Hi all, I'm about to buy some serious safety gear despite the serious dent it will make in my bank balance...Leatt neck brace, Dainese pressure suit, and knee braces of some kind. What about my wrists? I got in touch with a company that makes braces for sports like skating and MX, including wrist braces. They're designed to stop hyperextension while allowing a reasonable amount of freedom of movement. Not sure if they reach breaking point before or after my arm and/or hand will snap just above and below the brace, but that aside, does anyone wear them while riding and how do they find them??? And yes it was a nasty accident that prompted me to consider the abovementioned investments ...a compression fracture to the T11 vertebra. Fortunately my back has healed quite nicely but I will strongly advise against someone jumping on a bike without a little training from someone who knows what they are doing. The moment the front wheel came up, 'use the rear brake' I told myself, but it was all over red rover. PS the bike is fine
I have mixed feelings about some protective wear. I do wear a good pressure suit with chest/back/shoulder/elbow and forearm protection. I also wear knee guards. I don't wear wrist guards. I rarely do mx, ride mostly singletrack trails. With some protective wear I think it can be a trade off depending on the accident. Wrist guards will help sometimes for sure. But in some cases, if you immobilize the wrists, the forces will simply be transmitted somewhere else. This same argument is floating around with other protective wear (i.e. knee braces increasing the risk for femur fractures).
I got a wrist brace because i broke my hand - it helps to support it as its a bit weak . It was a 661 brace . This place in the UK has the cheapest gear around and free shipping for larger orders I bought a heap of stuff recently Does a huge trun over - just make sure they rteally do have what they say they have in stock http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=442
This is a great point! Also, neck braces and the increased shoulder injury's. I'm not saying that these wont help. But, if you go down hard enough, something will give. I would like to hear more opinions on neck braces. Sorry, if I hi-jacked this thread. I have could started a new one?
Knee + shin pads and a chest protector are what I wear now ... I'm riding n a lot of stone \ rocky stuff here and any crash is gonna bust up my knees or shoulders... I'm not doing alot of dangerous stuff anymore ... Speed is limited and jumping also ... U and U alone feel the pain ... U can't give it away and U have to ride with it ... Do what U think is best for U ... Good luck and ride safe
I have the CTI wrist brace and it works very well. Full movment and dont even notice it. Same deal I have have previous problems. Regarding the problem of putting the force some where else. I would rather brake a collar or shoulder than my neck ( neck brace), I would rather brake my femur than my knees and would rather brake my arm than my wrist.
The only problem here is that you can also sever your femoral artery and bleed out before you can get help. Yeah, I know, you can slip and fall in the bathtub and break your neck too. I went back and forth between knee guards and braces because of this chance. I ended up with knee guards since I don't have a previous injury that necessitates a brace. I agree with ray_ray though, you have to make the choice of how much gear you want to wear. This isn't golf. You know the risks and have heard the stories. FWIW, I don't wear wrist braces, but I may in the future. I already have a wrist injury and don't want another.
Have too agree with disco bob am currently sitting at home with broken Scaphoid in wrist(nice stainless screw holding it together now).will be looking seriously at wrist protection as the little bones in wrist are very important and can be difficult to heal.It is suprising how easy it is to get an injury like this , in my case a low speed crash.Its not fun having a brand new 310 sitting in the garage and not being able to ride
surely you have a buddy nearby that will stop by the garage and let her know she's still loved. maybe take her for a little putt-putt till you heal up. i mean she shouldn't be punished, it wasn't her fault you broke you wrist. was it? all kidding aside, heal up soon and wear whatever you need to so you can keep on 2 wheels
Yes my son is very keen to throw his leg over it .And No It Wasnt the bikes fault just the idiot riding her.Its like having a chrismas pressy you cant open
regarding wrist braces, i have seen forearms break right at the top of the wrist braces (actually fairly common at ski hills). My preference (snowboarding and dirtbiking) is to wear elbow pads, and keep my hands in when i fall, taking the hit on the forearms instead.
Its hard to predict what type of crash you will have as impacts with trees , bikes etc generally happen whith both hands on the bars .And bark busters can also make things worse .
i too have a scaphoid fracture that is now all healed, but it took 2 months and luckily no surgery. mine was in an auto vs. moto accident (i lost). but i will be wearing some sort of wrist protection. the 661 wrist race guard looks good and i don't think you'd have to worry about breaking your arm from wearing wrist guards. your wrists are a serious weak point in our body. the amount of force needed to break a wrist bone and your arm are not even close. AND my injury was not from the ground but from my hand holding on to the bars and the impact i took when the car hit me head on. off road we have the bumps in the trail that transfer into our wrists (and some of us have weak wrists now because of previous injury). i wanna ride rocky single track all day without complaint and without vicodin.
