Today while riding muni, I took a forward fall, landing on my wrist guards, shin guards and my unprotected right thigh, which landed on a rock. It was probably the most painful fall I’ve taken. (I have an ice pack on it now as I’m typing this post.) If I had some type of thigh protection, maybe similar to hockey pants, I probably wouldn’t have gotten hurt much at all.
I was wondering if anyone use any type of upper leg / thigh protection? If so, what do you use? Thanks for any suggestions.
I don’t actually use it, but I know Dicks Sporting Goods (only in the US?) sells football underwear pants that have moderate thigh, tailbone and hip pads. I don’t think they are insert with a plastic middle, but just light padding.
well, of course you could try an idea that i had spawned a year or so ago.
Requirements:
Food Saver (vacuum seal bagging thing)
Food Saver Bags (the bags for the vacuum seal)
Fabric, or Synth Leather.
A roll or two of toilet paper.
Some foam or card board.
how to-
step 1: wrap cardboard/foam in toilet paper, as many times as you like (a bunch actually, just wrap it til half the roll is gone probably, but not too much since it will fit in the food saver bag)
step 2: cut a food saver bag, (seal one end)
step 3: slide cardboard/foam/toilet paper wrap into food saver bag
step 4: Vacuum seal it. (this will cause the toilet paper/foam/cardboard to compress together, creating impact foam)
step 5: Wrap in Fabric/Synth Leather.
It will create a really good impact foam. If you wrapped enogh toilet paper on it. I’ll send you some pics if you like, i will cut mine apart also. I mainly made them so i wouldnt bash my thighs doing SIF when i was first learning it.
im confused I’ve been riding a year (im not really a hardcore cycler) and i haven’t got anything worse then a scraped knee.
and I ride without any pads, no helmit and flipflops
It will happen.
yup. Just like today i was living on the edge doing some rolling gaps, with no protection, and my ultra comfy slick shoes. Surprising it only left a few gashes,a nd a bunch of scrapes.
You could try this. They seem like they would be pretty good for those bad falls on your backside and the occasional but painful thigh impacts. 
They are expensive though. Maybe try the cheaper version.
eh, i own the cheaper version, i would actually like the bigger ones, so it doesnt hurt when i bail on a huge kicker, and end up sliding 50 ft down the landing
Best thing I can think of right now is actually paint ball gear.
Try a search on Dye Slider Shorts.
A google shopping search of bike thigh protection also brings up some good looking projects.
If you are really paranoid
And why shouldn’t you be, if you want to ride real hardcore stuff, and it’s cold enough not to make thicker gear to sweaty, serious gear makes a lot of sense.
There is stuff for motorcycle riders that is really protective. Some of the motocross stuff could be practical for some uni riders, trying risky things in cooler weather.
It’s so hot here I guess I like to dream about being able to wear protective gear.
Even my smiley looks like the sun 
Thanks everyone for your help. I decided to get these http://www.xsportsprotective.com/sixsixone-bomber-shorts.html
They look like they’ll offer the protection that I’m looking for and still offer enough mobility for riding. I’ll post a write up after I have a chance to use them in case anyone else is looking for this type of protection.
Too late to help the OP, but it might be worth while to investigate some skate gear for old farts like me who worry about getting hurt. There’s a cool company called Dead Dog that makes shorts with padded inserts. Worn with a chamois brief, they might be the ticket.
Oops, looks like I’m a bit late, but I’ve tried these bomber shorts before, and would advise against them;
(Note that I can’t advise what you should get instead, though, so I’m not really being much help. Sorry.)
STM
when do we get the non newtonian aromor? Would work well for this.
Well, they’ve been shipped already. Where was the discomfort? Would they be more comfortable if you were wearing a pair of compression shorts or bike shorts underneath them? Unless they are that bad, comfort wise, they’ll probably feel much better than how my thigh feels right now.
i dont use them for riding. I use them when i ski. They reduce impact, when you end up falling from a great height from a huge kicker.