Let's talk about body armor...

[Arty50]

For me, the main reason to wear one of the jackets/suits is for shoulder protection. I think that's what they do best. I land on my shoulders a lot and have invested a bit of money in PT as a result. The times I've done it with my jacket on, I've definitely noticed that the impact got spread a bit and saved my shoulder. From what I understand, most spinal injuries are compression type injuries so the turtle shells don't do much. A Leatt is going to do a lot more for your neck/spine.

[Dobish]

I have a pair of Fox Launch shorts I wear on trail days.

I haven't had a chance to wear them yet, but I bought the 616 Bomber shorts for race days.

those are the ones i have... i like them. although i could use some padding up in the front a little bit, because i always seem to hit where there is no padding

[AKbruin]

Also, this is probably a stupid question, but do people who pedal up (1000 vertical feet+) to DH/FR terrain wear or carry pressure suits? Or are they primarily for shuttling/resort biking?

I'd definitely like to do some shuttle/lift-served DH this summer, but, for the most part, I pedal up to my descents.

More thoughts?

[Rontele]

More thoughts?

I wouldn't.

[uncle crud]

More thoughts?

I've worn a RG Flak Jacket for a brief pedal -- about 1.7 miles of fire road -- both on relatively hot days and on cooler ones. on cooler days it's no problem at all, but on hot days -- too hot to do any real climbing, like actual technical trails with some steeps that get your heart rate up.

personally I think jacket-style upper body armor is overkill for XC and trail riding, I rarely wear armor unless I'm doing a dedicated DH run or riding in super-sketchy really rocky terrain, and I don't wear jacket-style armor any more.

[lph]

agree with crud. elbow and shin pads, mostly really light ones for any trail that i have to pedal to. I wear the shoulder and chest protector for lift served and even then I usually overheat pretty rapidly wearing that.

I ditched the back protector for the reasons arty stated, plus I almost always have a pack on.

[uncle crud]

agree with crud. elbow and shin pads, mostly really light ones for any trail that i have to pedal to. I wear the shoulder and chest protector for lift served and even then I usually overheat pretty rapidly wearing that.

I ditched the back protector for the reasons arty stated, plus I almost always have a pack on.

my packed saved my back and ass in a fall on Sunday, if I didn't have them on I'd probably have some broken vertebrae -- I tumbled over a huge rock chunk about 3 ft x 2 ft. I got pretty banged up as it was, but the pack totally saved me.

[LaBelle23]

More thoughts?

An option for burly trail riding if you want to wear the suit is to get one you can zip the spine protection out of. You can pedal up with it strapped to the back of your pack, then put it on for the DH, but your pack acts as the spinal protection. I have only done this once though and I'm pretty conservative when it comes to wearing pads.

Personally I save the suit for shuttling/DH, but usually just wear it DHing. Mostly I wear shin/knee or knee. My elbow pads never fit so I kind of did away with them.

[AKbruin]

Many thanks, everyone.

How about buying a (short-sleeved) 661 Assualt Pressure Suit and a separate set of elbow/forearm pads?

I could lug around the elbow/forearm armor for pedal-to DH/FR rides (in addition to my full face and knee/shin pads) and then wear everything for resort/shuttling. (I also might wear the pressure suit on ski days where I know I'll be hucking.)

[PowTron]

Many thanks, everyone.

How about buying a (short-sleeved) 661 Assualt Pressure Suit and a separate set of elbow/forearm pads?

I am going to do this to replace my core saver, for the EXACT reason I mentioned before. My elbow/arm guards and leg guards are Roach (Race Face), and I don't want to give them up. They are the best guards I have ever owned. So, if I can keep those, but get the short sleeve suit, I am doing it.

[uncle crud]

Many thanks, everyone.

How about buying a (short-sleeved) 661 Assualt Pressure Suit and a separate set of elbow/forearm pads?

I could lug around the elbow/forearm armor for pedal-to DH/FR rides (in addition to my full face and knee/shin pads) and then wear everything for resort/shuttling. (I also might wear the pressure suit on ski days where I know I'll be hucking.)

not a bad idea.

RockGardn's Flak Jacket came with detachable elbow-forearm guards in recent years, might want to look into that.

With true separates like the short-sleeve Pressure Suit and separate arm pads, you may have problems with the arm part sliding down. The sliding-down, not staying in place bit is the biggest hassle with armor. The RockGardn model either zipped or velcro'd the sleeve(arm) part to the chest part, which would eliminate the arms sliding down. arm pads that slide down and interfere with your wrist flexion are a hassle, in my view. I've had armpads that made me stop in the middle of descents to pull them back up. that sucks.

You need to find ones that suit your body type.