protection for legs?

[lovelylibrarian]

Other than not falling, hitting myself with the pedals, etc., is there anything I can put on my legs (calves especially) to protect them while I learn to MTN bike? I can't explain how many bruises I have on my legs at this moment. I'm not a swimsuit model, so that's not the issue, but I'm too embarrassed to wear my bike shorts to spinning class! I was thinking of wearing thick knee socks but that's kind of ridiculous too.

Are all new MTN bikers this bruised?

[Irulan]

1. Many different kinds of leg and shin protection are out there. Don't be embarrassed to wear it
2. don't be embarrassed, wear your bruises with pride. That's how you know you are a real mountain biker!!!

[sgtiger]

Back in his bmx days, my brother swore by xtrskn.

http://www.bmxtreme.com/products/xtrskn.htm

[BluePeace2]

I don't think that long socks will do much, I managed to have a few issues getting cliped into my new Crank Bro. Smarties the other day, and in not falling on my SO I managed to put a small hole in my skin but not in my long pants ?!? I haven't had many problems with bruising or scrapes other than the time that we had to push our bikes up a nice steep hill that had no trail and when I fell going up an nother steep hill and falling onto a small tree but most of my problems can be covered by a skirt or proudly displayed as proof of my new 'thing' that I do.

[MtnBikerChk]

Other than not falling, hitting myself with the pedals, etc., is there anything I can put on my legs (calves especially) to protect them while I learn to MTN bike?

Wear shin protection or knee/shin and wear them proudly! I never go anywhere without mine - it's like putting on a helmet - you just do it and it's part of the ride.

There are sooooo many good ones out there. Go to the LBS and try them on though. If you are short like me some won't fit right.

Rockgardn
Fox
sixsixone
Troy Lee Designs
Roach

(what did I forget)

[lph]

Really thick knee high wool socks. Turned over. With an Argyle pattern, like guys in kilts wear. :D

Sorry, just couldn't resist the mental image :p

[alpinerabbit]

Yeah. I'm thinking of mutating into a MTBer too for the winter.
Those socks (red of course) would look cool with the construction worker shorts I would love to buy which are neon yellow with big reflective stripes.

[obie]

It's getting a little ridiculous, but I'm sporting the bruises (and the abrasions, and the "gravel rash", and...) with pride...We'll see if I still feel that way after college reunion this weekend ;)

But, I'm loving the long socks idea, as I love that sort of thing. It might help with inadventent poison ivy brush-ups as well?

[sundial]

I *should* wear shin guards but I'm hard headed and would rather have a checkerboard of scratches to wear proudly as honor badges. :rolleyes:

[lovelylibrarian]

Thanks! I wouldn't mind a few bruises but some of them are HUGE-- and spread out to multicolored things as they heal. I honestly think I'd scare my coworkers if I wore a skirt to the office. I imagine I'll injure myself less as I increase my MTB skills.

Would be funny to wear my pink snowboard socks though.

Karen

[MtnBikerChk]

I *should* wear shin guards but I'm hard headed and would rather have a checkerboard of scratches to wear proudly as honor badges. :rolleyes:

Well for me it's more than the possible cosmetic damage. The first time you fall square on your knee while wearing knee/shin pad combo protection and you really don't feel it - you realize why you wear them in the first place!

[lovelylibrarian]

I'm starting to think that the shin guards wouldn't be a bad idea at all. On Saturday, I fell and got a nasty MTN bike version of road rash. What do you call it if it's on dirt/gravel? For some reason my right leg gets most of the abuse. Thanks for the suggestions for protection.

[Becky]

I'm pretty sure that it's still called road rash. Or maybe trail rash ;) I have some awesome scars on both knees from trail rash. Heck, it was so bad at one point that the nurses at the campus health clinic knew me by name and would have wound care kits made up for me :D Hope that you're ok!

Anyhow, I think that shin and knee guards would be a great idea. You might feel more confident if you knew that falling wouldn't hurt as much. And more confidence leads to trying new things and developing new skills, I think.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I can't remember the name of them but they look like something you would wear playing soccer. I bought them, wore them once and just couldn't stand em. I have a huge gash from those HUGE pedals that came with my Specialized and boy, all the pink spots from knee and elbow slides. I asked my dermatologist about how to get them to fade and he said Mederma.

Wear em with pride I say....

[atombessy]

I've done the skirt at work during the summer thing and had to field lots of questions from coworkers about the state of my legs (on this occasion i also had a few puncture wounds, in addition to the bruises and scratches). But oh well! they get over it, and they know my husband is too nice to beat me.....no other recommendations...bruises are how you know it's mt bike season!!!

[ima_bleeder]

I'm just wondering if any of you who wear guards have any advice for specifically XC riding.

Any ride in my 'neighborhood' has a lot of climbing, and the Specialized XC guards that I've tried chaffe my knee enough to make me bleed before the ride is over, and the hinge between the knee and shin portions of the guard create resistance that I totally don't need ... climbing is hard enough.

I'm not familiar with the guards mentioned here ... any advice about which guards might be the most light-weight, XC friendly?

[lovelylibrarian]

Thanks. Every time my legs are about healed, I go out and injure myself again. For some reason, it's mostly my right leg. This weekend we are backpacking so I'll have some more time to heal.

I'm glad I'm not the only one with these "issues". I could have worse problems for sure.

I like how these look but haven't ordered them yet. Scroll down to the basic series. http://www.skinzprotectivegear.com/bicycleproduct.html

[ima_bleeder]

Those look promising. Thanks!

[Irulan]

Those look really hot to me. As in, sweaty. I've got a friend who's got something similar, maybe by Veggie Skins (??)

[MtnBikerChk]

Those look really hot to me. As in, sweaty. I've got a friend who's got something similar, maybe by Veggie Skins (??)

Veggies are very popular.

btw, I think they are all hot but you do get used to them. I wear mine XC all the time and don't really notice them anymore.

[tattiefritter]

Any ride in my 'neighborhood' has a lot of climbing, and the Specialized XC guards that I've tried chaffe my knee enough to make me bleed before the ride is over, and the hinge between the knee and shin portions of the guard create resistance that I totally don't need ... climbing is hard enough.



I had this same thing when I bought shinnies for my MTB holiday, I won't wear them at any other time (think they are at the back of the wardrobe) but a silly spill at the beginning of the holiday could've put an end to it so I reluctantly wore them. On the pre-holiday test ride I got a chafed knee as I hadn't done the straps up tight enough when climbing. On the really long climbs on holiday we took them off as it was too hot to be climbing for an hour dressed like a stormtrooper but at other times I tightened the straps and covered my knees in Bodyglide and cleared any dust out that had gotten in under pads. I took the small pack of Bodyglide out with me and reapplied it frequently during the ride - seemed to work.

[SadieKate]

I like how these look but haven't ordered them yet. Scroll down to the basic series. http://www.skinzprotectivegear.com/bicycleproduct.htmlI have these. I don't think they're hotter than anything else and they're certainly more comfortable for XC riding than others I've tried.

The trails I've been riding lately have a lot of overgrown manzanita and sage so I might break them out just for that. On the other hand, all the scrubbing means I don't have to shave my legs as much.:p

[Tabby]

I've taken to jeans, no shorts this summer. I've got bruises I didn't know I got until it 'colored up'! We have a lot of tight 'go-betweens' (2 trees) and they love to grab handle bars. Some have high roots that even flat pedaling snags on then. I affectionately call it tree-hugging or bark rash, especially on my forearms!

PJ

[SadieKate]

What is flat pedaling?

[Tabby]

Flat pedaling (to me) is having the pedals at 3:00 and 9:00 so they are even going over something so a low position pedal doesn't snag underneath.

Someone else may have another name for it ...

PJ