Still a beginner I have so far avoided any injuries from riding uni [1]. And since I prefer to keep it that way I intend to add a pair of knee/shin guards to my muniform[2].
From r.s.u and the unicyclist.com forums it seems like roach is prefered buy most people. However roach doesnāt seem to be available in Sweden (I avoid international orders if I can).
The guards that seems to be available to me are:
Sixsixone 4x4
Some people seems to like these, some says that the fabric rip to easily. Big ugly logo on the front.
Skinz Protective Gear, The Shaums March Convertible Pad! http://www.rstc.net/skinz/html/protection.html
No info at all about these, how well to the protect the shins without the extra plastic mounted?
If found plenty of info about the 661, but not much about the others, anyone here tried them? I only have the price for 661 yet, but that isnāt too much of an issue unless the price difference is huge.
Also, Iām tallish 1.90m, ca 90cm legs, donāt know if that matter much since all of them are available in different sizes.
I wouldnāt get roaches again - iāve damaged myself through them twice now - Iād go for something seriously sturdy with solid unbroken plastic that wraps right round your shin.
Iām assuming roaches are vaguely similar to 661sā¦ how have you damaged yourself through them? They seem thick enough to soften whacks while being solid enough to remain leg-shapedā¦
I have had the pedal drive the edge of the plastic into my shin - creating a small hole in the inside of my pads and a 2 and a half inch gash in my leg.
Iāve also had a sharp rock go inbetween the plastic slits and spike my leg.
To be fair - they are comfortable and do protect very well from the sort of impacts that you come into frequently.
I have also trashed several other makes of pads - I think one of the best was Hard Nocks although I have a set of the full on downhill 661s on the way which should be good.
Iām also curious in how you hurt yourself while wearing roaches, There only weakness I see is that the back of the leg is still open.
I have wacked myself hard a number of times with my pedals and nothing more than a loud twack happens. They are also really coumfertable. I cant say the same about the hard plastic leg armor I tried (fox)
I was wondering what brands are best for protecting the back of your leg as well as your front. I seem to hit my calf as much as or more then my shin.
Is there anything I could use just for the back of my leg? I still want to wear my shin guards but would like to have more protection in the back. I donāt think the back would need to be nearly as well protected as the front, mainly because itās muscle rather then bone.
Iām getting a Trials Uni soon and I expect that I will fall hard a number of times. Does anybody know of the best all round leg/knee and arm/elbow armor?
The Roach and 661 pads both have a thick fabric flap that covers the calf. Itās enough protection to keep me from getting stitches on my calf when the pedal whacks me back there. The fabric flap on the Roaches is a little thicker than the fabric flap on the 661s.
Core Rat <http://www.corerat.com/> also makes leg armor that has an optional calf wrap. I have not tried the Core Rat stuff so I donāt know how it would fit for unicycling. It looks like the shin guard is a tad short and the pads might spin on your legs when rubbing on the tire.
You could sew up your own calf protection from some thick fabric. Something like the snow gaiters that hikers and climbers wear. Do a Google on āsnow gaitersā to see what Iām talking about. You could make something similar to a gaiter but with thicker fabric (like the Cordura nylon that Roach uses for their shorts) and wear it under your current shin pads.
From this thread and the one you linked to it seems like you could need it. Iāll buy 661ās for now and will keep your words in memory for the future. Iām only doing really light stuff yet.
Thanks everyone, this news groups is a wonderfull resource for us who are taking the first woobling āstepsā in the uni world.
Anyone know anything about sizes of 661 4x4? Iāve searched their (useless) homepage but canāt find anything. And the place Iām planning to order from doesnāt really know either.
My shins are 40cm (9.5") at their widest (slightly below the knee) and ca 60cm (16") from knee to floor.
THe shopping part of this wedsite sells them, and also has the sizes. I believe they are Large (18-inch top, 9-inch bottom) Medium (16-inch Top, 9-inch Bottom) and Small (15-inch top, 8-inch bottom) but for length, I have no idea.
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 ācurlsā a little near the knee
section - I measured the inside.
More info in the thread āIn need of leg armorā from early November
last year.
Klaas Bil
As long as the forum<->newsgroup link is only 50% reliable
I may post on both platforms. Sorry for any inconvenience.
No corrections planned for a future stats page.
Resurrecting this old thread (perfect title) to alert the General Unicycling Discussions (formerly rec. sport.unicycling) forum that I have added (to the Unicycle Product Review forum) a review of the 2012 line of POC VPD 2.0 knee guards paired with the POC VPD 2.0 shin guards. Please move the discussion over here. Spoiler alert: They are pretty freakin sweet!
