Commuting gear suggestions - specifically knee/shin armour.

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mimico_polak

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Hey guys, so I finally got me a job and turns out I can commute to and from work on the bike! As such, I need to get a knee/shin pads that I'd like to be able to take quickly on/off while not removing my pants for work. This way I can stuff them into the saddle bags and off to work I go. It's a position in construction so I can wear jeans, but don't want to wear the kevlar jeans as they are too bulky for walking around comfortably all day.

I'm also trying to figure out how to stuff my bag into my tail bag, but with the back protector the damn thing won't fit in for the life of it. If I take out the back protector, the bag goes in, helmet goes in, but back protector is SOL. I guess I could get a bigger bag but trying not to burn $ at this stage. Motorcycle boots won't fit either, but I have a much softer shoe which I can use and then leave them in the bags during the day.
 
Buy some inexpensive motocross knee guards that will velcro over top your pants. I spent $40 on a pair of Thor that I used under and over my off road gear.

I'd wear construction boots if I wore them at the job site as well, or icon make some great ankle boots that you can wear at the office and on the bike.
 
Me too - Thor can go under or over.
Cheap and saved my knee.

Thor-Sector-Knee-Guard-Black-Master-1.jpg


They sell under Fox as well. There is a new one with 3 straps - I use the 2 strap version now for 3 years - barely know they are on
They will go under regular pants as well.
 
Go try some different options on. I have the Icon Stryker stuff and the disadvantage to these is that when they are worn outside of a pant the knee guard part does not have a strap over it.


Something like Olympia AirGlide pants should be looked at. They have CE rated armour in the knees and some protection in the hips as well. Take the liner out and they are highly vented so they could be worn over your pants. If it were to rain then put that liner in.

Don't discount the PITA (pain in the a** factor). I was constantly strapping on all of these layers. I ended up switching to a mesh jacket that had CE rated armor in the elbows and shoulders and swapped out the foam pad that was in the back for a CE level 2 rated back protector that slid into the pocket of the jacket. So, one jacket replaced a jacket, plus armored vest, plus elbow pads.

Ideally I am planning on buying Olympia Air Glide pants or perhaps the new Alpinestar Valparaiso Drystar pants. Then I can throw on pants over my shorts or pants, throw on the jacket and that along with the boots, helmet, and gauntlet gloves I always wear gives me a decent amount of protection without sacrificing comfort or taking forever to don.

I will say that there is an advantage to the knee guards I have and the other ones shown here. They have plastic over foam/3DO which gives you some impact protection against a curb etc, plus there is protection over your shin area to protect your fibula and tibia.

I recommend going to a store and trying some different pairs on and see how easy they are to don on and off and also if the straps bug your skin.
 
Chaps
You can get textile chaps that can go over your pants or http://www.canyonchasers.net/reviews/clothing/carhartt.php.
You can modify the carhartt to accept knee pads. I've seen it done, the hole on the bottom of the dual layer was widened and velcro was added, slip in knee pads.

Kneepads over your jeans is only good if you fall on them, in a slide condition they wont give you much protection as they can easily fly off.
 
Thanks for the quick responses guys I appreciate it!

i need to pick up some heavier duty jeans for the role so the gear underneath would work best. right now I can have my jeans under the riding pants (with pads) but once it warms up I'd like the armour to be there.

Djez I'm actually going to look at some carhartts tomorrow to try out. Thanks for the tip.
 
I think for work can expense the carhatts as work clothes :)
 
How big are you? I have a pair of Sartso blue kevlar jeans that are waist size 38 - too big for me and probably realistically a size 36 (as they tend to run a bit smaller than labelled) - you are welcome to them if they fit you. They have internal pockets for knee protection though I am keeping the knee guards for my smaller sized ones but you can buy any knee protection inserts (like from Rider's Choice for $20). Let me know...
 
Knox-Knee-Sleeves.jpg


I've been using Knox Flex Lite for a couple of years. Comfortable (even on hot summer days), discreet (wear under your pants), not expensive. I can only find them on ePay now, should be around sixty bucks with shipping.

No matter what pants I'm wearing, I remove the pads from the knee pockets and go with these ones instead.
 
Hi guys, just wondering if there are any good option with shin protection. I had an a cident and when over the front bars. My only injury was a scrap on the shin . Looking to upgrade my protection in this area.

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Zoodles95 said:
Something like Olympia AirGlide pants should be looked at. They have CE rated armour in the knees and some protection in the hips as well. Take the liner out and they are highly vented so they could be worn over your pants. If it were to rain then put that liner in.
Click to expand...
I have both the newest models of of the Olympia Airglide and Ranger Pants and can say that the Airglide CE armour is not positioned very well, especially without the liner in. I do like them for the other reasons you mentioned; how fast I can put them on without having to take off my work boots because of the full length zipper/velcro and because of the awesome venting during the summer, but in a slide, I am not confident that the armour would stay in place for any length of time. if at all. They are a decent compromise for very hot weather riding, but for anything less than very hot weather, I always use the Ranger pants which are much better fitted and protective. I have also had the Alpinestar Drystar pants and was also not overly happy with the placement of the knee armour.

kiwi said:
Hi guys, just wondering if there are any good option with shin protection. I had an a cident and when over the front bars. My only injury was a scrap on the shin . Looking to upgrade my protection in this area.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
How high up the leg do your boots go? For typical street riding including commuting, I prefer to use a decent pair of motorcycle boots (currently using either Alpinestars Web Gortex or Sidi Rain) that go up to mid calf, in conjunction with decent pants. If I was using shorter boots I would be using some type of strap on protectors like the ones posted above.
 
I have been using the Knox cross guard for a few seasons. They are OK, not super comfortable but I have worn them all day when I was too lazy to take them off.
 
I just got this: Scoyco K12, hinged knee/shin guards:

data-knee-pbk8upajg4800-500x500.jpg



There is a review here, but it is in Thai... if you speak it, good, if not, just skip to 3:49 to get the idea:

[video=youtube;P2JJatx3eoY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2JJatx3eoY[/video]


I have not even try them out yet on the bike... got them from ebay...
 
shanekingsley said:
How high up the leg do your boots go? For typical street riding including commuting, I prefer to use a decent pair of motorcycle boots (currently using either Alpinestars Web Gortex or Sidi Rain) that go up to mid calf, in conjunction with decent pants. If I was using shorter boots I would be using some type of strap on protectors like the ones posted above.
Click to expand...


Shane,
thanks for the response. I have std boots that come up the shin... the problem was when I hit the bars I think the cuff got caught on the bars/bike and pulled away as I went over. If I can find a good guard that comes down to meet the boot with slight overlap I think that would work
 
shanekingsley said:
I have both the newest models of of the Olympia Airglide and Ranger Pants and can say that the Airglide CE armour is not positioned very well, especially without the liner in. I do like them for the other reasons you mentioned; how fast I can put them on without having to take off my work boots because of the full length zipper/velcro and because of the awesome venting during the summer, but in a slide, I am not confident that the armour would stay in place for any length of time. if at all. They are a decent compromise for very hot weather riding, but for anything less than very hot weather, I always use the Ranger pants which are much better fitted and protective. I have also had the Alpinestar Drystar pants and was also not overly happy with the placement of the knee armour.


How high up the leg do your boots go? For typical street riding including commuting, I prefer to use a decent pair of motorcycle boots (currently using either Alpinestars Web Gortex or Sidi Rain) that go up to mid calf, in conjunction with decent pants. If I was using shorter boots I would be using some type of strap on protectors like the ones posted above.
Click to expand...


I just bought the Olympia Air Glide pants and pretty much concur with your opinion on the knee armor. Perhaps using those Knox knee protectors the other poster mentioned would be a good call.

I am going to try my Icon knee armor underneath my Olympia Air glide pants and see how it goes:


They offer quite a bit of shin protection and they do not interfere with my cruiser style boots. The straps bug me when I wear them directly on my legs (on the skin and not over pants or material). I got some sweatbands which I put on an then the straps over the sweatbands. Not sure how they will interface with something like Alpinestar SMX-5 or SMX-6 which are likely my next boot.
 
I'd just go with over pants since regular jeans will just rip, anyway.

That said, I wear jeans with leather reinforcement inside and knee/shin guards underneath but the shin guards are kind of annoying to get on and off without at least pulling down your pants.
 
I think I have found my perfect solution for both commuting and riding.

I just went to A* SMX-5 which goes further up my shin than my old cruiser boots. I can still tuck in my Icon knee pads into the tops of the A* boots then adjust the top of the boot as required. The Olympia Airglide pants zip all the way up to my hip so it is easy to all of this and zip the pant back down. This will work wearing shorts or pants underneath.


Without the Icon knee armor there is a gap about 6-7" of no protection between the top of my boots and the CE rated knee protector in the Olympia pants. Plus, as another poster noted the knee armor in the Olympia pants moves with the pants. Using the Icon knee armor (or equivalent) gives me continuous protection right up to just past my knee and the knee armor is going to stay in one place. I took the bike out for a ride and just left the CE rated armor in the Olympia pants. Did not see much advantage to remove the pads out of the pants other than the pants looking a bit bulkier.



What was also cool is that the hip armor that came with my Velocity kevlar jeans fits into the hip pocket of the Olympia pants.




I left the foam that came with the Olympia pants in place and put the pads that came with the Velocity pants over top of that. So, now my hips have some soft foam and then the dual density pad over top of that. It is the same material that the CE rated knee pads are made of that came with the Velocity jeans so I feel better about the hip protection on my Olympia pants now. :)
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