Protective gear

my 2 cents
neck brace = broken collar bone or lawn dart
Wrist Braces = maybe if you already have comprised wrists
Under shirt protection = for sure 100 percent
Kidney belt = all old men need girdles
Knee braces = only with compromised knees, a forced leg break is fucking ugly
Boots = SG12 or nothing
Helmet + 6d, bell moto 9 flex, arai

I just wear normal gear. No additional braces or protection. Although after riding a street bike for a while it feels sketchy not having D30 on all my joints for protection.

A decent helmet is still the most important thing if you ask me. If you have the money you could look into 6D / Bell Flex / Shoei VFX-Evo / Leatt helmets.

I bought a One Industries helmet a few years ago when I had a bike for a short stint. Also currently have Astar Tech 8 boots.

For my knees I have Acerbis Impact Evo 2.0 Knee protectors. It's something in between knee pads and real knee braces. They're not as stiff as real braces (and not as expensive) but I still feel like they offer enough protection.

I feel your pain, I'm 25 and got back into the sport after 10 years this past season and had to buy everything at once. My thought was I need to make it to work Monday, here's what I ended up with.

Helmet - Fox V4 Carbon (they got replaced a year ago by the V3, can be found for some great deals)
Neck Brace - Atlas air - I went back and forth on whether to get a brace in general or not, all i used back in the day was an EVS neck roll. Decided on the Atlas over the Leatt because after trying both on I felt like I had a better chance at not breaking a collar bone in the Atlas.
Wrist Braces - Never have worn
Under shirt protection - Fox pro frame, can wear it under or over your jersey and works with neck braces, very pleased with it.
Kidney Belt - Dad made me wear one as a kid, do not wear one now
Knee Braces - Leatt dual axis knee guards, these aren't a full on knee brace but do have a hinge and provide some support
Boots - Admittedly I cheaped out here and got Alpinestars Tech 5s. They are ok but landing big jumps or coming up short my ankles will hurt or be sore. Will be replacing with SG12s this season.

Dress for the crash, not for the ride.

Helmet - Just1 J12/Fly F2 Mips
Neck braces - Atlas Air, I usually put it on before riding, even though I am not sold on neck braces. It does not rest on the collar bone or spine, anywhere.
Shoulder -
Wrist braces -
Under shirt protection/body armor - Thor sentinel, switching to Alpinestars A10. Way better protection.
Kidney belt - The brand doesn't matter.
Knee braces - Leatt dual axis knee guards. My knees are healthy though, that's why I chose not to go with the braces.
Boots - Fox instinct. Very, very comfortable.

I purchased a EVS wrist brace due to having previously broken my wrist. I wanted something to take the sudden snap away and compress things into place in my wrist. My first ride on my new bike was without it and I was sore for a week. Every ride since has been with it and no more soreness.

Best part it was $25 not much to pay for how well it works.

What makes the SG12 so great? Ive never had a complaint with my Alpinestars but I would consider switching.

The only bone I've broken was a collar bone and that was from mistiming a triple. I dont mind wearing more protection if it will prevent or slow down an injury with it than without. If the product is known to cause worse injuries I'll ride withouth. I crashed quite a bit as a teen and only dealt with a few serious inuries. Having a family I can live with a little more restriction and walk away with some bruises. I'm not winning Loretta's anytime soon.

Helmet - Protect your brain well. Take an Arai or 6D.
Neck braces - I don't believe in neck braces. They restrict my movement for proper riding. I tried the Leatt, Atlas, Ortema and Alpinestars
Shoulder - None
Wrist braces - None
Under shirt protection/body armor - I ride with Ufo reactor 2 or Fox Proframe. But Thor, RXR, Leatt and Atlas have some strong ones as well.
Kidney belt - I'm from The Netherlands so I always wear one. You need them at those heavy sand tracks. On really hot days and hard pack tracks sometimes i don't wear one.
Knee braces - I have knee pads from Fox
Boots - Gaerne SG12 for me. They are strong and worth the price. I can ride for 2 seasons with them.
Any other product you want to give input on - Invest in some good eye protection if you can. I don't know if you want to race or just for training, but those Oakley Airbrakes glasses are strong enough to hold those rocks from hitting your eyes.

Here you go!

I'm 27 with a wife and 2 kids and need to be at work on Monday haha. Here's what I recommend

Helmet - Shoei, 6D, Bell Flex, Arai
Neck braces- Stay away from anything with a full front piece. Had a crash where I went face first into the ground and my leatt pushed into my throat. Stopped wearing it after that.
Shoulder - Any decent chest protector
Wrist braces- Haven't tried because I feel limited
Under shirt protection/body armor- Most roost deflectors will fit under the jersey, but check fox, tld and evs
Kidney belt- Kevco Stubbs all the way. Doctor recommended the brand to my dad years ago and I recently started wearing this brand. Much better and more comfortable than anything else I've tried. Scotts performance sells them
Knee braces- I wear regular knee pads. I've worn asterisk knee braces and they weren't too bad, just can't afford new set
Boots - Tech 8's, Tech 10's, Gaerne SG12's

Raceline wrote:

What makes the SG12 so great? Ive never had a complaint with my Alpinestars but I would consider switching.

My complaint is more that I have cheaper Alpinestars with less ankle support. I like the Idea of the hinge on the SG 12 and don't like the Fit of the Tech 10 with the bootie. The next Alpinestars boot without a bootie is a Tech 7 and they seemed somewhat soft too when I tried them on.

Nipple tape

racerx217 wrote:

my 2 cents
neck brace = broken collar bone or lawn dart
Wrist Braces = maybe if you already have comprised wrists
Under shirt protection = for sure 100 percent
Kidney belt = all old men need girdles
Knee braces = only with compromised knees, a forced leg break is fucking ugly
Boots = SG12 or nothing
Helmet + 6d, bell moto 9 flex, arai

interestingly, lets just see if you are still riding when you are "an old man" or do you already have your, ."i useter ride" patter down already? (how many times have i heard that?) and will have been brow beaten by a woman or just chickened out of your own accord..ageist bigots are more stupid than others cause no matter what, if you hang around long enough, you get old. everyone does...

yes although just a "throw away" comment, its still stoopid...

btw

ive had bothe neck and knee braces, and no matter what i cant get used to them..i do wear virtually everything else..

Dont cheap out on the helmet, and use backprotection.
I ride with Shoei/Leatt/Just1 helmets, just switched from Leatt to Mobius knee braces and a Leatt bodyarmor vest with shoulder and back protection.

I dont know how you americans dare to ride without backprotection? I would guess stupidity due to how many backinjuries you see all year in the pro-class alone.

Only wear knee braces if knees are already compromised???

How the heck do you think they were compromised to begin with.

TXDirt wrote:

Only wear knee braces if knees are already compromised???

How the heck do you think they were compromised to begin with.

KInd of my thoughts but I'm not going to criticize someones opinion. Thats what I'm asking for. I know the gear isnt going to stop every possible injury, but if reduces the chance of a serious injury I'm willing to buy it. I just want to buy the proven gear. Not the cheap stuff or something someone ran that ended up causing a worse injury. I've read in years past having knee braces set up by a doctor is best but costly. If the side to side movement isn't right and there's slack in the brace you can still suffer knee inuries. It just might not bend the wrong direction.

TXDirt wrote:

Only wear knee braces if knees are already compromised???

How the heck do you think they were compromised to begin with.

Raceline wrote:

KInd of my thoughts but I'm not going to criticize someones opinion. Thats what I'm asking for. I know the gear isnt going to stop every possible injury, but if reduces the chance of a serious injury I'm willing to buy it. I just want to buy the proven gear. Not the cheap stuff or something someone ran that ended up causing a worse injury. I've read in years past having knee braces set up by a doctor is best but costly. If the side to side movement isn't right and there's slack in the brace you can still suffer knee inuries. It just might not bend the wrong direction.

Get yourself a nice set of off the shelf knee braces. You don't need anything custom. There are some good quality knee braces out there now.

I raced motorcycles for almost 20 years. Got my first set of knee braces when I was about 10 years old. CTI's and I later had a second set of CTI 2's.

From the day I got my first pair of knee braces until I retired I never completed one lap on my bike without wearing my knee braces. It became as second nature as wearing my helmet.

I have seen many many many fellow races blow out their knee and not a single one of them was wearing a knee brace. Guess how many of them wear them now? Yeah, all of them.

I've broken damn near every bone but I have never blown out my knee. That's hardly a coincidence.

You are not likely to blow your knee out in some wild crash. So don't pretend that by being careful you won't get hurt. You are more likely to blow out your knee in a slow speed crash in a corner. You don't even have to crash. Just get that leg/knee in the wrong position and have a little lay down and boom blown out knee. It's very easy. A knee brace will prevent injury in most of those cases.

neck brace = I dont wear one
Wrist Braces = dont wear
Under shirt protection = for sure 100 percent...yes..yes yes. TLD under jersey + Thor Chest protector
Kidney belt = dont wear one but maybe I should
Knee braces = dont wear them...I use the $99 Thor Knee Guards
Boots = SG12...love them
Helmet bell moto 9 flex
Elbow Guards...cheapo Cycle Gear brand...$10 on sale...they work well
Padded undergarment....TLD padded....really helps protect the hips against rocks and roots

Woods rider...av mph 13 to 17....trees are solid.

For a helmet, just get an Troy Lee SE4, I have seen tremendous wrecks to the head of people wearing that helmet and they are not vegetables-would be in another helmet.

Does anyone use a more technical back protectors? Like forcefield or deinese ones? What are the opinions on those ones?

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/dainese-pro-armor-back-protector

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/forcefield-back-protector-pro-kevlar-l2-evo

http://www.forcefieldbodyarmour.com/product/new-freelite-back-protector/2485

Those are all for street/roadracing. Alpinestars offers several of their chest protectors with full on CE level 1 and 2 back protectors. The A4 is the same as the very popular A1 but with a CE level one back protector and kidney protection. The A10 is Level 2 chest, back, and shoulders if you want the max protection available. I wear the Bionic Tech under jersey protector which is level 2 back chest and level 1 shoulder and arms. It’s super low profile so you can barely tell I’m wearing it.

racerx217 wrote:

my 2 cents
neck brace = broken collar bone or lawn dart
Wrist Braces = maybe if you already have comprised wrists
Under shirt protection = for sure 100 percent
Kidney belt = all old men need girdles
Knee braces = only with compromised knees, a forced leg break is fucking ugly
Boots = SG12 or nothing
Helmet + 6d, bell moto 9 flex, arai

make1go wrote:

interestingly, lets just see if you are still riding when you are "an old man" or do you already have your, ."i useter ride" patter down already? (how many times have i heard that?) and will have been brow beaten by a woman or just chickened out of your own accord..ageist bigots are more stupid than others cause no matter what, if you hang around long enough, you get old. everyone does...

yes although just a "throw away" comment, its still stoopid...

btw

ive had bothe neck and knee braces, and no matter what i cant get used to them..i do wear virtually everything else..

Can you re-write this so it makes sense? I am old and I am still riding. I have been riding for over 34 years....

TXDirt wrote:

Only wear knee braces if knees are already compromised???

How the heck do you think they were compromised to begin with.

Have you ever seen a forced tibial fracture, and a forced femur fracture? Right above and below a knee brace? I have had 9 knee surgeries and have had many more to piece my leg back together. If your knee is not unstable wear them you will be sorry if you break your leg in one. Trust me i have gone down both roads and if you think a blow out acl is bad try not being able to walk for 2 years because of being in a external fixator. Most people don't know the facts because they have never had the conversation with their surgeon. But carry on, i have no idea what i am talking about, that's why i started with "just my 2 cents".

TXDirt wrote:

Only wear knee braces if knees are already compromised???

How the heck do you think they were compromised to begin with.

racerx217 wrote:

Have you ever seen a forced tibial fracture, and a forced femur fracture? Right above and below a knee brace? I have had 9 knee surgeries and have had many more to piece my leg back together. If your knee is not unstable wear them you will be sorry if you break your leg in one. Trust me i have gone down both roads and if you think a blow out acl is bad try not being able to walk for 2 years because of being in a external fixator. Most people don't know the facts because they have never had the conversation with their surgeon. But carry on, i have no idea what i am talking about, that's why i started with "just my 2 cents".

So you had a simple lay down in a slow speed corner and blew up your leg? Not likely is my guess. You could crash 100 times slow speed for every gnarly crash. Probably higher ration then that. I raced for almost two decades and know not a single person who blew up theirs leg because of a knee brace. So obviously your scenario is rare. But I know a lot of riders who have blown out their knee in a seemingly harmless crash.

See the difference?

TXDirt wrote:

Only wear knee braces if knees are already compromised???

How the heck do you think they were compromised to begin with.

racerx217 wrote:

Have you ever seen a forced tibial fracture, and a forced femur fracture? Right above and below a knee brace? I have had 9 knee surgeries and have had many more to piece my leg back together. If your knee is not unstable wear them you will be sorry if you break your leg in one. Trust me i have gone down both roads and if you think a blow out acl is bad try not being able to walk for 2 years because of being in a external fixator. Most people don't know the facts because they have never had the conversation with their surgeon. But carry on, i have no idea what i am talking about, that's why i started with "just my 2 cents".

TXDirt wrote:

So you had a simple lay down in a slow speed corner and blew up your leg? Not likely is my guess. You could crash 100 times slow speed for every gnarly crash. Probably higher ration then that. I raced for almost two decades and know not a single person who blew up theirs leg because of a knee brace. So obviously your scenario is rare. But I know a lot of riders who have blown out their knee in a seemingly harmless crash.

See the difference?

Not here to argue Bro, just my 2 cents....

stone881 wrote:

Dress for the crash, not for the ride.

Amen!!! You will thank yourself in another 10 Years... I tell everyone that is starting to ride don’t be cheap on helmets and boots...

what I wear
Helmet—arai, troy Lee (don’t be cheap)
Neck—leatt
Chest protector—- Moto vest ( yes like the kids wear )
Knees—asterisk cells
Boots—tech 10