Neck brace or knee braces

[noobi]

What do you put first neck or knees?
Im pretty poor and cant get both right now, so im wondering what people opinions are towards these pieces of equipment
If I get a neck brace it will be an alpinstars bionic sb ( the white one ) as I dont like the adventure leatt
And I dont know about knee braces.

cheers

 

[gg3]

What do you put first neck or knees?
Im pretty poor and cant get both right now, so im wondering what people opinions are towards these pieces of equipment
If I get a neck brace it will be an alpinstars bionic sb ( the white one ) as I dont like the adventure leatt
And I dont know about knee braces.

cheers

Have you considered a neck donut? Not too much money & better than nothing.Hard choice though,knees aren't as important s your neck but the knees are far more likely to have a serious injury.

 

[GasGas]

A 16 year old up here recently broke his c4 c5 and still has paralysis in his legs. Knees can be fixed and you can still injure them pretty good with knee braces on. I would think neck but there is still no real research to support the neck braces. Do they really work? Do they break collar bones?

 

[swazi_matt]

If you are comparing neck brace and knee braces then i say go for cheapo knee guards (not braces, just to stop the usual bumps and falls) and get the neck brace.
make sure the neck brace is adjustable because if you cannot get it to fit properly you will not want to use it

 

[nhrider]

I would go with a neck brace and get some inexpensive knee guards. Alpinestars Bionic Neck doesn't seem to break the collarbone. That's what I'm going to get. A few people have neck donut and they seem to like them. Fixing a knee or collarbone is better then breaking your neck and becoming paralyzed.

 

[stainlesscycle]

i use the evs race collar and thor force knee guards. i'm gonna get a leatt type brace relatively soon. the collar is just to stop helmet to collarbone breaks (i've broken both collarbones in the past..)
i know this is wrong thinking but my knees would be destroyed if i didn't have the knee guards.....lotsa rocks pop up and hit my shins/knees, as do logs/stumps/etc....to be safe, you really need both.

 

[GMP]

You also have to assess your risk by considering your riding style, speed, conditions, etc. A technical trail rider in rocky terrain might be better served by good knee protection and a neck ring. An MX rider is another story. I'm running an EVS race collar until more data is available on some of these braces, and find one that is tolerable to wear with a plated clavicle (the Leatt is not).

 

[nhrider]

Glenn,

Which one EVS is it? EVS labels 3 "race collar"

http://www.evs-sports.com/product/neck-protection

I'm trying to get something I can wear both dirt biking and snowmobiling. With snowmobiles there's no chest protector to attach the collar too. I guess you don't need to attach it...

 

[stainlesscycle]

i use rc3 - it attaches to roost protector. rc1 does not need to be attached. the rc3 is not as obtrusive as the rc1. if you get an rc3 and don't connect it to something, it will probably float around. i'm so used to the rc3 i instantly forget that's it there - some complain about loss of range of motion with the rc3 - but it's never been an issue with me. all the rc's and leatt style braces will limit some motion (or else they wouldn't work....)

loose rock is everywhere here. the knee guards are crucial here. last week a dude busted his kneecap, i couldn't believe he didn't have kneeguards on. here's it's as necessary as a helmet. everytime i hear a rock hit my guards, i realize what a good investment they are. know if i could just get a pair of elbow guards that didn't contibute to arm pump...

 

[dank]

i think fox makes some elbow pads that are like a sleeve instead of straps, though they arn't particularly beefy. my girlfriend has a set and likes them though. i like my evs elbow pads and they do not give me arm pump.

 

[wardy]

neck brace for sure !

if you damage your knee you might have to worry about walking with a limp.

if you damage you neck you'll be worrying about who's gonna push your wheel chair !

 

[noobi]

Im not a mx rider, but some of the terrain tests in our enduros are flat out and sometimes ridden blind. I figure that if I get the bionic SB and the thor force knee armour things, that they can sort of work like a knee brace, and I have good neck protection.

I chose the bionic design over the leatt as I do think that sitting on collar bones is dumb, and the bionic is designed that so if you hyperextend I think, that the back portion of the bionic breaks off, the leatt doesnt, I think theres footage somewhere of Villipoto's bionic breaking in a crash.

 

[stainlesscycle]

the thor force looks like a knee brace, but is definitely just a guard. it's articulated but you can still hyperextend etc...

 

[noobi]

I was also looking into these as a cheaper knee brace option http://www.shopmania.com/shopping~online-moto-accessories~buy-661-mx-3-knee-brace~p-8926735.html
does anyone have any opinions on these?
I work at a bike shop, so im in the loop with distribution etc, but so far the importer hasn't bought these 661 braces into the country, if I was to buy from the US, then they would cost about as much as the neck brace is to buy through work.

 

[GMP]

Steve,

I have the RC-3. Its attached to my CP with zip ties. The biggest difference I can see with the RC-3 is it opens on the side (velcro) for eaiser on/off. My younger son has a big melon and he always complains about pulling his RC-2/CP off over his head. For sled use I suppose you could rig up some type of velcro/snap retention to your jacket, or somne short straps under your arms. I do like the fact that there is some nice padding between my helmet and my clavicle as well.

The EVS brace makes a lot of sense to me in its progressive resistance design, distributed load fit on the shoulders, and reasonable price. Only downside I think may be comfort in summer tight woods stuff as it seems like it may block airflow.

Pull a Leatt on over your head and it will freak you out as it sits on your plate and pinches the skin, you know how that feels.

 

[stainlesscycle]

I was also looking into these as a cheaper knee brace option http://www.shopmania.com/shopping~online-moto-accessories~buy-661-mx-3-knee-brace~p-8926735.html
does anyone have any opinions on these?

i have not seen those in person, so i have no idea if they work well.

 

[Eric K]

I wore a pair of Asterix braces for years. I rebuilt them a number of times. I stopped wearing them after reading that knee braces don't do much to prevent injury.

A few years back, I was not wearing knee braces and twisted my knee badly when riding. Then I became motivated to wear knee braces again.

I pulled out my well used Asterix braces which were still structurally sound. I put on the Asterix braces with my boots and put my foot in the same twisting motion that injured my knee. The Asterix braces did nothing to prevent the twisting motion that hurt my knee.

Not satisfied, I purchased the EVS Web knee brace and did a back to back compare while twisting my foot just like I injured it. The EVS Web was far superior to the Asterix at preventing the twisting motion as felt by my tender knee. With the Asterix I could feel significant pain due to the twisting. With the EVS Web there was very little twisting of the knee and very little pain.

Later when my knee was improved, but still not full strength, I twisted it twice while riding in a very similar manner to how I originally hurt it. The braces prevented twisting and pain. The EVS Web knee brace offers great protection. The downside is they are hot.

I purchased a pair of POD knee braces. The protection is similar to the EVS. The benefits are better knee cap protection, less bulky and cooler due to better ventilation.


I have a large neck with fairly prominent traps.

The EVS RC-Evolution Neck Brace (X-Large) was too tight on my neck. It offered little protection against forward rotation of the head. It does not push up against the throat. When my youngest son was 6 years old (91 lbs & adult size medium helmet) he used the EVS RC-Evolution neck brace. He hated putting it on. When he outgrew that he went to the EVS Race Collar pad.

I wear the Leatt Adventure Neck Brace. It is comfortable to wear once I got it adjusted and modified. It looks like it would offer good prevention of over rotation in any direction. I have not done any serious crash testing yet. The load path is on the traps at the base of the neck (compression), the upper spine (rear rotation) and sternum (forward rotation). It doesn't press much on my clavicles.

The downsides are...

- It interfered with my throat in the Adams apple when sliding back - until I carved out the plastic underneath the padding in the throat area.

- The brace prevents me from looking up very high when riding in the standing up attack position.

- It prevents me from looking down when working on the motorcycle unless I lean forward.

- It retains more body heat - not good in warm weather, good in cold weather.

In spite of the downsides I still wear it. Aside from my head, my neck is the last thing I want to break.