Upper body protection - suggestions/advice please

[Duane_Bosch]

Cos that's all it's gonna protect you from in MTB. The roost guard is a fully moto only piece of protection. Makes no sense for cycling. Your contact points for taking a wipeout in MTB, will be shoulder, arms and the side of your ribs or head\back if its a pure OTB long before you fall chest first into something without trying to tuck in some way!

I've never understood why people wear roost guards in MTB. For me a back protector makes FAAAAR more sense.

 

But I ride with kneepads, gloves, Helmet & goggles so what do I know. On long rides I use an Evoc pack with a built in back protector

[Headshot]

I think I did put some kind of review up somewhere here but here it is again. Lets just say that things didn't go quite as planned. 

 

I arrived in France in August last year with a bruised rib and a bad cold. Ribs were from a silly fall in the dark trying to get some training  in.  Still I felt relatively happy on the bike and although my fitness was below where it should  have been I was sure I'd manage fine. I've toughed it out on multi day hikes and rides many times over the years.

 

Day one was a massive wake up call. The mountains are biiiig and high. The trails were barely bike trails by our standards - think hiking trails and steep slippery ones at that. 

 

As a total newby to the Alps I felt like a,proper tourist and this was possibly my undoing. I could hardly believe I was finally there and riding in Europe. As a result I paid a little bit too  much attention to the view and not the trail and route. This led to a silly liaison section crash (5 stitches to left ankle at the end of the day with dr wondering how I had finished the day with a gash like that) and getting lost leading to a massive waste of time and extra climbing on the same day. I recon day one for me as around 60km of riding with over 2000m of climbing.

 

Awesome nonetheless and I felt more confident on the trails by day end but totally trashed after my off route excursion.

 

Day 2 was where it all went properly wrong. Stage 1 was 8 km and 1400 m of descending. It was damp and slithery and again, narrow, twisty and very steep hiking trail. half way down I fell off quite gently. Problem was I tore my right knee MCL. As it went I knew I was fked for the race but soldiered on for another 200m or so until my knee told me in no uncertain terms to stop - this while lying in a fetal position after the knee collapsed for the umpteenth time. 

 

After that it was a French hospital visit and a vain attempt to compete again on day 5 with a knee brace. This ended after stage 2 which reminded me of riding down some trail on Table Mountain - 1.6km and 400m descending. It was beers and fine food after that in an awesome French village. 

 

Back on topic - the Leatt vest I wore probably saved me more than I realised. Everyone fell off multiple times per day. Bikes were smashed and legs and ankles and ribs and wrists were broken. I was no exception but aside from the stitched up cut and buggered knee, I barely had a scratch.

 

What I'd do next time - if there is one, is go a week before and acclimatize and ride the trails. Its like nothing here. There was also a massive discrepancy in the advertised self propelled climbing and the actual. It was not 800m  - more like 2000 m per day excluding ski lifts

 

The only problem with the body armour was weight and breathability. Its pretty comfy but you sweat like crazy. I'll only use it for shuttle days or DH races in future. Its moto rated so its overkill for normal riding but it did make me feel safer in France. On the subject of back protection, if you ride with a descent pack on, your back is probably getting quite a bit of protection from impacts. My Dakine has saved me from some spine damage I recon. That said, I question the need for back protection unless you ride without a pack. 

 

As far as ribs are concerned, I have also bruised/cracked mine many times but haven't really put the body armour to the test in that regard yet. I am sure it would help a bit but would depend on how you fall...

[popcorn_skollie]

Back on topic - the Leatt vest I wore probably saved me more than I realised. Everyone fell off multiple times per day. Bikes were smashed and legs and ankles and ribs and wrists were broken. I was no exception but aside from the stitched up cut and buggered knee, I barely had a scratch.

 

The only problem with the body armour was weight and breathability. Its pretty comfy but you sweat like crazy. I'll only use it for shuttle days or DH races in future. Its moto rated so its overkill for normal riding but it did make me feel safer in France. On the subject of back protection, if you ride with a descent pack on, your back is probably getting quite a bit of protection from impacts. My Dakine has saved me from some spine damage I recon. That said, I question the need for back protection unless you ride without a pack. 

 

As far as ribs are concerned, I have also bruised/cracked mine many times but haven't really put the body armour to the test in that regard yet. I am sure it would help a bit but would depend on how you fall...

 

Which one did you buy? As mentioned earlier I'm on the looks for something airy and comfy. An undershirt if anything. The more I look into the compression stuff the more they seem intended for nothing more than deflecting debris and perhaps preventing skin abrasions. I realize I'm not going to get the best impact resistance from this sort of thing. But there must be some sort of decent compromise. 

[Headshot]

this guy

 

http://www.leatt.com/shop/body-protection/upper-body-soft/upper-body-soft-adult/body-vest-3df-airfit.html

[popcorn_skollie]

http://i.imgur.com/gBWN1MO.jpg

 

Settled on this. Its light breezy and comfortable.

If I can get use to feeling like I'm smuggling biscuits across the border.

[nimthor]

Not sure how I got onto Slytech, but they have some nice stuff.  Not sure if you can even get the stuff here. 

 

I have been looking around for what is out there as well, especially for my back as that is what  am most worried about (already wear FF, goggles, knee and elbow guards and Mule with back protector when we do more DH stuff).

 

http://slytechprotection.com/product-category/2015/dirt/back-protectors-dirt/

[Samurai Pizza Cat]

this guy

 

http://www.leatt.com/shop/body-protection/upper-body-soft/upper-body-soft-adult/body-vest-3df-airfit.html

Could not agree more. I use both the full ( back / chest / shoulders and arms) suit for DH days, and the back only protector vest for AM days. The full suit get's hot if you wear it at temps above 25deg, but it's the nature of the beast. The sleeveless vest is great for "jump line" and session days when you want to protect the most vital bits (back and chest). What I really appreciate about these, is that you get Moto-level protection from a suit that fit "discreetly" under almost all your riding tops. No need to buy loose oversized jerseys to fit over your armor. ( An extra cost that most people forget about)