Knee Protection on the Trail

[Tom@WashDC]

I agree. The few times I have fallen and managed to keep my feet on the pedals, knees in, hands on the grips, I've come a way relatively unscathed. My elbow pads helped too.

Clarification: These (above) instances were all situations where my bike did not collide with anything. They were rain, ice, loss of traction instances where my bike went down sideways, in a flash, on concrete or grass, and my position on the bike never changed. The handlebar, pedal, and helmet absorbed 100% of the impact. There have been other times, when I have been forcibly disengaged from my bike due to centrifical force. In those instances I was glad I was wearing body armor, knee pads, and elbow pads.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Stephan, you mention going over the bars on a levo - did you let go or keep the death grip and have 20 kg land on top of you?

It is not possible to hold on the bars when you are flying over them

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Clarification: These (above) instances were all situations where my bike did not collide with anything. They were rain, ice, loss of traction instances where my bike went down sideways, in a flash, on concrete or grass, and my position on the bike never changed. The handlebar, pedal, and helmet absorbed 100% of the impact.

That is exactly what happens to most of us (outside technical singletracks) riding upright* bikes. On one occasion (night, very bad visibility) I rode sidewise onto a curb (it looked like the entry to a bike path). After I crashed together with the e-bike, the impact was as severe as the crankarm bent, taking almost all the energy; it could have been my knee instead.
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*) Recumbent bikes are far more dangerous on the collapse, as an accident of a friend proved (her knee was maimed but she at least wore a helmet due to my constant encouraging her to do so).

 

[PDoz]

It is not possible to hold on the bars when you are flying over them

Yes it is, the bike then cartwheels , lands on top of you, and then things get REALY messy. I've seen it happen with the death grip riders - people who have been told to stay with the bike in a crash

 

[Chargeride]

I notice practically no youtube riders wear protection, even while doing backflips and riding at 40mph over rock gardens.
I dont wear any myself, but I never wear any form of pedal clip either, you need that microsecond advantage to get that leg out to save the day.
My biggest crash was on my first ebike trail centre ride in Wales, I hit the whoops, got out of control, landed hard and my hand slipped onto the throttle, sending me off the last jump in a comical arc, I flew so high I had time to assess my trajectory mid air and landed safely on hands and feet.

Rather hilariously I had been explaining my diy ebike to a group, who then watched me take flight, jump up and wave..Im fine!.

They must have gone home and thrown their ebike brochures in the bin.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Yes it is, the bike then cartwheels , lands on top of you, and then things get REALY messy. I've seen it happen with the death grip riders - people who have been told to stay with the bike in a crash

PDoz, your mind is poisoned with the situations that might happen on a technical trail. Incidents, accidents and crashes happen in the normal cycling life outside the singletrack but normal riding has nothing to do with a technical singletrack.

I observed the OTB of my friend riding a Como when a big unleashed dog ran into her front wheel. She flew as a good ski-jumper. There is no chance the e-bike could follow your flight path. Nor, could you hold the handlebar grips. All other crashes on road happen sidewise, and holding onto the bike works like a good safety belt, with the vehicle taking the impact.

 

[PDoz]

PDoz, your mind is poisoned with the situations that might happen on a technical trail. Incidents, accidents and crashes happen in the normal cycling life outside the singletrack but normal riding has nothing to do with a technical singletrack.

I observed the OTB of my friend riding a Como when a big unleashed dog ran into her front wheel. She flew as a good ski-jumper. There is no chance the e-bike could follow your flight path. Nor, could you hold the handlebar grips. All other crashes on road happen sidewise, and holding onto the bike works like a good safety belt, with the vehicle taking the impact.

Tell the truth, you hold onto the bike for protection against other riders

 

[jabberwocky]

Its possible that someone who is told to hold on to the bike no matter what may try to hold on while going over the bars, but generally the first instinct is to let go so you can get your arms out to try and catch yourself. Which is why broken collar bones are so common in OTB crashes. OTBs are definitely more common on the trail where downhills are steeper and there are more things to hit and let that rider momentum carry you over, but it does happen occasionally on the road and gravel too. I've had some ride-a-stoppie moments where I had my weight forward to weight the front wheel while cornering and hit an unexpected pothole.

Crash likelihood is a spectrum, with certain crashes certainly being more likely with certain types of riding, but there is always a chance for any style of crash no matter what. Which is why everyone needs to make the decision on protective wear based on their own evaluation of the risks and their own comfort and confidence. And everyone should ignore any silly judgement about "how things should be done". I mean, in the 20 years I've been cycling I've only replaced a helmet post crash one time (and even then I would probably have been ok without it) but I still put my helmet on every time I get on the bike.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Have crashed more than a few times, and rarely done much lasting damage to myself, with one major exception and it wasn't even a crash.
Winter riding a few years ago with @Prairie Dog in Banff and having stopped on a snow covered trail (front wheel sunk in), I put my foot down, sunk that in as well and when overbalanced, fell over and onto a tree stump.

I remember that day in March clearly as the Coastline trail wasn’t well marked at the time. Conditions weren’t optimal either as the snow was deep and soft along some sections and none of us were riding fatties which could have helped tremendously with the terrain.