I have made a cool combination of the two. It is take some volleyball knee pads($10 at wal-mart) and soccer shinguards 9$10 at wal-mart). It is cheap and they are very comfortable
yeah but if you smash your knee if you bail i dont think those volleyball pads are gonna help to much.
i don’t really know how good of protection it give but they are about a half a inch thick and they are pretty tuff. also when i fall I try to land on my palms because my wrist guards are good protection
can u gimmee a link to a picture of volleyball pads
cheers Lucas
Hi, I’m looking for light-weight, cool knee pads (not leg armor) for 36er summer commuting and muni. I have KH leg armor for flat/trials, but that’s too hot for summer commuting on my 36. I also find that I don’t need full leg protection for 36 road riding, but knee protection would be nice for any road UPDs at higher speeds.
What do you use?
I have been using these this Summer:
I also have the KH leg armor, but find them uncomfortable and at times give me skin abrasion especially to the outside of my knee areas. I often leave the top strap undone to alleviate the problem, but then they feel a little loose.
Anyway, I’ve been very happy with the lee design knee pads. They’re pretty low profile and comfy to the point that I mostly don’t even feel that they’re there. I’m thinking now of getting some shin pads, as I’ve gotten some “pins in the shin” episodes once or twice in the trails lately. I think that for me, a “2 piece” set up of knee pads and shin pads might be the way to go. Has anyone ever tried these http://g-form.com/index.php/pro-x-shin-pads.html
My favorite is POC Joint VPD 2.0. There’s no opening on the back side in the knee pit - I think this has less potential for chaffing than pads with an opening (or straps).
I also ride with 661 Evo and Rage but I favor the POC.
Exactly what I was looking for. Rides on my G29 in summer needs some knee protection and I stopped on G-Form knee guard. They are awesome. Not too hot (tested during summer ride with +38C), comfy to wear and looks good.
BeastGear Podium Versa-Fit
http://beastgear.com/collections/mountain-bike/products/beastgear-podium-versa-fit-legs
Any experience/knowledge with these?
I had my worst upd for a long time today normally I can run them out but today I hit the deck both knees one hand and my helmet peak took the impact , I mainly ride paths so kh armour would be over kill what is comfortable and cool .Thanks David
I ride mostly roads and bike paths on a 36er. Like you I’ve found the heavy duty armour overkill for this. The vulnerable points seem to be my knees and palms/wrists. After some trial and error I use TeleKneesis knee pads and Hillbilly half finger gloves. These both have hard plastic impact surfaces which allow me to slide down the road on my hands and knees after a superman landing 
and then get up like nothing happened.
I’ve had one UPD where I was going fast and didn’t quite have the knee pads tight enough. They dragged down and my knees scraped the road. Other than that they’ve been pretty good to me. Some people have mentioned that the wrist splints on the Hillbillies get in the way, but I don’t find them a problem.
Note that these are both a bit hard to find in Australia. I had to buy them online from the US.
I used to ride with something like these but found them a little cumbersome, sweaty and that I didn’t need them on the 36. They were great when I was doing trials and street. I could see volleyball pads working well, I’ve got a set I love and they’re pretty dense. Built to be able to drop intentionally to your knees on a solid floor. It would absolutely be enough for riding, might not stand up to repeated damage but it would likely be more comfortable than alternatives.
I haven’t been wearing any protection other than a helmet for the past 5 years and had no notable scrapes. But the wife is pregnant.
I have some old 661 knee-shin guards. They saved me a feel times, specially doing trials. On the road I feel a psychological strength because of them. I live in brasil, and sometimes you can get more than 30 degrees celsius while riding, and they are quite hot, I just got used to them.
I finally decided to invest in a good pair of knee pads for Downhill. I ended up buying ION K-pacts, which are just awesome(I have no affiliation with them). I used to be annoyed whenever I wore knee pads (most competitions will require them), because they all slipped and felt restricitve or annoying. Now it’s a no brainer to just wear them, plus my falling technique has instantly adjusted and now involves my knees.
They combine ok with my old try-all shinpads, I tend to not wear shin pads when doing Muni (the wounds on my calves say I probably should though).
Guess the moral of the story I’m trying to tell is: If you are going to buy pads, buy good ones, and really invest the time to find a pair that fits you well. You are going to use them more if they don’t restrict you, and that’s worth the extra money to me.
The Fuse Alpha Shin Whip Pads look good, but according to the charts, my size would be 2XL, which American shin guard websites do not seem to have in stock. 2XL also sounded like it might be too big for me, so I wanted to find a bike shop where I could try them on, but that appears not to be possible- a bike shop owner told me that knee and shin pads are now something that bike shops leave to the Internet.
So I’ve been using $10 soccer shin guards that have ankle protection. It seems to me that shin and calf protection for my sort of unicycling (introductory flatland and street) is mostly for stopping light impacts from pedal spikes, rather than blunt force trauma from trees and boulders, so just a hard shell should be enough, and padding isn’t really needed, especially for the calves. Inspired by this thread, I sewed some wedges of plastic floor mat into canvas, and got a better result than expected:
Love the beast gear
Just a comment on the beast gear question a few posts before. I ordered some based on a favorable review on this forum and it took a while for the shin/knee guards to arrive, but they are really nice. I have been using them on almost every muni ride for the last 2 years (they give me courage) and love them. They are comfortable, stay in place and provide protection. Great product.