I was so happy with my purchase of my Lizard Skin knee/shin combo pads I thought I’d try them out at Kelso. Making a long story short I fell and one of the knee cups cracked into 3 pieces.
Anyway I’m hoping for some restitution from the bike store I purchased them from or from Lizard Skin themselves, time will tell.
I’ve decided to make a mold of the knee cups and make my own knee pads from PVC pipe and was curious if anyone has had experience with this.
Also would it be better to have one knee cup or two knee cups on top of each other with foam in between them in case of future hard UPD’s.
I don’t think you’re gonna get much restitution from Lizard Skins after their product saved your knee from cracking in 3 places.
Re: Knee pad manufacture
I have a pair of lizard skins knee pads. I was a little disapointed by
them. Not that they are particularly bad or anything. It’s just that
Lizard Skins being a local company (I live in the small town where they got
started) have always represented innovative thinking and good products. I
was talking to an employee at the local bikeshop (same owner as Lizard Skins
I think) and it turns our that many of the lizard skins products are no
longer designed or manufactured locally. In fact the knee-pads I bought are
“generic” made in China that Lizard Skins sources and then has their logo
sewn on. While that isn’t terrible (in fact it probably means I paid less)
it is a bit of a let down to see one of my favorite companies being
“swallowed” by a global economy.
I guess that’s the same reason you can find so many unicycles that are
identical with the exception of the brand-name sticker on the frame.
The Lizard Skins shin guards I have are a different story. They are just a
bad design. While they protect my shins fine they are like putting my legs
in an oven. They are thick neoprene with a plastic insert. The neoprene
wraps all the way around. This makes for a resonably comfortable fit but
wow they sure are hot. I don’t need the sewn on flames that Kris Holm has
on his custom Roach’s since I have actual flames coming out below my knees!
Now, to answer the question about making your own protective gear. I’d
definately avoid using PVC pipe in any gear that you expect to be subject to
any sudden impact. All the experience I have with PVC (my sprinkler pipe
and a PVC fence) indicates that PVC will shatter and crack on sudden
impacts. I think the material to use would be ABS plastic.
Note: after typing that last paragraph I did a quick search and it seems
that ABS has the following impact strength:
Izod impact strength, ft-lb/in. notch 1/8 in. = 10.0
PVC has the following:
Izod impact strength, ft-lb/in. notch 1/8 in. = 0.4-20
So, I guess depending on the type of PVC you could be better off with PVC.
I’ll stop rambling now and perhaps someone else can offer some “real”
practical advice.
-mg
p.s. Despite what the above may sound like I do still like Lizard Skins and
I’m mostly happy with my gear.
“Drewnicycle” <Drewnicycle.5afbz@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:Drewnicycle.5afbz@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> I was so happy with my purchase of my Lizard Skin knee/shin combo pads I
> thought I’d try them out at Kelso. Making a long story short I fell and
> one of the knee cups cracked into 3 pieces.
> Anyway I’m hoping for some restitution from the bike store I purchased
> them from or from Lizard Skin themselves, time will tell.
> I’ve decided to make a mold of the knee cups and make my own knee pads
> from PVC pipe and was curious if anyone has had experience with this.
> Also would it be better to have one knee cup or two knee cups on top of
> each other with foam in between them in case of future hard UPD’s.
>
>
> –
> Drewnicycle
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Drewnicycle’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/548
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/18333
>
Lizard Skins said to send the pads back and they would replace them for free. I went back to the point of purchase and they replaced them for free. Happy, happy me!