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Brand-X Shin Guards
James - 28th May 2005
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After a lot of debating over which kneepads to choose this year, and thats a lot of choice, theres things like the 661 4x4's, Dainese Knee Guards, RaceFace DH pads.. which would be better?
I was flicking through MBUK and came across the band full of BrandX kit, and there is a whole load of it, from rim tape to bash rings, they've got it covered. And even better ChainReaction Cycles are offering it all at silly cheap prices, okay so we're not talking all the best manufacturing methods, and maybe not the most raved about kit, but its affordable and it works.
Anyway, a quick call to CRC and a pair of Knee & Shin guards were heading my way (bare in mind this was 3pm on a Friday), next morning they pop through the door.. fast?! you bet!
The pads after a 'dry' day at Hopton
Now I got them in a large since i'm not the shortest of people, and they come up just about right on my legs, just above the line of my socks and not getting in the way of my shoes.
Hopton should be the ultimate test for most pads, rooty as hell and plenty of chances for them to slip down.
The pads come with 4 straps on the back, two behind your calf, one behind your kneecap and the biggest one above your knee.
Just strapping them on and walking to the top found that they had started to slip down, but a quick fiddle with the straps, pulling them up so it had less chance to slip and doing the top strap up a bit tighter meant they stayed put all ride. I found they ventilate pretty well too, theres not sweat pouring down your leg, they tend to wick it away into the foam and they dry out pretty well when you're riding.
Tough kneecap protection and plenty of thick foam
The pads have ventilated foam throughout, with a tough mesh to hold it all together and two hard pads, one on the shin and one on the kneecap. They've also got trick little metal mesh inserts which lighten up all the black.
The hard plastic pads shrugged off the hardest hits, even surviving some pretty brutal encounters with my pedals (flats forever!) and the usual 'kick in the shin' was no problem.
They dont shift around too much on impact, of course if you impact from the side they're gonna slip unless you rivet them to your shin, but the number of straps meant you were pretty well covered.
I found the top two straps started to rub a bit when you're pushing up the hill, but if you just undo them and do them back up again its no real problem.
Raised shin protection with plenty of foam underneath to absorb impact
They're still looking nice after testing and for £17.99 can you go wrong? You could buy two or even three sets for the price of one of the competitors pads.
Check the pads out at ChainReaction and have a poke around the rest of the Brand-X range.
Layout of the straps and the inner foam
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