Protective Wear Suggestions for EUC Riding

[Scatcat]

I hate to rain on the knee-brace parade. But I remember what my therapeutist said when I hurt my meniscus. He warned me not to use the braces when not needed, as they took too much of the forces that should be taken by the muscles. I was losing muscle mass, and they didn't help.

The ideal braces would be those that restricts rotating motion, overextension and impact, but does not "straighten" the leg.

[Rehab1]

3 hours ago, Scatcat said:

I hate to rain on the knee-brace parade. But I remember what my therapeutist said when I hurt my meniscus. He warned me not to use the braces when not needed, as they took too much of the forces that should be taken by the muscles. I was losing muscle mass, and they didn't help.

The ideal braces would be those that restricts rotating motion, overextension and impact, but does not "straighten" the leg.

Your therapist is wise but wearing an articulated knee brace as a prophylactic measure during a short 1 to 2 hour ride will not atrophy your muscles. If you performed an EEG while riding with and without an articulated knee brace the results would be similar as the main muscle groups (quadriceps and hamstrings) are firing identically. 

Wearing an articulated knee brace while riding simply enhances the support of the surrounding ligaments if the knee were to encounter any excessive axial/ torsional loading during a fall. 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Rehab1

[kjon12]

7 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

Wearing an articulated knee brace while riding simply enhances the support of the surrounding ligaments if the knee were to encounter any excessive axial/ torsional loading during a fall. 

Do you think the length of the side metal supports is important? The brace I'm wearing while I am awaiting the prognosis of yesterday's MRI ( https://www.breg.com/products/knee-bracing/post-op/t-scope-premier-post-op-knee-brace/ ) is very long, basically from just above my ankle up to mid-thigh. In a sideways fall like I had, I would think you would want as long of a lever arm as possible to prevent hyper-extension in the inner or outer direction. However, many of the braces I've seen don't have nearly this much length. I wonder how effective they are? I can see how many of them would prevent forward over-extension, but what about side to side?

[Rehab1]

8 minutes ago, kjon12 said:

Do you think the length of the side metal supports is important? The brace I'm wearing while I am awaiting the prognosis of yesterday's MRI ( https://www.breg.com/products/knee-bracing/post-op/t-scope-premier-post-op-knee-brace/ ) is very long, basically from just above my ankle up to mid-thigh. In a sideways fall like I had, I would think you would want as long of a lever arm as possible to prevent hyper-extension in the inner or outer direction. However, many of the braces I've seen don't have nearly this much length. I wonder how effective they are? I can see how many of them would prevent forward over-extension, but what about side to side?

I use the T-scope all of the time. Does the physician has you locked out in full extension at the moment? You are correct that a long leverage arm is essential in providing optimal support while waiting for your MRI results. Unfortunately this would not be an ideal brace for sport activities as the metal struts are just velcroed to the sides of the wrap.

Breg ( and many others) manufacture a plethora of outstanding knee braces many of which are  specifically designed to protect from ligament damage. Most knee braces extend approximately 8” above and below the knee. If the time comes that your ortho doc wants you to have a sports style knee brace he will point you in the right direction. 

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

With new wheels coming down the line that go above 50 kph, I wonder whether people wanting to ride at those speeds should wear motorcycle full leathers with padding and full helmet.  These wheels seem to be evolving from a fun teenage toy that went 12 kph to mainstream transport device for adults to high speed racer for the speed demons out there.  Skateboard and BMX gear might not cut it when we're talking about falling off at speeds over 50 kph.  I'm not sure even a full motorcycle suit would avoid injury, but the pro's use them.

 

[novazeus]

44 minutes ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

With new wheels coming down the line that go above 50 kph, I wonder whether people wanting to ride at those speeds should wear motorcycle full leathers with padding and full helmet.  These wheels seem to be evolving from a fun teenage toy that went 12 kph to mainstream transport device for adults to high speed racer for the speed demons out there.  Skateboard and BMX gear might not cut it when we're talking about falling off at speeds over 50 kph.  I'm not sure even a full motorcycle suit would avoid injury, but the pro's use them.

 

depends on how well u bounce. none of my harley buddies wore a helmet and yet one went down on the interstate near downtown tampa. knowing him, ex nypd cop, probably doing 70 mph. hurt his hand a little. 

my advice would be, i don’t care how fast ur wheel can go, if u ever share a road with cars, wear everything u can and still ride. and that probably won’t be enough if a car hits u. or u hit an immovable object, like a tree.

motorcycles are dangerous to ride on the street, but at least they have the hp to get away from idiot cagers. personally, i’d never ride a bicycle or euc on the same road as vehicles. ur puttng along doing 15mph in the bike lane and somebody clips u doing 60 mph while they are texting, i don’t care how u suit up, ur dead. killing bicyclists in florida all the time.

[kjon12]

5 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

I use the T-scope all of the time. Does the physician has you locked out in full extension at the moment? You are correct that a long leverage arm is essential in providing optimal support while waiting for your MRI results. Unfortunately this would not be an ideal brace for sport activities as the metal struts are just velcroed to the sides of the wrap.

I'm set at 30 degrees from straight. I had an MRI yesterday, but the doc can't see me until next Tuesday afternoon! I'm going to go crazy wondering what the results are. I'm hoping just for an MCL sprain, which will heal with time. My other knee had a torn ACL many moons ago, and I don't want to go through that again!

 

2 hours ago, novazeus said:

motorcycles are dangerous to ride on the street, but at least they have the hp to get away from idiot cagers.

Unless, of course, the idiot is in front of you. My last accident was on a motorcycle on the freeway...a guy cut into my lane with no warning and I plowed into his rear quarter panel and went down. In Friday morning rush hour traffic, no less, and I had the interstate backed up for miles. Fortunately I was wearing full motorcycle gear. I still wound up in the hospital with a cut face, road-rashed right hand, and a swollen shin. AND, the idiot didn't have insurance. Amazingly, a state patrol trooper was beside me and witnessed the whole thing and had a video of it on her dashboard camera. Luckily, I had an uninsured motorist rider on my motorcycle insurance policy, and I wound up making a pretty good profit on the deal. It could have been a lot worse, though. 

I was really nervous the next time I road my bike down the freeway. It'll probably be the same when I work up the courage to get back up on my EUC! I think I'll invest in some quality knee braces before then, though.

[novazeus]

46 minutes ago, kjon12 said:

I'm set at 30 degrees from straight. I had an MRI yesterday, but the doc can't see me until next Tuesday afternoon! I'm going to go crazy wondering what the results are. I'm hoping just for an MCL sprain, which will heal with time. My other knee had a torn ACL many moons ago, and I don't want to go through that again!

 

Unless, of course, the idiot is in front of you. My last accident was on a motorcycle on the freeway...a guy cut into my lane with no warning and I plowed into his rear quarter panel and went down. In Friday morning rush hour traffic, no less, and I had the interstate backed up for miles. Fortunately I was wearing full motorcycle gear. I still wound up in the hospital with a cut face, road-rashed right hand, and a swollen shin. AND, the idiot didn't have insurance. Amazingly, a state patrol trooper was beside me and witnessed the whole thing and had a video of it on her dashboard camera. Luckily, I had an uninsured motorist rider on my motorcycle insurance policy, and I wound up making a pretty good profit on the deal. It could have been a lot worse, though. 

I was really nervous the next time I road my bike down the freeway. It'll probably be the same when I work up the courage to get back up on my EUC! I think I'll invest in some quality knee braces before then, though.

yeah and i always felt like interstate riding was the safest because u don’t have cagers pulling out from side streets or making left hand turns into u with no blinkers and no sitting at stoplights like a sitting duck. when i rode i always looked for a clear space. if i had to break the speed limit to get there, i would. cops know this and will let u get away with it. that’s what i meant by having hp.

suppose u were on ur wheel and that car swerved into at 60 mph. the difference in speed, even if u were on a working gotway, would kill u.

[Rehab1]

1 hour ago, kjon12 said:

I'm set at 30 degrees from straight. I had an MRI yesterday, but the doc can't see me until next Tuesday afternoon! I'm going to go crazy wondering what the results are. I'm hoping just for an MCL sprain, which will heal with time. My other knee had a torn ACL many moons ago, and I don't want to go through that again!

At 30 degrees I assume your on crutches. Yes it is extremely frustrating having to wait. You know the results are just sitting there. The physician would just like to meet with you face to face to thoroughly discuss the results. Tuesday will come fast. Hopefully the MRI comes back negative.  

[Rehab1]

Being I cannot run the risk of landing hard on my left elbow anymore I beefed up my Titan Pro elbow protectors today by adding some additional padding. Once the pads were heat shaped, ground and tappered I glued them onto the plastic shell using contact adhesive. My elbows can now accept a pretty dramatic blow before I feel the impact but of course the real test would be an actual fall at 25 mph. No thanks. 

 

Edited May 24, 2018 by Rehab1

[Scatcat]

Rather hopelessly bad picture. Taken with the selfie cam on my phone, as I was preparing to do the cleaning of our corporative nursing school.

But anyways, 31°C/88°F in Gothenburg, and a few days ago I realised me and my jacket would soon smell like something had died inside it. Which may well have become entirely too true, given how it feels to carry a black waxed canvas mc-jacket with protective padding inside at these temperatures...

So today I did an investment in a mesh shirt with padding for the shoulders, back and front, and elbow pads. All with viscoelastic polymer, rather than hard pads.

While it isn't a t-shirt, it's at least liveable even when hot, and still gives me protection almost on par with my jacket. I am curious though, why all those protection vests/shirts have shoulders that look like they're meant to cut somebody? And why they're all in black? A lighter and more neutral color would do wonders both for temperature and looks.

[Pard]

Not directly unicycle related.

 

Yesterday I lowsided while riding my dual sport motorcycle.  Riding too fast, leaning too far, not loading the front tire enough to take the g forces of the turn, for the available tire grip

 

I was wearing an Alpinestars tech Air vest in a leather racing suit.  Pics of the suit are below.  Only fell at about 50 mph, but if not for the protective gear I would be in hospital today.

 

Instead I am just nursing an awful looking and feeling hip bruise.  The airbag vest saved me from a broken collarbone.

 

Wear protective gear.  Our bodies are soft fragile things.

 

BTW it costs $300 bucks to have the airbag vest rearmed after a crash and deployment.  I destroyed the LED status lights required for the vest to work which is another $50, and the suit will cost about $200 to repair as well.

 

Well worth it to be healthy and alive.

 

I was going to post a picture of the hip bruise but no need to make you guys upchuck.

 

 

 

 

 

[Glitched]

Are there any seriously good elbow pads anyone recommends, battle tested? It's easy online to get lulled into thinking a pad is good, based on the aggregate of reviews, but then find a review showing how the armor slid off target, or transferred a lot of the damage to the elbow anyway. 

[Scatcat]

On 6/14/2018 at 11:06 PM, Glitched said:

Are there any seriously good elbow pads anyone recommends, battle tested? It's easy online to get lulled into thinking a pad is good, based on the aggregate of reviews, but then find a review showing how the armor slid off target, or transferred a lot of the damage to the elbow anyway. 

If they are EN 1621-1 or EN 1621-2 certified (the latter is the better), and sit as they should (in place, without sliding) they should be good.

Basically you drop a 1.5"x1.25" (or in the case of EN 1621-2 a prism with a radius of about 1/2"), at a speed of 4.5 ms.  It weighs roughly 11 lbs and hits  a rounded anvil with the protection in the middle. The transferred energy through the protection should average no more than 18 kN (9 kN for level-2), and at no time should the peak force exceed 24 kN (12 kN for level-2).

Already level-1 takes a lot of the brunt of the impact of the 5 kg/11 lb weight travelling at 4.5 ms, and level 2 takes twice as much of the brunt but is generally bulkier.

In the MC-world shoulders, elbows, knees and such usually are at least EN 1621-1 while the spine protections are EN 1621-2. There are some level-2 protections for elbows, knees and shoulders, but they are a lot clumsier.

For instance comparing my elbow pads and my spine protector, both the VPD type (viscoelastic), the back pad is at least twice as thick. That thickness on the elbows or knees would be somewhat unpractical. But a combination of a hard shell and vpd cushion, would give a level-1 elbow pad both enough cushion to quite probably save you from a fracture in the elbow or upper arm/shoulder, and enough "glide" to not take the impact stiffly.

My elbow pads, just like all my protection is a compromise between the perfect protection and the practical one. In hot weather I have a "Bear Suit" from "Sweet Protection" all level-1 with pads for spine, shoulders and breastbone worked into a mesh shirt with an elastic kidney belt. I complement these with POC air elbow pads level-1, my flexmeter wrist-protectors, and hard shell knee-protectors that I fear are not certified, but very good anyway.

When it is colder I dump all but the knee-pads, and flexmeters and replace the Bear Suit and Elbow pads with a MC-jacket with built in protection level-1 for shoulders and elbows, and a D3O back-pad level-2.

The jacket has been in three falls so far, and holds together remarkably well. I suspect the Bear Suit would fare less well in a glide on the ground, but that could probably be fixed with spare mesh fabric... as long as it does its job.

If you're after seriously good elbow pads, I'd recommend taking a look at POC Joint VPD 2.0 DH. They have all that my pads have and a hard shell for gliding. Or ask @Rehab1 what he did for elbow pads, they seem really on the serious side.

Edited June 18, 2018 by Scatcat

[Boogieman]

ELBOW / FORE ARM PROTECTION

I realize that I still fall the same way as a kid when I learned bicycling....on my elbows (and knees partially). So logically I wanted to find a pair that protects well, but I waited a few days to long and took a fall. Good thing is that I now now know which parts I scrape up on my arms ? 

Anyway, I wanted a pair that goes a bit down on the fore arm to (almost) cover up that part till it meets the gloves but still letting (cool) air in between.

Sports shop just showed regular skate protection (Small cup for the elbow with some flimsy straps and flexing cloth to hold it, stiff to bend the arm) and said they never seen such protection in the store or other stores . So I took a stroll around and stopped at the hockey equipment and found my perfect match.

It sits super secure (will never slide off for sure), it's light, its breathing decent (slightly warm if riding slow), has a hard cup with soft cushioning inside, has a "elbow hole" so can't really be fitted wrong, and it protects forearm and even parts of the biceps and best of all it bends like a charm, minor resistance and no pinching of skin. 50Euro on sale was just icing on the cake (from 90€).

Bring it on Asphalt, hit me

 

[Unventor]

Well learning my lesson recently that Mother Earth and her sister Natural Physic and ther nice Asphalt, and that they can all be a bitch in the wrong combination I went ahead to buckle up..or rather bought a POC vpd 2.0 jacket. Next time, as I don't think if, but more a matter of when, I want to go in better prepared. The main reason I settled on this was does the flexability to wear or not a jacket on top, depending of weather. Now it might not stand out great against scraping damage. But my latest accident where I landed flat on my back and butt made me realize, impact is my major concern. At the moment it is too hot to wear mc gear, so this is the second best think I could find that suits me.

It do not come cheap, but how do you put a price tag on a spine injury? There might be cheaper solution on aliexpress but do I feel confident on cheap Chinese safety gear, no I do not at all. So what I bought so far are either European or US made/designed. As for POC it is Swedish. 

Will it save me from all situations I could end up in? Most likely not. Safety starts inside the skull of the rider. Despite my incomming KS18L can do 50 kmh, i have no intention to ride at speeds beyond 40kmh as i do not consider it worth the risks. But I do expect it can be a smart investment to take some force of my next accident whenever it might happy when riding.

Now my accident made me appreciate my D30 flex Demon wrist guards a lot more. It wasn't until today I realized how bad my hand would have been without these. The in-game puck took a big scrape on one of my hands.

For more info check this link:

https://www.pocsports.com/eu/spine-vpd-2.0-jacket/20331.html

Note: the DH version is not manufactured anymore. It has bigger shoulder pads and hardcover elbow protection, where the non-DH version is all 'soft-pads". 

So @Rehab1 and @Scatcat and @US69 what do you think?

Hehe finally an investment that wasn't @Marty Backe inspired so I can't blame him for the cost of like 330€ (3299sek). Could buy a little cheaper on international web, but chose to support local dealer instead, since they let me try it out for size and offered useful advice in my opinion.

Edited July 19, 2018 by Unventor

[Rehab1]

4 hours ago, Unventor said:

So @Rehab1 and @Scatcat and @US69 what do you think?

Impressive! I watched the video and the protective shells inside the jacket appear to be well designed for distribution of impact forces. Not sure if it would have prevented my injury but you should feel a heightened sense of security and safety when riding with that awesome jacket! 

[Unventor]

2 hours ago, Rehab1 said:

Impressive! I watched the video and the protective shells inside the jacket appear to be well designed for distribution of impact forces. Not sure if it would have prevented my injury but you should feel a heightened sense of security and safety when riding with that awesome jacket! 

I believe it would have prevented the scratches to my elbow as the elb6pads can't slide up my arms. As for impact to my back it would have absorbed more force than my backpack. However the impact to my buttcheeck I will need the shorts they make. For tailbone and hip protection. 

I have decided to get mc pants with build in protection pads later, for now it is too hot to use.

[Stan Onymous]

Those hip pads will save you a couple of weeks of hip pain should some automobile open up their door into the side of you as you go by and you have to ditch the EUC to land on a curb instead of the middle of the street. That would’ve saved me and the poor soul who opened their door into me a great deal of creative swearing.

Hip pads really are an overlooked safety feature!

Edited July 20, 2018 by Stan Onymous

[Smoother]

On 5/24/2018 at 5:36 PM, Rehab1 said:

Being I cannot run the risk of landing hard on my left elbow anymore I beefed up my Titan Pro elbow protectors today by adding some additional padding. Once the pads were heat shaped, ground and tappered I glued them onto the plastic shell using contact adhesive. My elbows can now accept a pretty dramatic blow before I feel the impact but of course the real test would be an actual fall at 25 mph. No thanks. 

 

Like your studded pedals of death, I am once again concerned that your modifications might lead to unpleasant, unintended consequences.  Referring again to a baseball runner, sliding into base; your existing hard-shelled pads would produce a desirable, energy-dissipating slide, were you to face plant again in in any fall short of a lawn dart style trajectory.  By adding foam to the outside, you have re-introduced the potential danger of sticking your landing; with the resultant transfer of energy up your arm to your weakened shoulder.  Although your new padding will reduce the speed of energy transfer; in a stuck landing scenario, like the one you are exacerbating here, eventually, all the energy has to be transferred (read; .05 seconds later). Food for thought.  I'm thinking of you and your marriage.

[Carlo Van Hove]

Take a look at xion protective gear 

Me pants vest en flexmeter wristguard nobody sees the full body protection plus its comfortable 

[Boogieman]

On 4/19/2018 at 9:24 PM, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

With new wheels coming down the line that go above 50 kph, I wonder whether people wanting to ride at those speeds should wear motorcycle full leathers with padding and full helmet.  These wheels seem to be evolving from a fun teenage toy that went 12 kph to mainstream transport device for adults to high speed racer for the speed demons out there.  Skateboard and BMX gear might not cut it when we're talking about falling off at speeds over 50 kph.  I'm not sure even a full motorcycle suit would avoid injury, but the pro's use them.

 

Full suit (leather) with hardcup+tempofoam + boots + gloves + spine protection + integral helmet has saved my life loads of times on track and road.

I wore out my first around age 19 (first 125cc bike at 16, heavy bike at 18) after sewing it back together a few times (money was an issue back then) and making my own sliders by cutting out pieces of a cylindrical rod me and some friends shared. We did not even think about sharp edges, it was just cool to have something to slide your knee in the curves with :-)

I also straightened the frame and fixed smashed tanks so many times that in the end the insurance company would not let me buy the"junk" back to fix it and go through inspection. Maybe a good thing after all :-)

At one occasion it was super hot and i made the (stupid) decision to wear (light) garden gloves... Of course crashed in a curve (slow speed luckily like 30-40km/h) and almost scraped my pinkie knuckle of as i hit the tarmac (left with a flesh wound and lowered self confidence only though). After that, no more riding without leather gloves.

I need to get some better protection for next year, especially lower body, so looking for some protection shorts that breathe (knee & hip protector...lumbago protector is s bonus, but would be nice at its so easy to fracture and hurt like fuck if landing on it as you all know :-) )

and either a new spine protector (flex in mine is dead so it hangs like an old shirt) or a light vest with it integrated and maybe shoulder pads on that. 

Elbow protector that i got i feel very secure in though. Oh and maybe a semi open helmet (like cross) as my integral is to bulky and takes away to much surrounding sound so can't hear a lot of the traffic.

 

Hmmmm... That was all..and now im allmost up to wearing my full leather suit :-) except the hot and bulky/motorbike shaped leather of course...not really convenient on a euc i think but i might try now as temps sre going down... It might be perfect then

Edited September 13, 2018 by Boogieman

[Lavabo]

had a cutout last week at 45kmh  and the basic protection worked except for the  thumbs.

Got a rolando fracture so im looking 1st to set back my speed alarms  and 2d get a LEVEL ski thumb protector

and yes hip protection as i also learned the hard way !! Then ill have a nice booty ass!!

Had my Cratoni c-maniak helmet (bought in France last summer)

will be back on wheel in 3 -5 weeks haha

Edited April 22, 2019 by Lavabo

[The Fat Unicyclist]

3 hours ago, Lavabo said:

Got a rolando fracture so im looking 1st to set back my speed alarms  and 2d get a LEVEL ski thumb protector

Thumbs are so overrated... I mean who actually uses them anyway?   

[Unventor]

27 minutes ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

Thumbs are so overrated... I mean who actually uses them anyway?   

I do. To signal 👍when cars respect their traffic rules to stop before crossing the bikelane. That simple reward seem to have a possitive effect on other cars/drivers too. 

Not doing so I point to markings on asphalt. Followed by angry face frown.