Helmets and Protective gear.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

You're forgetting about shipping charges. @$113 for shipping it's total to $256 = R3.5k excl duties and VAT.

CRC will actually cost you less;

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/za/en/bell-super-2r-mips-helmet-2016/rp-prod141328

R2.9k "CIF."

 

I'm heading to UK/EU next month, will check if I can find something somewhere. Also been considering the Bell Super 2R, but I know I probably would end up never using the chinbar. So the Spez Ambush or IXS trail seems like better options for me.

 

What I'd really like is decent shoulder protection. Had 3 AC ligament injuries, the last fall coming from an overcooked manual - would've been much worse if I still had actual ligaments left after previous surgery.

I was considering using Aramex world shopper, which would have been a bit cheaper than that...

 

But yes. 

 

Oh - and also consider the Bell Stoker. Comes in MIPS format as well, and is DARN cheap. 

[Nox]

Man im glad I started this thread. Thanks for all the tips and info...really makes me feel less awkward about getting into this. It's like when we played Airsoft...alwasy played with the Glasses but always wondered about mouth guards.I started wearing one...a few months later we had a guys tooth shot out. Hearing the oke's screams I have never played a game without full mouth guard. 

 

Im now definitely getting a Bell 2GR or similar and some protection.

 

I have a Leatt 5.5 Body armor and a MX helmet but thats obviously not good for regular trails...i would wear them if I was doing downhill though. I have tested them on my Enduro bike and they worked well Only cracked stuff and had a slight concussion ...got a replacement helmet.

[igg]

I get weird looks just for wearing kneepads . I wonder what the looks will be when I'm the only person on the trail wearing a full-face.

 

JHB trails are strewn with plenty of rocks, it's so easy to come off at 30kph+ and find something very sharp. The lycra brigade is very brave.

[stefmeister]

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/leatt-convertible-full-face-helmet-whistler-crankworx-2016.html

 

Looks good, and at ~375g w/o chinbar.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb13839524/p5pb13839524.jpg

[Nox]

Those are nice!

So still no one locally that has either of these? The Leatt or the Bell?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Those are nice!

So still no one locally that has either of these? The Leatt or the Bell?

Leatt has just been launched so no not yet. Bell you will have to import as the local price is CRAZY

[Nox]

Ive done some looking and importing will get you to about R2.7k min.

 

Whats local prices like?

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Ive done some looking and importing will get you to about R2.7k min.

 

Whats local prices like?

4 to 4.5k

[igg]

What's the chances of the Leatt helmet being slightly cheaper locally? The body armour is generally cheaper to source locally than import.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

What's the chances of the Leatt helmet being slightly cheaper locally? The body armour is generally cheaper to source locally than import.

It's a local company... Based in CT just outside contermanskloof

[igg]

It's a local company... Based in CT just outside contermanskloof

Hence the question . Are any of their products produced locally?

 

Ah well, I think I'm probably going to start collecting helmets. Already got a few crashed ones .

[Nox]

Yeah would probably be a bit cheaper. Wonder when they will be available. I need a new helmet asap.

[PhilipV]

It's a local company... Based in CT just outside contermanskloof

I would be very surprised if the helmets are manufactured locally. My guess is China/Taiwan. 

[PhilipV]

Yeah would probably be a bit cheaper. Wonder when they will be available. I need a new helmet asap.

Don't wait. It might take a while, or maybe phone/email them to enquire about local sales date. 

 

The whole protective gear thing is a hard one, and there are no easy answers. I personally think that choosing your trail/obstacles according to your skill levels are more important than suiting up. Because sometimes suiting up gives you more confidence than you should be riding with. Rather err on the side of caution than on the risky side.

 

And if you are a novice, then get the gear, wear it, and still ride more rustig rather than going balls to the wall. Build your skills and confidence up slowly

 

I ride Helderberg often, and I have more fun there  when wearing knee pads, but I also know I go a lot faster than on the rides without knee pads. For a trail like Meerendal/Oak Valley I won't be riding with knee pads, because it doesn't warrant it. Today the knee pads saved me from a silly crash, but the crash was due to me going faster, and going wider on a jump than usual and going into the wall of the bench cut trail. Fortunately I knew upon landing that my line was off, that I needed to gooi anchors and try and save it, and when the inevitable happened I was slow enough to classify it as a minor off, and only walk away with scratches and dirty knee guards. Experience and knee guards saved me. But if I was riding without knee guards, I would have been slower, and probably would have rolled the jump instead of trying to send it. And thus the crash would not have happened.  

 

That uncle in that clip was outgunned by the jump, and even the $5 helmet he wore saved him from worse injuries. A full face would only have saved him from the cuts to his face. The concussion would have happened anyways. He shouldn't have taken that jump. He did not have the speed, nor the know how to huck and bring up the front wheel. 

[PhilipV]

I would be very surprised if the helmets are manufactured locally. My guess is China/Taiwan. 

 

Hence the question . Are any of their products produced locally?

 

Ah well, I think I'm probably going to start collecting helmets. Already got a few crashed ones .

My wife audited Leatt (in accounting sense of the word) a couple of years ago. She says manufacturing was off shore somewhere but that they did testing in-house. Back then the range was only neck braces, so it may have changed in the mean time. 

[Sparky and the Warden]

Having had my own close shave recently on helderberg which left me with two broken wrists and a couple scrapes... I remember the first thing I checked after my fall was that all my teeth were still in my mouth and also very lucky to not break my nose, my very enduro goggles saved me on that... Which has now left me looking at getting the bell mips full face with removable chin bar as well as wrist supports.

 

In the end I think it comes down to how hard you ride, I often tell myself "just take it chilled" but inevitably I start getting carried away and well we know how that ends... Even 5k for a helmet is nothing compared to what a couple crowns/dentures will set you back