Knee brace use question

Knee guards protect from impacts and knee braces protect from impacts, over-extensions and twists.

I've used Leatt 3DF knee guards (neoprene sock with a small guard-insert for the knee cap) for like 10 years. This summer I got the Alpinestars Fluid Pro knee brace and have not regretted it for a second.

It only took me 1-2 hours to not notice them and I feel like the knees are more "solid" or whatever the right phrase is.

Stability, Stability, Stability!!!!! It's all in the shape your knees are in. I have a set of CTi2 braces, and I can't imagine not wearing them while riding. I was racing at Red Bud this year and my foot hit a rut that flung it back near the rear wheel and kind of twisted it at the same time, had I not had them on I guarantee that a Leg/Knee injury would have been unavoidable.

hyper extension and twisting. My mobius braces have already saved me once. 3rd gear corner was super slick one day. Gave the bike to much throttle coming out and the ass end slid out real bad and I had to stomp my foot down. It happened so fast that my knee wasn't bent at all when I stomped down. The brace stopped my knee from destroying itself. I actually had a huge bruise on my shin and upper thigh from the knee brace stopping the hyper extension.

That’s good info guys, I had a feeling it was for those sudden, quick lateral forces that can happen.

Something else to think about is the more ankle support (i.e. the more expensive the boot) the more twisting action will be transferred to the knee. I never really saw the need for knee braces until I upgraded to a set of Tech 10s.

Constraining one joint to transfer energy somewhere else.