Quote Originally Posted by ima_bleeder View Post
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.