Alpinestars Fluid Tech Carbon Knee Brace

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A few years back, if you wanted knee braces your options were few and far between outside of getting a prescription for a custom set. However, in recent years quite a few companies have thrown their names into the hat, including Alpinestars. The Italian company was once known only for their boots, but today offers equipment for just about every part of the body. For 2014, Alpinestars’ Fluid Tech Carbon knee brace is a completely redesigned offering from the ground up.

Fluid Tech Carbon Feature Highlights

The braces are sold separately (not as a pair), at $349.95 (so roughly $700 for a set) and they are available in two adjustable sizes: S/M/L or XL/XXL. Each brace comes in its own box with a separate batch of parts. The Fluid Tech Carbons are as the name suggests…made of carbon. Instead of your typical carbon fiber weave, Alpinestars developed a carbon polymer compound that can be injection molded instead, allowing much faster production in a wider and more intricate variety of shapes and curvatures. Just like any item made of carbon, it is light yet very strong and even flexible when needed.

The brace is fairly standard in design, consisting of upper and lower segments held together by hinges on each side, a semi-floating patella cup, and four straps (two on top, two on bottom with each combining into an X shape). Alpinestars only offers two sizes in this brace but has featured them with a fitment system to allow the Fluid Tech Carbon to accommodate users of various sizes. Outside of strap adjustment, you have the option of changing the width on the inside of the brace. The condyle pads are essentially two cups that press on each side of your knee with a variety of spacers that you can be used to tighten up the grip on your knees. Away from this fitment system, though, there is no way to change sizing with the top and lower frames of the brace which is a bit of a drag considering the brace only comes in two sizes.

Initial Impressions

The first major thing I noticed when throwing the braces on was the strap system. I am a big fan of the X pattern that Alpinestars utilized as it evened out the tension on the back of my leg and didn’t bite the backs of my calves or knees. The straps themselves are low profile so they don’t catch on the inside on your riding pants when sliding them on over the braces. With the X-design there are actually two different closure systems. At the top and bottom, the closures are a more standard hook and loop strap, but the middle two use a pivoting quick release clip that allow the straps to move with my leg as I bend my knee instead of binding up.

On the Track

The Fluid Tech Carbon falls somewhere in the middle of the road in terms of complexity and function. It isn’t the most restrictive brace but also is not overly simple and flexible. When bending my knees, I can feel a bit of resistance as there is an elastic band running from the knee cup to top and bottom portions of the brace giving the brace an elastic feel. This means it’s resting place is in a straight position, so there is a slight feeling of the brace constantly wanting to extend.

Since everyone has different knee issues, the Fluid Tech Carbon comes with small U-shaped stops of different thicknesses that you can place in the hinges to keepthe brace from reaching full extension when standing. The thicker the stop, the sooner the hinge locks out.

Things That Could Be Improved

Note: The first set of braces I tested turned out to be a pre-production run with some less than desirable characteristics, namely flimsy frame padding (which caused binding of the material when bending your knee) and thin condyle pads for the inner knee. Alpinestars was made aware of the issue and also wanted to ensure that the set I was testing would be the same design that would reach the consumer. The addressed the flaws and we were provided with another updated set of Fluid Tech Carbons with thicker condyle pad options and far more sturdy frame padding.

After swapping to the updated set of Fluid Tech Carbons, the material no longer moved and binded in between the brace and the knee cup. With the thicker condyle pad options there was more pressure relieved from my knees than I initially experienced. Between the standard and thicker pads there is allot more options and combinations (including doubling up pads) to help get the feel you’re looking for.

Long Term Durability

I have found that the more metal that is used knee brace construction, the quicker the brace seems to deteriorate. Metal rivets on hinges and pivots are often far stronger than the plastic or composite pieces to which they are attached (and the padding around them) and therefore tend to cause damage to all of that surrounding material overtime. This is only a minor issue with the Alpinestars Fluid Tech Carbons.

These braces have very few metallic fittings. Most of the points of contact for the straps and hinges are carbon, plastic, or cloth. All these are soft and mostly non-abrasive creating very little friction or wear. The only place that does have a significant amount of metal is the pivoting plastic/aluminum base for the condyle pad on the inner and outer knee. In terms of wear for the aluminum, I has not been any concern so far in testing, nor do I think it will become so.

However, on the same point, the plastic cup is far more flimsy than I think it should be, and seems to be the source for my initial complaints with pressure on my inner knee. If Alpinestars were to make the inner knee cup more rigid, the additional condyle padding would become less of a necessity for comfort, and more of an option for fitment.

Hard Boiled Truth

Initially I wasn’t digging the braces after some extended use, but the updates that Alpinestars has made were a big step in the right direction for the brace and eliminated my earlier squabbles with our initial test braces. The unique strap system really stands out for me as the fit and adjustability was outstanding without the straps “binding” as your move around on the bike. I’m still a bit unsure of the uses of two sizes. Alpinestars has done a great job of averaging out the sizes to work across a wide range of riders but there will still be a few people (myself included) that the frame won’t entirely work for. Just like helmets and many other products, certain things fit certain people better than others, so if you’re in the market for some new braces I would recommend checking out a pair of the Fluid Tech Carbons.

-Michael Lindsay

About the Test Rider

Michael Lindsay is a born and raised moto freak and gear head from the heart of motocross in Southern California. Swinging a leg over a bike at five, he immediately caught the racing bug, spending nearly every weekend behind a gate…and a lot of time on the couch while injured. Eventually, Michael swung over into the off-road scene, racing WORCS and GPs. He even had a short-lived freestyle career that included hitting steel ramps at least a dozen times with huge one- and two-handers. Of course, all of this lead to one thing: Lindsay loves working on his bikes almost as much as he loves talking about the them. When he’s not on the Vital MX Moto-Related forum, you can find him out at the track taking dirt naps, tearing down bikes, working on heavy equipment, or maybe even over at enzo racing praying that he put his suspension together properly and doesn’t come apart in mid-air. With an outspoken personality and gear head background, Michael is here to share his unbiased opinion…even if it’s wrong.