I am planning to order the 2009 Kris Holm Percussion Leg Armor when it becomes available and I am trying to figure out what size would be best. My concern is two-fold:
I am of average height (5’ 6"), but my legs are pretty short for my height.
Some areas of my legs are also very wide for their length – particularly the wide part around my calf where the calf muscle is (it is approximately 18 inches in circumference at the widest part).
This being the case, I am concerned that if I get the size that is correct in length, it won’t be wide enough to go around the widest part of my calf. Does anyone have any experience with this? If the flap doesn’t go all the way around the leg, are the straps long enough to secure the armor closed anyway, even if the back of the leg isn’t entirely covered?
I am leaning toward the Large size; according to http://www.krisholm.com/english/products/sizing.htm the large is supposed to have a 12.5" long shin guard. The medium 12" would be more appropriate in length, but I believe I can manage the 12.5" shin guard OK. The extra large 13.25" shin guard would definitely be too long, despite the fact that it would give me the most coverage.
If anyone has any advice on how the KH Percussion Leg Armor will fit a short-but-wide-legged person, I would greatly appreciate it. I ride a Nimbus 24", if that matters.
I’m 5’10 and I have some KH leg armor in large and it doesn’t quite fit around my chunky calf (I can’t find a tape measure). There is enough protection in the back even with some calf exposed and I’ve never had an injury there with it on. Also the length is a little too short; it doesn’t quite go high enough on my knee so it might be just fine for your height. I find KH leg armor to be fairly flexible, especially in the knee area… so it doesn’t have to be the perfect size to do its job well.
Note: On occasion, my KH pads have peeled down in a fall exposing my knees… so it might be nice if they ride higher. Also make sure they are flush with your shoe to prevent this type of shifting.
If you search the threads with words like: Kris Holm KH Armor sizing fitting you will find a lot of info. Also, Look at this thread:
The straps are long enough to go around chunky legs even if the back flaps don’t completely enclose the leg.
I’ve always felt that the only purpose of the back flap is to protect the calf from pedal bites. If you are not using metal pinned pedals, you don’t have to worry much about pedal bites. If you are using metal pinned pedals, make sure you rotate the armor so that you have full protection on the calf. This will leave the open gap at the sides of your legs. I ride this way all the time. I like the fact that the armor does not completely enclose my leg - it is cooler that way.
Thanks. I think I’ll go with the Large size and let part of my calf be exposed. I don’t use metal-pinned pedals anyway, so I don’t expect there to be much problem from pedal bites.
Well, I ended up getting the size large KH Percussion Leg Armor (as well as the size medium KH Pulse Gloves) once it came in stock on Unicycle.com and both fit correctly. A small part of my calf is exposed when wearing the leg armor, but the size large is about as long as I could realistically have it.
It seems to work well so far, in particular protecting the inside of my legs from scratches/bruises when I get tangled up in the unicycle jumping off.