Demon Flexmeter - Sizing and Proper Fit

[mezzanine]

Appreciated guys, I was hoping to get some more recent wear reports after continued usage.  As long as there are no new reports of problems, I'm probably going to bite the bullet on the flexmeters. 

[litewave]

I received my pair of large Flexmeters three weeks ago. I had used the Triple-8 Wristsavers for 18 months previously, which have held up nicely but are starting to show wear and need for replacement. My Triple-8s never sustained a direct hit at any significant speed, but others have suffered wrist fractures despite wearing them. My Flexmeters are holding up under daily use, but I doubt they will last as long as the Triple-8, as others have described.

In warm weather, the Flexmeters require a bit more time and effort to put on and are much thicker all around ( good thing from a safety point of view), but when conditions turn colder they will be difficult to squeeze into the arms of my cycle jacket. Since the arms of the jacket are a bit narrower than typical, the Flexmeters can't be shoehorned under the sleeve and must be put on first. The jacket sleeves are too thick to wear the Flexmeters on the outside, and I don't think they would be as effective. This also means I have to put gloves on before the Flexmeters, and then shove my arm through the sleeve (with liner in cooler weather) which is hard to do. The worst part is trying to take the jacket off by myself without help, which is a major hassle.

I may have to give up the jacket with integrated pads, or find another set of wristguards to wear with it.

 

Edited September 21, 2017 by litewave

[Scatcat]

1 hour ago, litewave said:

I received my pair of large Flexmeters three weeks ago. I had used the Triple-8 Wristsavers for 18 months previously, which have held up nicely but are starting to show wear and need for replacement. My Triple-8s never sustained a direct hit at any significant speed, but others have suffered wrist fractures despite wearing them. My Flexmeters are holding up under daily use, but I doubt they will last as long as the Triple-8, as others have described.

In warm weather, the Flexmeters require a bit more time and effort to put on and are much thicker all around ( good thing from a safety point of view), but when conditions turn colder they will be difficult to squeeze into the arms of my cycle jacket. Since the arms of the jacket are a bit narrower than typical, the Flexmeters can't be shoehorned under the sleeve and must be put on first. The jacket sleeves are too thick to wear the Flexmeters on the outside, and I don't think they would be as effective. This also means I have to put gloves on before the Flexmeters, and then shove my arm through the sleeve (with liner in cooler weather) which is hard to do. The worst part is trying to take the jacket off by myself without help, which is a major hassle.

I may have to give up the jacket with integrated pads, or find another set of wristguards to wear with it.

 

You could consider the flexmeter snowboard gloves, they're meant to be worn with jackets and whatnot.

1 hour ago, mezzanine said:

Appreciated guys, I was hoping to get some more recent wear reports after continued usage.  As long as there are no new reports of problems, I'm probably going to bite the bullet on the flexmeters. 

I've had two falls, and so far I only have had to stitch one of the elastic bands in place. I probably could have let it be, but I prefer to fix it while the problem is small. No other problems so far.

And BTW, the first fall was on the hands, and there was no damage to the hands or arms whatsoever. I seem to have pulled a pectoral muscle somewhat, it was early in the morning and I was still a bit stiff. And then I've had a cold and the coughing does nothing to make it better...  

The second fall was not on the wristguards only, I touched ground with my right hand before rolling sideways, and I scraped my outermost index finger knuckle on the way around. But the full extent of the damage was a quarter of a little finger nail worth of skin.

AFAIC they have been proven beyond doubt.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Scatcat

[Marty Backe]

31 minutes ago, Scatcat said:

You could consider the flexmeter snowboard gloves, they're meant to be worn with jackets and whatnot.

I've had two falls, and so far I only have had to stitch one of the elastic bands in place. I probably could have let it be, but I prefer to fix it while the problem is small. No other problems so far.

And BTW, the first fall was on the hands, and there was no damage to the hands or arms whatsoever. I seem to have pulled a pectoral muscle somewhat, it was early in the morning and I was still a bit stiff. And then I've had a cold and the coughing does nothing to make it better...  

The second fall was not on the wristguards only, I touched ground with my right hand before rolling sideways, and I scraped my outermost index finger knuckle on the way around. But the full extent of the damage was a quarter of a little finger nail worth of skin.

AFAIC they have been proven beyond doubt.

Good to know. Thanks for the feedback regards their effectiveness, and sorry you had some recent falls 

[Scatcat]

20 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Good to know. Thanks for the feedback regards their effectiveness, and sorry you had some recent falls 

Oh, I'm no worse for the wear , happily the extent of hurt inflicted was truly trivial. First fall felt like hitting a sofa. There is something to say for wearing a MC-jacket with built in padding, mil-style knee-padding and flexmeters. If I had been a bit more warmed up, I would not have hurt myself at all. As it is it only hurts when I cough, and then not much.

I think I was growing a bit to complacent.

Consider me cured.

[radial]

I ended up returning my original pair of Fleximeter guards for a refund.  I had bought them through REI, and that company has a very accommodating return policy.  I really like the product, and I think they do a better job of protecting your wrists and forearms from abrasion and fracture than the competition.  In fact, I like them well enough that I took the refund and immediately ordered another pair!  If the new set wears out prematurely, I guess I'll just keep on returning them and buying new ones.    

[WARPed1701D]

15 minutes ago, radial said:

I ended up returning my original pair of Fleximeter guards for a refund.  I had bought them through REI, and that company has a very accommodating return policy.  I really like the product, and I think they do a better job of protecting your wrists and forearms from abrasion and fracture than the competition.  In fact, I like them well enough that I took the refund and immediately ordered another pair!  If the new set wears out prematurely, I guess I'll just keep on returning them and buying new ones.    

Keep us updated. I'm hoping you just got a bad batch or something first tiem around.

[mezzanine]

There was an ebay coupon last night and I wish I'd used it to grab a pair of flexmeters.  This is the hardest piece of safety gear for me to get in Canada.  A little worried it might be a few weeks into riding before I get a pair. 

[radial]

3 hours ago, mezzanine said:

There was an ebay coupon last night and I wish I'd used it to grab a pair of flexmeters.  This is the hardest piece of safety gear for me to get in Canada.  A little worried it might be a few weeks into riding before I get a pair. 

https://www.rei.com/search.html?q=flexmeter&origin=web&ir=q%3Afleximeter&page=1

[esaj]

I've had my Flexmeters for over 2 years, bought early in summer of 2015, although they didn't see much use in the summer of 2016 (no working wheel, just some rides with a friends' KS16B), in total I'd guess I've put them on and taken them off hundreds of times, and taken a couple of falls palms first, although not from very high speeds. The worst damage from falls has been a small cut in my pinky (in 2015), I guess it would have been much worse without the guards. On mine there's some wear & tear, in general they're still OK, but the fabric at the left-hand one has torn partially on the sides near the skid plate. I think that's because I have this weird habit of fiddling around with the left hand skid plate sometimes when riding, no idea why I do that   No D30-markings on mine.

[esaj]

I was going to edit the above post to add things, but since the way to do it nowadays for everyone seems to be to make a new post and get insane post counts with very little content, I'll go that route too...  

As for the effort required to put them on and taking off, an example I can offer is from yesterday morning. I was riding to school early in the morning, about +7C outside, and my hands were cold. I had forgotten to put on thin woollen gloves I use under the Flexmeters, but luckily I had them in my jacket pocket. So, while riding down a long stretch of road that only curves around a bit and has good visibility, I peeled back my jacket sleeve, took off the left hand Flexmeter, placed it under my armpit to hold it, fished the gloves from my jacket pocket, put on the glove, put on the flexmeter and then repeat it for other hand. All this while following the edge of the road, so I'd say they're pretty easy to put on and take off... well, yeah, of course it matters that I've used them for such a long time, might not be that easy if you've only just got them.

Edited September 23, 2017 by esaj

[mezzanine]

On 9/23/2017 at 10:25 AM, esaj said:

I was going to edit the above post to add things, but since the way to do it nowadays for everyone seems to be to make a new post and get insane post counts with very little content, I'll go that route too...  

As for the effort required to put them on and taking off, an example I can offer is from yesterday morning. I was riding to school early in the morning, about +7C outside, and my hands were cold. I had forgotten to put on thin woollen gloves I use under the Flexmeters, but luckily I had them in my jacket pocket. So, while riding down a long stretch of road that only curves around a bit and has good visibility, I peeled back my jacket sleeve, took off the left hand Flexmeter, placed it under my armpit to hold it, fished the gloves from my jacket pocket, put on the glove, put on the flexmeter and then repeat it for other hand. All this while following the edge of the road, so I'd say they're pretty easy to put on and take off... well, yeah, of course it matters that I've used them for such a long time, might not be that easy if you've only just got them.

 

That's helpful.  I've read discussions among snowboarders about an issue with finding gloves that will fit over the flexmeters.  I'm expecting to use these in colder conditions. 

[esaj]

24 minutes ago, mezzanine said:

 

That's helpful.  I've read discussions among snowboarders about an issue with finding gloves that will fit over the flexmeters.  I'm expecting to use these in colder conditions. 

Gloves that fit over the guards might need to be relatively large, I use thin cotton gloves under the guards (I said wool earlier, but they're cotton... it comes down to the Finnish words, wool = villa, cotton = puuvilla). Enough for slightly chilly temperatures and to block wind, but probably not when it goes closer to freezing (0C / 32F). Similar to these:

 

Anything thicker would probably be too much to fit under the guards.

Edited September 24, 2017 by esaj

[mezzanine]

After some deliberation, I decided to get a pair of Triple 8 Hired Hands.  I plan to upgrade to the flexmeters in a year or so.  The Hired Hands were less than half of what the flexmeters would have cost and I can have them in a couple of days, which is timed better for the arrival of my wheel.  I was going to have to import from the UK and figured it'd take a couple of weeks for delivery right at the time I'm probably at greatest risk for falling. 

I've read mostly positive reviews of the Hired Hands and will pass along my impressions once I've got to know them a bit. 

[Steven D Wheeler]

I bought my Flexmeters 3 months ago and I now wear them like religiously.

I've had at least 6 falls on them and the really helped me disconnect from the ground as I skimmed along.

Last night had an unfortunate episode and the palm pad became unglued from the velcro piece.

A bit of crazy glue fixed this.

I am 6'3 220lbs and I bought XL's which fit me great.

I like Flexmeters cause they fit over many glove types that I tried.

 

[Marty Backe]

37 minutes ago, Steven D Wheeler said:

I bought my Flexmeters 3 months ago and I now wear them like religiously.

I've had at least 6 falls on them and the really helped me disconnect from the ground as I skimmed along.

Last night had an unfortunate episode and the palm pad became unglued from the velcro piece.

A bit of crazy glue fixed this.

I am 6'3 220lbs and I bought XL's which fit me great.

I like Flexmeters cause they fit over many glove types that I tried.

 

Thanks for the update. I've yet to test their effectiveness (knock on wood), but I wear mine all the time and they are still holding up (minimal wear-and-tear).

It's good to know that they are proving effective. Now we need to know why you are falling so much 

[Scatcat]

4 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Thanks for the update. I've yet to test their effectiveness (knock on wood), but I wear mine all the time and they are still holding up (minimal wear-and-tear).

It's good to know that they are proving effective. Now we need to know why you are falling so much 

He's the forest trail rider type AFAIK. Going fast on forest trails can do that to you...

[Steven D Wheeler]

Now days my falls are minimal if any. I've improved immensely.

A few weeks back I was learning how to ride sitting down which I took a couple falls.

After you fall, you learn what not to do, and then you pretty much just don't repeat it.

Most recently I'm trail riding at night bought 10pm after a 30mi ride I was about 2mi from home

trail is pitch black less for my spotlight beam, I'm coming out of a turn at about 30k and a guy sitting on a bench had a Black Lab

and it runs directly out in front of me, no reflective collar, lights, nothing.

I see the dog and am about to crush it so I lean hard left and put the wheel into a purposeful topple over and I landed upside down in the grass.

The trail rules state All dogs must be leashed. This guy apologized to me but still did not feel he needed to leash his dog.

Rather than argue I took off and kept riding. 

 

This is how I broke the skid pad off of my Flexmeters.

 

[WARPed1701D]

The guy was in the wrong not to have his dog on a leash and you are right to be annoyed with him, however, the wisdom of coming out of a pitch black turn (headlamp or not) riding a 70lb object at 30kph must also be in question. As a dog lover I'm glad you took action to avoid hitting he dog. You and it were lucky. But you were even luckier not to have hit the man had he been on the trail as you rounded that bend.

[meepmeepmayer]

Has anyone tried these with winter gloves (not too thick, think cloth, not fat skiing gloves)?

My old cheapo wrist guards are falling apart, and I've been eyeing (eying?) the Flexmeters for a time now (despite the price), but they have to work with gloves here, otherwise pointless for the coming season.

[Scatcat]

Pitch black = slower speed, especially if you don't see what's coming up around the bend. If you're going to make a routine of going in the dark in the woods, may I recommend a really strong head-lamp? That way you can point the light in the direction you're actually looking.

[Scatcat]

Just now, meepmeepmayer said:

Has anyone tried these with winter gloves (not too thick, think cloth, not fat skiing gloves)?

My old cheapo wrist guards are falling apart, and I've been eyeing (eying?) the Flexmeters for a time now (despite the price), but they have to work with gloves here, otherwise pointless for the coming season.

There is a flexmeter variant made for snowboarding, which includes the glove. Putting gloves over the standard flexmeters would only be possible if you have MC-covering gloves meant to be worn outside MC-protective gloves - or something in the same style.

I've considered fingerless leather gloves under the flexmeters, as I still want to be able to use the phone without having to take them off. If it gets cold enough that won't suffice, I'm not sure I will want to ride anyways... 

[meepmeepmayer]

6 minutes ago, Scatcat said:

There is a flexmeter variant made for snowboarding, which includes the glove.

Wow, that information is gold! Thanks!

I've been looking for gloves+wristguards in one, and combinations with guards under gloves (these usually seem to be for snowboarding), but I don't only want the wrist bend protection, but also a maximum of impact and abrasion protection for the heel of the hand. That's the hard part.

[Steven D Wheeler]

I just went through this a few days ago when my hands started to freeze.

In warmer weather I wear biking BMX gloves under my Flexmeters with no problem.

Now I just put Black Leather winter gloves under them and they fit good and stretch over them no problem.

These are like the $20 type you get at Kmart or...

 

I just bought a set of electric heated gloves that I will wear under them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075MH4J7Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Being delivered Thursday

 

* Yeah I use a 5000Lumen spotlight for night runs.

That's why I saw the dog and was able to force crash myself to avoid it.

I was sitting at the time so it wasn't as bad as could of been.

Forever now when I approach that turn at night I will be expecting a Black Lab to jump out at me!

 

[Scatcat]

9 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Wow, that information is gold! Thanks!

I've been looking for gloves+wristguards in one, and combinations with guards under gloves (these usually seem to be for snowboarding), but I don't only want the wrist bend protection, but also a maximum of impact and abrasion protection for the heel of the hand. That's the hard part.

https://www.wintersport-onlineshop.nl/en/snowboardglove-wristguard-dual-flexmeter.html

I haven't looked into all the details, but this is where I saw them.