Most of the time a rider gets hurt we look at what they did wrong. Whilst that’s the case more times then not, but when we are seeing athletes break legs just because they dragged a foot or tear a acl by dabbing their foot or blow an Achilles tendon for landing to hard, I think there isn’t enough talk about their safety equipment it might get mentioned but then brushed of straight away, everything in the sport has advanced so dramatically except the safety equipment, not to say it hasn’t advanced at all but is it advancing at the same rate the riders and bikes are?. (My opinion) the large gear companies in mx/sx have had such a strangle hold on the market that I don’t think there has been any need for them to really improve due to lack of competition.
Not enough talk about their safety equipment by whom?
What do you expect? Freak things happen and moto is a dangerous sport.
Just as in any other action sport, injuries are part of it. I don't care how much gear you throw at it, people are still going to get hurt.
We need to have an incredible amount of full body movement, and because of that our safety gear is somewhat limited. I would argue the gear companies have made improvements over the years and continue to do so.
Hot take...if Tomac was wearing SG-12's back in 2023, he wins the title and retires.
The Shop
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
"Safety" gear. haha
You mean the micro thin silk Ham colored 100% polyester blend isnt protecting the riders? NO WAY!
Damn who would have guessed?
I don’t think you’ve been looking that close if you think boots or helmets haven’t progressed over the years.
I don't think so. There are far too many competitors in the space for them to collectively drag their feet and hold back innovation. It would be a conspiracy-level partnership between a lot of disinterested parties, and then somebody new could come in and upset the whole apple cart.
BTW, you posted this mere weeks after I saw my first ad for the Fly Formula S helmet, which detects a crash and sends location, health and safety data to first responders.
It's always good to talk about advancing safety, though. What else can our safety gear do? If you have ideas, put them out there!
Racewear has evolved to be more breathable and flexible, to better support a rider's natural range of motion on the bike, helmets are now packed with 6D-type, MIPS and Koroyd technologies, boots have more tech and functionality developed within the last 25 years (impact dispersion panels, lockouts to prevent hyperextension, posi-lock buckles to prevent disengagement) - WAY more advancement than the 40+ years of MX racing prior, we've got neck braces, knee braces so advanced that they can be custom fit via doctors orders and, as of late, these "dominant gear companies" are pushing airbag technology to keep riders as safe as possible out there.
Lack of competition? At my last count a few years ago, there were 27 MX brands available here in the states, way more than our market could ever consume. The pie has not gotten bigger, the slices have gotten much smaller and we brands need to bust our a$$es to keep our share or to take more back.
A tiny bit of research on a site like Vital can really help to inform your opinion a bit more.
You said it best. Totally agree.
Anyone remember the days of trying to take off a sweat soaked mostly cotton jersey? Almost an impossible task after some serious moto 😄
🤣🤣🤣 " Ham colored"!
Sorry if you have said before, but which brand do you represent? Not snarking, just saw you say “we brands…” so I’m curious.
Some gear companies are advancing protection and some aren't.
Which helmet manufacturers certify to ECE 22.06?
Which chest protector manufacturers have a CE level 2 rating?
Who makes knee braces or wrist braces?
What is selling? See any thread about neck braces... If it doesn't make money it doesn't make sense.
the pros have always worn as little safety gear as possible,
chest protectors are not mandatory in the states as they are in europe and most other parts of the world,
As a former (slow) racer, I can confidently state that the only gear I bought with safety at the front of mind was my helmet. And even then I was influenced by which pro rider endorsed it, thinking that they probably did so for a good reason. Ha, now I know they did it for the money but… my Windham replica Arai was a sweet lid at the time.
As for the rest, my first priority was fit, second was price, with the assumption that most of the gear provided identical levels of safety as its competitors. I didn’t run knee braces cause I was cheap, and I didn’t run the neck brace because I wasn’t convinced it was helpful.
If I had a kid just getting started, I would cover them in as much safety gear as I could, even though there will never be enough.
I have a feeling the OP was kind of thinking of the amount of foot/leg injuries riders have had lately wearing Alpinestars boots too. This is not the first thread in the past month documenting the list of injuries. I know the factory guys wear custom/modified boots which I think comes into play for a few, but when I saw Eli’s fibula, I thought the exact same thing in regards to Gaerne. IMO they offer better protection there, and go up your leg about an inch higher than the Tech10s do.
I have both SG12s and Tech 10s, I just agree with your sentiments, they are a better/safe boot, especially nowadays.
Look at his profile pic. There's a hint at the brand.
2 thoughts:
Companies like TLD paints helmets and doesn’t have any type of testing facility I’m aware of.
I’ve searched for a long time for a glove that offers finger protection like we used to have, to no avail.
Pit Row
Haha, that's a good catch. Yes, I am the Global Brand Director at THOR. Please do not hesitate to speak your mind around me (I am a fan of informed honesty), being in this darned forum requires some pretty thick skin!
I think most pro riders don't wear the maximum protection their sponsors sell regarding chest and back protection.
And many tweak their tech 10s to be more confortable at the expense of protection.
Protection companies, like EVS 6D Alpinestars Mobias leatt etc are putting out great safety product and always competing leading to improving. If riders choose not to wear them, that’s on the rider. However, gear companies like FXR, Thor, Fox etc are trying to put out comfy and durable gear. I think you are mixing the two concepts together.
For the pros, comfort allows a rider to go faster and feel safer. Unfortunately, running over your own leg, or dabbing your foot on the ground, only so much safety gear can protect you from breaking a leg or tearing an ACL
You should have released that chad reed digital camo gear in 04'!
To the topic, Astars has development going on lighter weight , less bulky airbag system that top guys have been testing.
All the safety equipment in the world won't help if riders dont want to wear it.
Ugh, we did two throwback sets in a row with the full THOR mask from that era, but they just didn't sell well. That Reed digi camo was such a great kit though. I'll keep it in mind 😉
I heard that Austin Forkner was wearing the new airbag system in Tampa. I'm pretty sure they said he was the only one wearing it on the Pulp show Monday. I don't blame some of the guys holding of on trying it out while its still so new to SX/MX. I bet it would startle you if it went off by mistake.
Fair assessment for sure.... herlings ( and probably a few other euro's) have been testing it for awhile now.
Outdoors the risk/reward level might be more in favor of risking it going off without crashing.
I could be wrong , but I believe they were having a harder time programing the vest for SX than outdoor style riding.
Shot Racegear also has an airbag system for MX. I wonder if there are any MXGP guys wearing them?
I bet that airbags or something similar will be the future. Maybe some sort of material that reacts to electricity will be developed. Stuff that is easy to move around in and not hot to wear . But also is more protective.
I do not consider MX pants, jerseys or even gloves "safety equipment" . In automotive racing the suits provide protection from heat and fire. Motocross clothing offers a little bit of protection from heat in some spots of the pants and some abrasion resistance . Helmets, neck, wrist and knee braces, knee pads, chest protectors, Boots, helmets and goggles are the true safety gear. And they have all been advancing. With a lot of those things now having CE ratings . So You can look at 2 chest protectors and see which has a better CE rating or one that is geared more towards what You are looking for.
I think we’re looking at a lot of different variables here: what’s cost-effective, who can produce it, and what’s available to the public versus the pros.
When it comes to helmets, I had a buddy in the industry a few years ago who led me to believe that helmets are primarily manufactured in just a few facilities overseas—maybe only three. I view helmets much like I do road bikes. Most consumers don’t care where they’re made; they just want them to be as light and vented as possible and are very brand loyal. But something has to be sacrificed in the process, and I’m assuming it’s safety. The reality is, most people don’t fully understand the ratings, and most companies don’t want to spend the money to recertify their designs. Just look at Shoei and Arai—those companies have virtually stuck to the same designs for the past decade.
As for neck braces, correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t helmets designed to break your collarbone rather than your neck? If the helmet fails to do its job, it’s going to redirect the impact somewhere else, like your sternum or your back. I personally believe my Leatt neck brace contributed to a back injury after a big crash years ago resulted in a few fractured vertebras.
And when we talk about custom gear, Alpinestars offers custom boots for their athletes, and I’m sure pretty much every brand provides custom equipment for their top riders?
Yeah I'm pretty torn on the airbag in off road, for exactly the reason that you mentioned. I mean, Alpinestars (and others, spec. the company that provides the tech for several brands) has logged years of R&D into this product before coming to market and most of us have seen it in action in MotoGP, so I am 100% confident that they know what they are doing. But...I feel like I personally would ride more cautiously, and not in a good way, just waiting for the thing to pop. Might just be my own anxiety creeping in 😆
You are in the right ballpark regarding helmet manufacturing. While a given brand that is not a helmet manufacturer (a'la Shoei or Arai) may not actually be doing the production ourselves, we do provide design direction, material enhancements and sometimes even influence engineering evolutions that these manufacturers otherwise had not been looking for. It is one of the most painstaking / reward parts of working in our beloved industry.
I'd never heard that helmets were designed to break collarbones - as the overwhelming majority of collarbone breaks I've know come from a side impact to the shoulder, putting pressure inward to the rider's center and once 5-7-ish lbs of force is met, the clavicle breaks. Funny / relatable about your personal experience; I once fell out of the sky, over the bars and with the bike, on the Pala pro track and my KX450 did it's best to devour me. As my helmet pushed against my sternum, I could feel the vertebrae straining in my neck - I truly believe that the brace helped me out. But the aftermath was a separation between my clavicle and sternum that never healed right and I still have a golfball-sized lump in there that will never go away. Damned if you wear it, damned if you don't 🤷♂️
Regarding pants / jerseys / gloves, the only customization that we do for our riders is an extra 3" pant length for Plessinger. Once we started offering odd-sizes as well in our production high end pants, we didn't have to make custom waist sizes for our pro guys anymore.
I'm with you on that. Did you see the segment about it on TV last weekend, wherein Jason Thomas wore one while they detonated it? Obviously, he was trying his level best to make it seem like a great product and a fantastic evolution in safety, but his posture and body language said it all. (Also, he said, "Wow! That was more violent than I expected.")
I'd hate to have one of those go off on me by accident.
Post a reply to: Are dominant gear companies affecting safety advances