Knee Protection
 

Hi, I have an Africa Twin and I want to travel a lot of miles both off-road and on-road. Do you think that the standard protectors of pants like Rallye 2 are enough or I need hard protectors for my knees? I am worrying about the protection at off-road travelling.
Is it comfortable if I 'll buy an enduro pant and use hard protectors when travelling all day even on the road?

Thanks, Helias

Going down off road is a bit different than going down on pavement. Crashing on pavement is (most of the time ) one hard impact then abrasion when you slide, the built in armor in pants or jackets usually deal with this just fine.. unless.. your garment twists and moves leaving your joints unprotected.
Taking a spill off road poses different hazards, sharp rocks and such, add to that the chances of going down is much greater than on pavement. a MX style knee guard is much more preffered than the built in temperfoam cushion in most pants.
i wear the hinged kind that also provides some protection for the thigh above the knee
http://www.guardup.com/Merchant2/gra...l_revolver.jpg

Knee protection is a nice thing to have when changing tyres and such... sitting on your knees that is

Oh, really? Do you think that knee protection is so unnecessary?

Are they comfortable when you wear them a lot of hours or you wear them off-road only?

Very comfortable, i wear them all the time when out on the bike. The "kneecup" has a couple of vents which is nice when its hot.. this time of year i put some duct tape over them

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Laromo '04 TT600RE

very good idea, thanks

I would seriously recommend wearing knee pads when going off road. Not only do they protect your knees if you go down but also your shins if you happen to catch a log sticking out on the trail :-) Fox make a great set, as do Thor and both are hinged at the knee.

What exactly are you considering, with a fully loaded bike its going to be slow going off road; in which case the standard knee protection in a decent pair of bike pants should be enough for the odd low speeed spill.

PK

Of course, the low speed is the safest way, but in some times you need some speed. Also the crashes off-road are too harmful. So, I bought a pair of axo "Knee Guards". They seem to be comfortable, but I haven't tested them to long trips, yet.

I've got a pair of Dainese knee and shin guards which I wear under my jeans. They were £35 for the pair and give good mobility although fortunately, I haven't tested their protective capabilities yet. They can get quite hot and sticky on a hot day, but that's because they're skin tight and don't move around, unlike the soft ones on my Bering waterproofs which seem useless.

Even at 'slow' speed a fall with a heavy bike behind it, onto rocks can do a lot of damage.
There are various types of 'hard' kee protectors - the ones with a hindge that limit movement are better as they offer some protection from over extension...

I ware mine under the protective pants (with their protection too) - comfortable provided you get the padding in the right places.