As promised in the “Breathable Shin Guard Thread” I would review G-Foam pads.
Shin Pads:
and
knee pads
I had the old style 661 4x4 with no vents in the shin. After long Muni rides in the Albuquerque summer time 100 F, my pads were to say the least, hot. I have very sensitive skin, and as I worked my sweat and dirt into the pads they began to smell. I could smell them when I was wearing them, when they were in the same room, or the door was open to the garage. Please note that I did wash them on a regular basis, by hand. They were becoming unbearable to wear as my skin would deteriorate and become very itchy, which I would proceed to scratch. I scratched as little as my will would let. It was time to change.
I saw and add in “Outside Magazine” for G-Foam pads. I went to their website,
http://g-form.com
, to check out their product. They uses a inertia controlled polymer that becomes stiff under impact but feels like padding otherwise. I was skeptical at first until is saw their video of a bowling ball dropped onto an ipad screen and the ipad remain unharmed.
I decided to email them to ask their opinion if their pads could be withstand the demands of Muni and trials. They responded lightning fast with interest of unicycling and of course informed me that I would love their pads. So I ordered them, the knee and shin pads. They cost about $83.00 with shipping.
As I was waiting for my pads to come across the country from Rhode Island I received another email asking to send pictures of me riding with their pads. They wanted to put in the the Athletes section of their website. They love to promote their product.
After a reasonable wait my pads arrived in about a 5"x5" bubble envelope that fit in my mailbox. Now I was really worried about the protection these would provide. I opened them up and slid them on.
The knee pads feel like bulky knee warmers but not warm. The knee pad wraps around to cover the vulnerable part of the knee which tends to hit the frame. I like the extra protection that seemed to be an oversight on many knee pads. But squeezing the foam worried me as it compressed easily under a small amount of force.
The shin pads alone feel as though I am riding with bare legs.The shin padding which is small worried me, it doesn’t have a a lot of coverage but covers the important parts.
I went to my garage to begin testing their protection. With all the padding on I closed my eyes and dropped to my knees, I was expecting a run to the hospital to repair my shatter patella. As my knees hit the ground I was surprised, a small amount of pain but it passed seconds later. I then hit my shin with a 20 mm combination wrench, box end. Again slight pain but nothing serious. I then put it through a pedal test, with 165 mm cranks I put my non dominate foot on the ground and my dominate foot on the pedal. I slammed the pedal into my shin with everything that I had. Slight pain but it passed in less than a minute. They are great protection for the weight so far.
This Sunday I went to test them on a downhill Muni ride on some of our steepest, loosest, and most technological downhill Muni trail. We rode up the flatter run out section where I felt I was wearing just riding shorts, doesn’t inspire confidence. I used them on a short uphill technical section where I UPD’d on a ledge I couldn’t get my wheel over, the pedal came and hit me in the shin. No pain. I now believed in them. I rode the rest of the ride using them occasionally, but nothing of any note. After some convincing I was able to ride the most technical sections with the confidence my 661 pads inspired.
Bottom line:
The pads are fantastic protection for the weight, but they are still light weight pads. They will not provide the same protection as a hard shell or other soft shell pad. They prevent catastrophic injury on the trails and are about as hot as some light weight Licha. If you hate the heat of your traditional pads and can handle pain for a minute or two after a bad fall then these pads are great.
Feel free to ask questions about my continuing experience with my g-form pads.
