I need to buy some leg armor. The choices seem to be Roach and 661. If there are others please let me know. I have an inseam of 35 inches. My understanding is that we leggy fellows have to special order from Roach. Would that also be true for 661? I am looking for ankle to above the knee coverage.
The legs are the most critical for good fit but how about the arms? Are Roach pads notoriously short there also? Are they a Japanese company like Miyata of the 300mm seatpost only fame?
Roach’s special orders (for colours, anyways) are + 15%. As a Roach lover, I figure that’s a good investment. Seeing as you’re already paying for the special size…perhaps the custom colours would be free?
I can’t see anyone with flats+pins not using protection.
Good luck with whatever you get (Roach)
The Roach leg armor is nice, and its not too hot. Mine is just the standard black with the Roach logo on it. I want to decorate it but a little OT(sorry harper) does anyone have any ideas of stuff i could do to decorate it? A paint i could use that wouldnt wear to quickly?
I used a ‘paint marker’ to label my name inside. that worked great (although leg sweat/rubbing has smudged it somewhat. This wouldn’t be a problem on the outside. However, I don’t know if those come in other colours than white/silver/gold.
I have never been too hot from the pads. I have ridden (with them on) in heat that I had to take my helmet off to ride, or suffer heat exhaustion (I figure), and the leg armour is just fine.
It may be warm, but it’s cooler than 5 bloody gashes, that will scar, and turn purple in the cold, per ride!
.
When I ride on hot days with my 661’s, the sweat works its way to the front through the seams and turns the dirt to mud on the seams. A marker on the outside near the seam might smudge eventually.
My guess greg is that the 661’s are going to be too large a diameter for your legs in the length your looking for. Go with the roach and get a special color and size.
I can give you a private sizing. I have Roach armor in two sizes, XL and a special size for people 6’3" that you could try on. I even just washed the XL armor a few days ago so it doesn’t stink.
The XL size is a standard size that I ordered from airbomb.com. The 6’3" size was a size that unicycle.com was carrying a while ago, but is likely a special order size now.
Airbomb sells at a discount so the price is less than retail. Custom orders from Roach are full retail price plus 15%.
661 does not make armor that is as long as the Roach XL or special 6’3" size. I think they must have test marketed their armor on skinny short kids.
Why do you have these sizes? Yeah, I’d like to try them on. They’re black, right? You’ve seen the stuff I wear.
From what people have been saying, it seems like the roach ones may be a better choice for you. Either way, I posted a review of my 661’s with some pictures in the product review section.
Good luck, and please post a review of whatever you end up getting if you get a chance,
Andrew
I just got the 661 leg armor in the large size. They’re about 21" from top to bottom. I’m about 6’ 1" w/ inseam … uhh I’m not sure where you stop measuring. The ankle, top, or bottom of foot? Anyway its 34" from the floor to my… ahem… when barefoot.
These pads fit me from my shoe to above my kneecap by an inch or two. There are lots of strap to adjust the tightness of the pads around your leg. I easily get them tight enough on my chicken legs, but they would allow a much larger leg diameter.
Hope this information is helpful.
I read your review, Andrew. Thanks. Dylan has used the 661 pads according to the review and, as I remember, he’s a fairly tall, lanky guy.
Thanks, Zim. As I said, my inseam is 35" and I doubt that the inch difference is significant.
Fox
I used Roach for a while and like them alot. I found that they don’t provide the same level of hard shell knee protection as these from fox:
http://www.mtbreview.com/reviews/Pads/product_78599.shtml
I find that the Fox guards are also cooler than roach. I don’t know how they would work with longer legs.
-Bronson
I like the armor to be long enough so that they rest right above the shoe while still covering the knee. I wear the XL size with high top AXO Dually shoes. I wear the 6’3" size with low top shoes.
If the armor rests just above the shoe it cannot slip down in a crash and expose the knee.
Greggs bicycle shop in Seattle carries the 661 gear. You can try on the 661 armor there.
No, Gregg’s in Bellevue does. Who goes to Bellevue? Why would anyone go to Bellevue? It’s barbaric. The Seattle shop carries Fox.
Re: In need of leg armor
I have the 661 4x4 size L. I am 6’0". I haven’t measured my inseam but
I am of “normal” proportions, I also have “normal” width legs. (I
could measure if you want.)
The armour just fits fine. Rests just above the low-top shoe, covers
the knee exactly right. The only issue I have with the 661’s is that
you need to fix 7 straps per leg. They’re all Velcro and tend to get
stuck at the wrong places. I’ve heard Roach is easier to put on.
Klaas Bil
I posted only a single copy of this message.
Re: Re: In need of leg armor
Bronson-
I tried on some Fox XL shin-knee combos at my LBS. I found the knee cap to be too small so that it pinched me when I bent my leg. The armor and padding seems to stop on the shin above the ankle which gives no protection against ankle biting pedals. Perhaps your size fits better.
Klaas-
My inseam is 35" (89cm) crotch to floor. I’m previously 6’2" (188cm) and quickly approaching 6’1" (185.5cm) and I think I am ABnormally proportioned. Do you think the 661’s would cover my knee? Previous posts suggest yes, Zim’s in particular.
When do the yearly stats come out? Any new catagories?
Thanks.
Greg, I don’t know if this will help, but the distance between the centre of my ankle joint (knobbly bit on the side) and the centre of my knee cap is 17.5" (44.5cm), I’m 6’2". The large 661 4x4 pads fit fine when I wear “high top” type light weight walking boots. I think in-seam measurement might be a bit of an unpredictable indicator of required pad size. After all, I’m sure my in-seam would be shorter if I had a fatter arse and associated bulk. The ratios of total leg length to lower leg length may be fairly constant, but even a slight variation could change the fit of a set of pads.
By the way, my legs are pretty scrawny but the pads adjust down fine, and there seems to be enough room in them for considerably larger legs.
Have fun!
Graeme
Photos, please. Thanks, Graeme.
Re: In need of leg armor
On Sat, 2 Nov 2002 19:29:05 -0600, harper
<harper.diqoz@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>Klaas-
>
>My inseam is 35" (89cm) crotch to floor. I’m previously 6’2" (188cm) and
>quickly approaching 6’1" (185.5cm) and I think I am ABnormally
>proportioned. Do you think the 661’s would cover my knee?
My inseam is also 89 cm if I press the measuring device moderately
into my crotch (sorry a bit graphical, don’t ask for pictures). The
total length of my 661 size L is 54 cm including material outside the
armoured area. For this measurement I laid the 661 flat-out on the
ground, or as flat as it can get. It “curls” a little near the knee
section - I measured the inside. HTH.
>When do the yearly stats come out? Any new catagories?
Not before the year is done of course. Y-e-a-r-l-y you know. I guess
you wanted to nudge me into promising it WOULD be yearly. It is
planned. There is a placeholder for the 2002 page at
<www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_statistics.htm>. I have some early
thoughts for new categories, but suggestions may be considered.
Klaas Bil
I posted only a single copy of this message.
Re: Re: In need of leg armor
I measured my Roach armor.
The XL is about 54cm ± 1cm
The 6’3" size is about 57cm ± 1cm
It’s hard to measure them exactly so I figure there is about a 1cm ± variance due to measuring methods.
I tried 661 Large armor at my LBS and they felt smaller and shorter than my Roach XL, but that could be just me. I didn’t compare the Roach XL and 661 L side by side and I didn’t put a tape measure on them to check the size comparison.