Cokering knee protection

kneepads. there not that hard to find. eg skating type.

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gabetheunicycleman

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No, evidently, as I've posted links to four different kinds. The
question is, which ones?

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kington99

Dave

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I like the second ones 😉

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thejdw

torkerdx said:

another bit of advice:
shut up and ride🙂
some people get the concept, some don't

monkeyman said:

I've got an idea, how about everyone STOPS MAKING STUPID THREADS?!?

What a surprise 🙄
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I thought kneepads were required for UNICON events. I use the "don't
fall off" knee protection scheme. I ride completely unpadded and
without a helmet. I just don't fall off. I agree the 4x4's are complete
overkill. They're too hot, too.

If you fall off and land on your knees, nothing works more effectively
than hard shell skater knee pads. Your first choice link is closest to
that type of knee pad. You can get them cheaper at a sporting goods
outlets just not the 661 brand. I've seen skaters riding bowls with no
protection except hard shell knee pads (no gloves, no helmet, no shirt,
no elbow pads) and when they biff they instinctively go straight to
their knees to absorb all of the impact. That's a lot of force on
concrete and they come up completely unscathed.

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<> Unicycle For the Chafing <><

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harper said:

I thought kneepads were required for UNICON events.

For track events, yes. For events where you're actually likely to hit
your knees, such as freestyle, they're not required. The safety rules
are silly.

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tholub
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I'd be inlined to get the first ones, which have a hard plastic shell
exposed directly at the point of contact with the ground. My theory
(and it's only really a theory) is that these will a) protect the knees
(assuming adequate padding) and b) slide so that all your energy
doesn't go instantly into your knees when you hit the ground.

I was considering getting some hard shell knee pads but I think I'd
like to spend less! So far I've done all my cokering without knee pads
and only fallen on my knees once...

--
mark williamson

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Kneepads were required at UNICON, some riders disagreed, I think it was
a pretty smart move. My knees are pretty scarred from falling on them,
which can be quite painful at high speeds + gravel. When I started
cokering I wore some of the hard shell kneepads, I didn't find them
very comfortable and found myself some kneepads with foam in them. From
the links you gave I like the last link best, the Veggie wraps seeing
as they're foam and look more comfortable than the rest, yet still good
protection.
If you're scared of falling you might also look into
gloves/wristguards, a helmet and some elbow pads. Riding with
protection can give you a safer feeling and lead to more speed.

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DustinSchaap

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tholub said:

For track events, yes. For events where you're actually likely to hit
your knees, such as freestyle, they're not required. The safety rules
are silly.

Occasionally Freestylers crash into each other when practicing, and of
course anyone can fall down doing *any* kind of riding, but the vast
majority of injuries we get at unicycle conventions have been on the
track. The more recent addition of offroad, Trials and Street events
are surely going to claim more injuries though.

I don't wear knee protection for Cokering usually (even when I do mixed
offroad, which I hadn't thought about until just now), but I still
think it's a good idea for racing. It's different conditions than
fitness riding, usually with more riders, unfamiliar territory and
always higher speeds.

For light protection you can use some volleyball-type kneepads. They
are better than nothing, and legal for racing. But there's far less
protection there than with some hard-shell pads.

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John Foss
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Thanks Dustin, infact it's the photo of you (and others) in uni magazine
(p28) that prompted me to start this thread. The guy on the right
appears to be wearing the veggie wraps. It's not so much that i'm
scared of falling, just that I do fall off and having bashed knees is a
pain, I've got all the gear from doing muni but it seems overkill so
I've bought a bike style helmet instead of my hardshell muni helmet and
now i need to down-size the leg protection too.

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Dave

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i think the 2nd or 4th type would be the best. Can i mention that on
ebay u should be able to get all those for about £20 or under... so its
worth checking.

I wouldnt think u'd need sommit as hard as the first type...

--
brendan
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For Coker knee protection you want a hard shell style pad that has the
outer plastic cap over the knee. The style that inline skaters use.
The hard shell will slide on the pavement and thus stay on your knee
during a crash. The soft cover (fabric cover) pads will stick to the
pavement and not allow you to slide. The soft cover pads will grip the
pavement and end up sliding off your knee during a crash.

Find some light inline skate knee pads that fit comfortably on your
knee and don't restrict your pedaling. Look for the light style of pad
used by the high speed inline skaters. You don't need or want the big
bulky style of pad used by the street and ramp skaters.

--
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kington99 said:

I was just wondering what other people wear to protect their knees when
riding distance...

Well, I know this is going to jinx things, but I've ridden a few
thousand miles now, a lot of it through London, and to date, have never
fallen off and injured my knees.

Personally, I find gloves essential, and I also wear a helmet too,
although I think the helmet is more psycologically protective, as well
as giving other road users the impression that I am actually a serious
cyclist.

I have started to wear knee protection since my failed Nottingham to
London ride back in October, however. Not to protect me in case of a
fall, but to support and strengthen the joint. It's the elastocated
tubagrip type that you can pick up in any chemist. For long term
protection, I thoroughly recommend them.

STM

--
semach.the.monkey
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I used a hard exoshell knee pad last summer for a 30-mile ride. It was
made by Harbinger, seemed the right size for distance work, and had
good padding as well. Initially, I thought it was quite comfortable,
but after the ride, the backs of my knees were horribly chaffed,
bloody, and raw. Ironically, I never fell during the event. It took
over two weeks to heel properly and since then I haven't been able to
build up the courage to ride long distance with them again.

What ever you get, there's probably a period of time that is needed so
that your skin can build up to what ever rubbing will occur. I see
other long distance riders wear them, but I don't know how they avoid
the chaffing.

--
abridged
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abridged said:

I used a hard exoshell knee pad last summer for a 30-mile ride. It was
made by Harbinger, seemed the right size for distance work, and had
good padding as well. Initially, I thought it was quite comfortable,
but after the ride, the backs of my knees were horribly chaffed,
bloody, and raw. Ironically, I never fell during the event. It took
over two weeks to heel properly and since then I haven't been able to
build up the courage to ride long distance with them again.

You need to try on different brands, and styles of knee pads and see
how they fit you and see how they feel as you move your leg through a
cycling motion. Inline skaters don't move their knees through the same
range and repetition of motions as a unicyclist does. A pad design
that works well for an inline skater might not work so well for a
unicyclist. I'd say that the majority of inline skate pads will have
chafing problems for a unicyclist. The challenge is in finding the
ones that work for unicycling. So find a shop that will allow you to
try on the pads before you buy them. That will help week out the
obviously bad designs. Then you'll have to take a chance and try them
on a ride to see if they stay comfortable after 10+ miles of riding.

You already discovered one design feature that doesn't work well for
unicycling. You generally want a pad that is open behind the knee so
the fabric can't bunch up there and chafe. But that's also not a
universal rule because I have a pair of Cokering knee pads that have a
closed back and work fine with no chafing for me. So it all depends.

Another problem area is rubbing on the kneecap. Some pads will rub and
chafe the kneecap while others won't. Depends on the fit, the style
and the design.

You can find hard shell inline skate pads that will work comfortably
for long rides. It just takes trial and error to eventually end up
with pads that will work for you. Once you find some that work well
then buy a few pairs cause you don't want to go through that all again
when those pads are inevitably discontinued.

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When I started riding Coker I wore Roach leg armour which prevented
serious damage to calfs and shins from pedals due to mis-judged
mounting at pace. I haven't worn them for road riding for a few years
now and have only once taken a minor scrape to a knee. If I were into
speed riding then I would probably get myself togged up with the hard
shelled knee protectors and something like the Harbinger wrist guards,
plus helmet of course.

Happy New Year to all,
Chris

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In my opinion I don't think knee pads for long distance rides are a good
idea. When you take into consideration the number of pedal strokes
required to complete a 20, 30 or 40 mile ride your not going to want
anything on your legs to cause discomfort or excessive sweating.

I'd imagine that even the smallest amount of chafing that is often
common with knee pads could quite possibly wear a hole through your
skin by the time you've completed a good Coker ride. Considering I've
ridden my 36'er 40 miles without a single UPD, the chance of sustaining
an injury from a UPD is less than if I'd wear knee pads.

--
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I wear 'anarchy kevlar pads' (http://tinyurl.com/wv2b8) for super long
rides and muni riding.

I wear em over trousers except in summer when I wear shorts. In summer
they can sometimes chafe a bit, but once you've done 50 miles or so on
them, you get the callouses in the right place.

I wear them because I've had a couple of big falls towards the end of
long rides, and when riding fast with other people, and hit my knee
hard enough to stop me riding for a couple of weeks (and in one case
walking on crutches for a week). I don't bother wearing them on my
commute, cos I don't fall off on it.

Falling isn't an issue for me at all when I'm just riding at sensible
pace on my own, for short distances like 20 miles or so, but when you
get towards the end of a long ride, you're super tired, and/or racing
other riders it's possible to push yourself too far and have that
sudden coker fall where you're on the floor before you know it.

Joe

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Joe, this is exactly the type of fall I've been having, at the end of a
long (for me) ride or when im tired from hillclimbing I'm suddenly on
the floor with no warning, I'm gong to try experimenting with different
pedals to see if i can reduce the frequency of this happening. Those
pads look really good (and cheap!) and are going to get some serious
consideration.

unipsychler, it's an interesting thought, but ive worn full leg and
kness pads for all the riding ive ever done and never had a problem
with discomfort or chaffing, and being new to coker riding i do seem to
fall off rather more than the average rider. Also I'm more worried
about damaging my joints rather than flesh wounds, so I'm prepared to
take some chaffing to keep my knees in good nick.

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Dave

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DustinSchaap said:

From the links you gave I like the last link best, the Veggie wraps
seeing as they're foam and look more comfortable than the rest, yet
still good protection.

I've got Veggie knee wraps and they do offer really good protection and
fit very nicely, however while I have used them on long rides, as
they're made of about 4 layers of neoprene they are roastingly hot and
get decidedly sweaty - so much so that I don't use them for long
distance rides any more as I find them just too hot and uncomfortable -
just my twopenneth

Roland

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