After a couple of days riding my new Onza Muni, I’ve developed some bruising on the inside of my knees from the square shoulder shaped frame. Do other people have problems with bumping their knees on the frame (usually when landing)? I’m looking to get some lower leg protection anyway, and was wondering whether the much raved-about 661 4x4s will prevent this kind of systematic injury, as well as the occasional more major stuff like pedal bites? Also, how flexible is the 661 4x4’s knee padding? I tried on some Kona pads in a LBS, which had hard plates on the knees, and they bunched quite a bit when standing up straight, which was restrictive. Without being able to try on before ordering, I hope Medium 661s would fit, me being 5’8" and on the less beefy end?
Anyway, the square topped frame is much easier to get a grip on with my foot than my round topped first 20" was, and once I’d got used to getting my foot a bit higher up I found one-footed riding worked quite well. About 6 revolutions so far - woo!
I too wondered about this. I have some azonic knee/shin pads at the moment, which are basically plastic cups on the knees and shins. With these, i still bang my knees on the frame, which gets very annoying. Having tried on some 661’s i think they would help the problem, as they provide padding up to a few inches above the knee. They also seemed to be pretty unrestrictive. Other people will have to say about riding with them, as i havent yet, still need to buy some.
I think they would help prevent the knee banging.
I ride a 24x3 Yuni Muni and use 661 4x4’s and really like them. The only complaint I have is that at times they would irritate the back of my legs above the knee. On my last ride before I got injured, I left the top strap very loose and after a 10+ mile ride I had no problems at all. I would highly recommend the 661 4x4’s.
For the sake of comparison, I am 5’9" @ 180 lbs. with a 30" inseam and a large fits me well. jensonusa.com has the 661 4x4 leg armor for $20 and the 661 4x4 elbow/forearm guards for $17.
>Do other people have problems with bumping their knees on the
>frame (usually when landing)?
I don’t think I have that problem at all, neither with or without
using protection. Probably I ride with my legs not too close together.
Also on landing I have no problem with it. I have three square-crown
frames which are nominally 20", 24" and 28".
>wondering whether the much raved-about 661
>4x4s will prevent this kind of systematic injury, as well as the
>occasional more major stuff like pedal bites?
I have these 4x4s. As I said, don’t know about the crown hits. Pedal
bites on the front: excellent. Pedal bites on the back: somewhat less
excellent. The fabric at the back is thin and sometimes pins can rip
through in a violent crash. Happened to be but the pedal bite was
still minor.
>Also, how flexible is the
>661 4x4’s knee padding?
Sufficient for all types of riding and tricks, with the possible
exception of very high jumps (I can’t do those). The knee padding is
not a single plate but three strips above each other, and the strips
themselves are reasonably flexible. It is just not an issue.
>Without being able to try on before
>ordering, I hope Medium 661s would fit, me being 5’8" and on the less
>beefy end?
Probably yes. I am 6’0" and medium beefy (70 kg), and the L size fits
fine. The size (dimension) given for 4x4s is the diameter of your leg
at the top and bottom of the thing. Not sure EXACTLY where you should
measure, but they will fit a range of diameters anyway (velcro
adjustment). 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.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
Grizzly bear droppings have bells in them and smell like pepper spray. - UniBrier
Thanks for the comments - now I just have to work out where to get them. The $20 price that jensonusa.com list is very appealing, until you find out that they only offer FedEx Priority shipping for $33.12 to the UK, which makes them slightly more than the £29 I’ve found here (inc delivery). I don’t want to pay $33 just to have them within a week. Rant rant… How much should shipping for a parcel like that be to the UK, if it’s a bit slower?
apologies to roger, but the best price i’ve seen in the Uk is at chain reaction cycles, where they package the 4x4 leg pads, and 2x4 forearm/elbow guards for just £35. Postage is also free, and usually arrives within 2 days.
