Posts
40
Joined
10/2/2013
Location
GB
Edited Date/Time
10/31/2017 12:01pm
Hi All,
My son had ACL reconstruction surgery back in January and has been off the bike all year. He is now looking to making a bit of a steady come back to riding again.
What is peoples thoughts on knee braces? That may seem a bit of a dumb question but he has never worn them previously only knee guards (just to add his injury was through BMX street riding not MX)
Just wondered what people recommend as these things aren't cheap and not sure how much protection they provide against aggravating his injury.
Cheers
My son had ACL reconstruction surgery back in January and has been off the bike all year. He is now looking to making a bit of a steady come back to riding again.
What is peoples thoughts on knee braces? That may seem a bit of a dumb question but he has never worn them previously only knee guards (just to add his injury was through BMX street riding not MX)
Just wondered what people recommend as these things aren't cheap and not sure how much protection they provide against aggravating his injury.
Cheers
The hard part is, the knee braces are all very different and most MX stores don't carry that many different braces. You really need to try them on and make sure they fit right. The knee braces need to be a part of your body when riding and they can't be something that is a nuisance. They need to build subliminal confidence, not be a background distraction. Getting the right kind for your son and making sure they fit right is critical. Take your time and do it right. Don't cut corners financially, it's just not worth it. Been there, done that.
The Shop
The off the shelf Ortema’s are decent, but I’ve sprained my knee in a light tip over. Comfy, but not much protection imo. They were semi custom since Ortema in Germany heats up the plastic brace and molds it somewhat to your leg profile. Custom Ortema’s cost $10k btw.
And now Ossur Custom Cti’s. Hands down the most comfy and protective knee braces for Moto! It’s no wonder 90% of Pro Moto guys wear them. I know there’s sponsorship deals that play apart in that, but take Adam Cincirello. He had custom Ortema’s just like Roczen but ended up switching Custom Cti’s. They just fit like a glove, don’t move or migrate around, and have been crash tested. The ‘Mx Kit’ that includes the knee cap guards really function great and move with the brace. They were $500 out of pocket with my Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance. My Ortho doc wrote a couple scripts. They’re $1400 worst case scenario out the door I believe if insurance doesn’t cover it. But they charge insurance $2k I believe.
Take my $0.02 for what it’s worth, but I’d like to think with has bad my knees have been tore up and all the knee braces and Years I’ve dealt with them, my advice is worth at least a quarter!
If not POD gets my next vote.
Then asterisk.
Then mobius.
I rated them from slimmest to largest in my opinion. I have tried all 4.
If you want to spend that much money is another story
It the OP tries on knee braces, see if you can try them on and actually sit on a bike and try to grip it. These other braces are quality braces, but if you can't ride with them on comfortably then whats the point? The Frames are very good IMO.
Maybe not the best but, good if price is an issue.
Pit Row
The hinge bolts kept breaking, replaced them with longer ones and that fixed the issue. Always had to tighten them 2 times, meaning tighten them first time, then do a couple of squats and what not in them and then tighthen once again, if I didn't do that, they would come loose during first session.
I'll give you that they were kinda comfortable, but I actually would have liked for them to be a little bit bigger on the inside (with what you grip the bike), since I felt like it was kind of hard to grip the bike on the new style Husky's.
After my recovery, definitely looking into CTI's.
I know there are a lot of good brands out there. I just could never get comfortable with any of the bigger, bulky, slick feeling braces that led my legs to sliding around on the shrouds. Just personal preference I suppose.
I think the biggest problem now is the psychologic one and the worry of doing it all over again.
I guess any kind of brace gives you a little more confidence that it is protected in some way.
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