Pro riders wearing or not wearing neck braces

Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:

Now this is not about whether neck braces are safe or not. I know what side of the fence I stand on but I won't be...

Now this is not about whether neck braces are safe or not. I know what side of the fence I stand on but I won't be saying it here.

So over the past few years, a lot of the pro riders have been ditching the neck braces for whatever reason & even a few have started wearing them. Long time wearer, Blake Baggett has stopped wearing his & Christophe Pourcel has stared wearing an Atlas brace. What I'm trying to say is, did Blake wake up one morning and say, "I'm not wearing that no more"? Has he done more research and found them more dangerous or did his neck brace sponsor stop paying him money? Pourcel even said on the QNA that he felt a neck brace wouldn't benefit him, yet he's wearing one now. Did he do his research and felt it did actually benefit him or did Atlas throw a ton of money at him to wear it? Dean Wilson is an even stranger case, he seems to either wear a neck brace depending on what class & team he is on. Then you have Musquin, he still wears one even though his brother was paralysed wearing the same brand brace.

I think what I'm trying to say is, why do riders switch between wearing & not wearing them. You either believe the technology or not. Or are they just wearing them, coz they are getting a ton of cash?

Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:

Now this is not about whether neck braces are safe or not. I know what side of the fence I stand on but I won't be...

Now this is not about whether neck braces are safe or not. I know what side of the fence I stand on but I won't be saying it here.

So over the past few years, a lot of the pro riders have been ditching the neck braces for whatever reason & even a few have started wearing them. Long time wearer, Blake Baggett has stopped wearing his & Christophe Pourcel has stared wearing an Atlas brace. What I'm trying to say is, did Blake wake up one morning and say, "I'm not wearing that no more"? Has he done more research and found them more dangerous or did his neck brace sponsor stop paying him money? Pourcel even said on the QNA that he felt a neck brace wouldn't benefit him, yet he's wearing one now. Did he do his research and felt it did actually benefit him or did Atlas throw a ton of money at him to wear it? Dean Wilson is an even stranger case, he seems to either wear a neck brace depending on what class & team he is on. Then you have Musquin, he still wears one even though his brother was paralysed wearing the same brand brace.

I think what I'm trying to say is, why do riders switch between wearing & not wearing them. You either believe the technology or not. Or are they just wearing them, coz they are getting a ton of cash?

bwilky wrote:

Blake has worn a brace since the day they came out. He decided to stop wearing the Leatt due to multiple collarbone surgeries

bdownen323 wrote:

I've heard of cases where riders have been required not to wear one because it limits how much of the jersey is seen.

HardTaco wrote:

My bet would be on the money. I've done my own testing with them, and found being of large build (fat), it made me slower.... Actually...

My bet would be on the money. I've done my own testing with them, and found being of large build (fat), it made me slower.... Actually my wife noticed it first looking at pics, but id wear a huge pink dildo neck brace if someone payed me enough money.

Cortami79 wrote:

Interested in this too. I had them all. Leatt (first the club, then the carbon), switched to Ortema, from Ortema to Alpinestars, nothing for a year...

Interested in this too. I had them all. Leatt (first the club, then the carbon), switched to Ortema, from Ortema to Alpinestars, nothing for a year, bought an Atlas (which was awesome quality but couldn't ride with it either), back to nothing, Ortema and now I just gave up

I think Bagget had his reasons due shoulder problems. Pourcel probably tried the Atlas after his neck injury and seems to like it. Same as bobryshev. I read an interview with him saying he tested it on practice days for a few months. So they will definately test it before riding with it in real races.

Wilson probably stopped wearing it atm due contracts but he is a believer I think. Same goes for Anderson, who had a time that he didn't wear it during 250 outdoors. Musquin and Canard are true believers.

What I noticed, there was a time that u where almost shocked if someone didn't wear one. Now, on a 40 man gate u will see maybe 5 guys.

Some riders seem to ride with them without even feeling it. But others look way better without one. Herlings for example looks way more in control. Barcia in my opinion would be way better without one. He always looks limited in movement to me. While musquin always looks loose and flexible.

It is very personal. And even though they believe in them, comfort is very important for those guys.

Imo they should force the riders to wear bodyprotection, but that is another topic.

Cortami79 wrote:

Interested in this too. I had them all. Leatt (first the club, then the carbon), switched to Ortema, from Ortema to Alpinestars, nothing for a year...

Interested in this too. I had them all. Leatt (first the club, then the carbon), switched to Ortema, from Ortema to Alpinestars, nothing for a year, bought an Atlas (which was awesome quality but couldn't ride with it either), back to nothing, Ortema and now I just gave up

I think Bagget had his reasons due shoulder problems. Pourcel probably tried the Atlas after his neck injury and seems to like it. Same as bobryshev. I read an interview with him saying he tested it on practice days for a few months. So they will definately test it before riding with it in real races.

Wilson probably stopped wearing it atm due contracts but he is a believer I think. Same goes for Anderson, who had a time that he didn't wear it during 250 outdoors. Musquin and Canard are true believers.

What I noticed, there was a time that u where almost shocked if someone didn't wear one. Now, on a 40 man gate u will see maybe 5 guys.

Some riders seem to ride with them without even feeling it. But others look way better without one. Herlings for example looks way more in control. Barcia in my opinion would be way better without one. He always looks limited in movement to me. While musquin always looks loose and flexible.

It is very personal. And even though they believe in them, comfort is very important for those guys.

Imo they should force the riders to wear bodyprotection, but that is another topic.

Bodieg3 wrote:

Exactly hillbilly! There is no research for either side . There's plenty of cases where braces snapped collarbones thuogh

HardTaco wrote:

My bet would be on the money. I've done my own testing with them, and found being of large build (fat), it made me slower.... Actually...

My bet would be on the money. I've done my own testing with them, and found being of large build (fat), it made me slower.... Actually my wife noticed it first looking at pics, but id wear a huge pink dildo neck brace if someone payed me enough money.

GuyB wrote:

Is $20 enough? Can I shoot photos?

thrillbillie91 wrote:

i've had a few crashes that have been worse from wearing one in my opinion, preventing the usual tuck and roll and the most recent trying...

i've had a few crashes that have been worse from wearing one in my opinion, preventing the usual tuck and roll and the most recent trying to drill me into the ground like a fence post haha leaving me with a bruised neck as well

definitly seems to be a move away from them now, the new leatt looks so low profile on someone like Marvin that it doesn't look like it would do much anyway, even herlings has stopped wearing one this year as well as baggett who have always ran them

thrillbillie91 wrote:

i've had a few crashes that have been worse from wearing one in my opinion, preventing the usual tuck and roll and the most recent trying...

i've had a few crashes that have been worse from wearing one in my opinion, preventing the usual tuck and roll and the most recent trying to drill me into the ground like a fence post haha leaving me with a bruised neck as well

definitly seems to be a move away from them now, the new leatt looks so low profile on someone like Marvin that it doesn't look like it would do much anyway, even herlings has stopped wearing one this year as well as baggett who have always ran them

NVA57 wrote:

I heard Herlings stopped wearing one because of contract issues. Had to wear Alpinestars or nothing. Didn't like it and chose to wear nothing.

Graybeard wrote:

A bit off topic, but has anyone tried the Atlas Air with the Leatt Pro chest/back protector?

Cortami79 wrote:

Interested in this too. I had them all. Leatt (first the club, then the carbon), switched to Ortema, from Ortema to Alpinestars, nothing for a year...

Interested in this too. I had them all. Leatt (first the club, then the carbon), switched to Ortema, from Ortema to Alpinestars, nothing for a year, bought an Atlas (which was awesome quality but couldn't ride with it either), back to nothing, Ortema and now I just gave up

I think Bagget had his reasons due shoulder problems. Pourcel probably tried the Atlas after his neck injury and seems to like it. Same as bobryshev. I read an interview with him saying he tested it on practice days for a few months. So they will definately test it before riding with it in real races.

Wilson probably stopped wearing it atm due contracts but he is a believer I think. Same goes for Anderson, who had a time that he didn't wear it during 250 outdoors. Musquin and Canard are true believers.

What I noticed, there was a time that u where almost shocked if someone didn't wear one. Now, on a 40 man gate u will see maybe 5 guys.

Some riders seem to ride with them without even feeling it. But others look way better without one. Herlings for example looks way more in control. Barcia in my opinion would be way better without one. He always looks limited in movement to me. While musquin always looks loose and flexible.

It is very personal. And even though they believe in them, comfort is very important for those guys.

Imo they should force the riders to wear bodyprotection, but that is another topic.

Bramlett321 wrote:

I've never heard of the Ortema brand before but I did look at this model on their website and it looks like a much better built...

I've never heard of the Ortema brand before but I did look at this model on their website and it looks like a much better built brace. Is there a distributor in the states for this product??

sebastianer wrote:

one interesting thing that i have seen with Gajser that he´s neckbrace is always loose he seems to not strap it down. and when one of...

one interesting thing that i have seen with Gajser that he´s neckbrace is always loose he seems to not strap it down. and when one of my straps on my alpinestars come loose i would notice it immediately and its very annoying