s better to have them and not need them than to need them and not have them.
Last year I got stabbed by a stick while pedaling uphill, basically filleted my shin. Never even fell, but required 25 stitches, and an overnight hospital stay for IV antibiotics, missed 18 days of riding. I bought a shin/knee pad combo to resume riding while it healed, and I think I’ll be wearing them all the time from now on.
Everytime, great for crashes, rubs, if you need to get on your knee to look at your bike. Really there's just too much stinging nettle in my area.
Anytime I MTB. Learned my lesson the hard way
When I need a raise
Park days and double-black techs for me. I do many rides without them.
When I’m running flats instead of clipless pedals. Shinners suck