Leatt 5.5 Upper Body Protection Suit

[Stevebee]

Not really. Fell directly backwards, didn’t have time to put hands out, so it was left side that hit first. Then helmet impacted. Quite winded, now know why. A&E did ct scan to be safe but the helmet did its job. I think if I was travelling at speed I could have slid and the impact would have been better.

[Cerbera]

Well the 5.5 body protector doesn't do so well when twatted in the rib area from the side apparently... Poor @Marty Backe gets a painful whack despite his Leatts - gotta say, I was hoping they would do a bit better than that - those plastic pads around the ribs are pretty substantial !

 

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by Cerbera

[Marty Backe]

13 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Well the 5.5 body protector doesn't do so well when twatted in the rib area from the side apparently... Poor @Marty Backe get's a painful whack despite his Leatts - gotta say I was hoping that would do a bit better than that - those plastic pads around the ribs are pretty substantial !

 

 

This is not the first time that the Leatt's have caused me pain. Sometimes I think the chest and rib guards are for protection against flying rocks and not impact with the ground 

[Stevebee]

45 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

This is not the first time that the Leatt's have caused me pain. Sometimes I think the chest and rib guards are for protection against flying rocks and not impact with the ground 

I was thinking that myself. I can understand the extremities, elbow/ shoulder, being hard plastic as it helps sliding but with the ribs it’s more the cushioning effect that seems better. Currently 3 weeks into 2 broken ribs so am now more interested in this area of protection. Demon do a body protector that uses D30 for impact protection so might look into that one. Most of the reviews will probably focus on MTB requirements so will need some interpretation 

[Marty Backe]

34 minutes ago, Stevebee said:

I was thinking that myself. I can understand the extremities, elbow/ shoulder, being hard plastic as it helps sliding but with the ribs it’s more the cushioning effect that seems better. Currently 3 weeks into 2 broken ribs so am now more interested in this area of protection. Demon do a body protector that uses D30 for impact protection so might look into that one. Most of the reviews will probably focus on MTB requirements so will need some interpretation 

A few ago I was on some ice at <5mph and the wheel slipped away. I went right down on the ground and am pretty sure the rib protection is what cause injuries to my ribs. They are made from hard plastic and the padding really isn't much.

[Cerbera]

Yeah - it's not much padding on the full bodysuit either, and I can quite see how the very ridged channels there could push, despite the foam behind them, into ribs in a most uncomfortable way. TBH I was impressed that Marty carried on for the rest of that epic ride ! In the Winter I wear a soft padded undercoat beneath that armour, which I think would have alleviated some of that rib pain, but that's not very practical in medium or high heat conditions.

Learning from this, I think I am going to do something 'extra' there; having been run over by a slow moving truck when I was 13 I have already broken 9 of my ribs and punctured a lung, so not keen to give them additional stress and repair work in the next fall ! 

Fortunately, as I am so thin, the rib protectors on the 5.5 are very loose around me anyway, so I can easily get some extra padding in there, and have a couple of foam options lying around to try spray gluing in... I suspect even a couple of foam computer mouse pads there would help, or perhaps some layered up baby bumper strip we use to protect our wheels ? That's pretty cushion-y !

Edited May 1, 2023 by Cerbera

[Stevebee]

2 hours ago, Cerbera said:

 and have a couple of foam options lying around to try spray gluing in... 

Thinking along similar lines. I have a spare D30 back protector which is a decent size. Should be possible to cut in half and attach to the inside of the hard rib protector to give it additional, more comfortable feel

[Cerbera]

Well, I am delighted to report that at last I have had my first proper fall off the Master on to rough asphalt roadway in all my Leatt gear ! Not to worry - was a fall from almost stationary caused by an incredibly tight little turn I had to make and a coincident pothole AND a massive gust of wind, which railed me into it, combined with a healthy dose of human error and down I went ! No cars around thank goodness - this was on a main road I was trying to cross.

Right Knee hit first and twisted on the ground, as allowed to by the Dual Axis knee guards, which meant I barely felt the impact in the knee that hit. After that it was full body weight on right elbow / lower arm, which crushed it into my ribs, both of which were covered in the Leatt 5.5 full bodysuit, enhanced by the extra rib padding I added the other day after @Marty Backe's fall, and very glad I did, because although I felt the pressure on my ribcage as I landed I had 2 layers of extra foam under the rib guards that comprehensively worked in distributing the force so that nothing stuck into me, and I wasn't even winded or bruised. Then it was right hip contact, protected by the L1 hip guards in my trousers. Last up was a little tap on the ground from my Scorpion ADX-2 (AD960) which again, I didn't feel at all. Zero damage to helmet that I can see, and I didn't even prang my delicate little mirror stalks !  . Fairly sure my head wouldn't have hit at all were it not for the weight of the helmet itself, but who cares - was just a little tap, and I was grateful not to feel it ! No neck strain.

I was very keen to see if my cheap-y cordura trousers had held up to some ground contact, and indeed they had held up impeccably - no rips in those at all, though not sure much of them touched the ground in the whole event so that remains 'inconclusive' until we get some proper slidey action.

So, I was able to get straight back on, and enjoy an hour and a half's riding down by the lake afterwards.

On getting home and examining me and the armour I see the skin has a tiny tiny little abrasion near my right elbow, and the armour remains scuffed in all the areas that contacted the ground (except helmet), but other than that both me and the wheel are undamaged. I was wearing a light coat over the armour, which has now got a couple of small holes, but it did its job, and protected the armour under it from displacing or tearing itself.

Well done Leatt and Scorpion - you are doing your job !

Edited May 4, 2023 by Cerbera

[Marty Backe]

3 hours ago, Cerbera said:

Well, I am delighted to report that at last I have had my first proper fall off the Master on to rough asphalt roadway in all my Leatt gear ! Not to worry - was a fall from almost stationary caused by an incredibly tight little turn I had to make and a coincident pothole AND a massive gust of wind, which railed me into it, combined with a healthy dose of human error and down I went ! No cars around thank goodness - this was on a main road I was trying to cross.

Right Knee hit first and twisted on the ground, as allowed to by the Dual Axis knee guards, which meant I barely felt the impact in the knee that hit. After that it was full body weight on right elbow / lower arm, which crushed it into my ribs, both of which were covered in the Leatt 5.5 full bodysuit, enhanced by the extra rib padding I added the other day after @Marty Backe's fall, and very glad I did, because although I felt the pressure on my ribcage as I landed I had 2 layers of extra foam under the rib guards that comprehensively worked in distributing the force so that nothing stuck into me, and I wasn't even winded or bruised. Then it was right hip contact, protected by the L1 hip guards in my trousers. Last up was a little tap on the ground from my Scorpion ADX-2 (AD960) which again, I didn't feel at all. Zero damage to helmet that I can see. Fairly sure my head wouldn't have hit at all were it not for the weight of the helmet itself, but who cares - was just a little tap, and I was grateful not to feel it ! No neck strain.

I was very keen to see if my cheap-y cordura trousers had held up to some ground contact, and indeed they had held up impeccably - no rips in those at all, though not sure much of them touched the ground in the whole event so that remain 'inconclusive' until we get some proper slidey action.

So, I was able to get straight back on, and enjoy an hour and a half's riding down by the lake afterwards.

On getting home and examining me and the armour I see the skin has a tiny tiny little abrasion near my right elbow, and the armour remains scuffed in all the areas that contacted the ground (except helmet), but other than that both me and the wheel are undamaged. I was wearing a light coat over the armour, which has now got a couple of small holes, but it did its job, and protected the armour under it from displacing or tearing itself.

Well done Leatt and Scorpion - you are doing your job !

Do you have any pictures/details on the padding that you added under the rib guards?

[Fuerte]

You guys see that they now have a 6.5 protection that is even better than 5.5? I don't wear it, but I saw that it is out and since you are discussing it...

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/riding-gear/leatt-6.5-body-protector-p

[Clem604]

25 minutes ago, Fuerte said:

You guys see that they now have a 6.5 protection that is even better than 5.5? I don't wear it, but I saw that it is out and since you are discussing it...

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/riding-gear/leatt-6.5-body-protector-p

I have the 6.5 without the mesh shirt. It's relatively light and easy to wear and I like it. No issues so far.

[Cerbera]

8 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Do you have any pictures/details on the padding that you added under the rib guards?

I certainly do ! Somewhat ironically I am using the packing material that came wrapped around the replacement Begode pad Speedy Feet had to send me because the original was ripped in the box !

It is this thin, white, dense packing foam, which I have merely cut to size and doubled up to fit the side rib plates on the Leatt. Mine aren't even glued / velcroed in yet as the friction fit given by the elastic there seemed to hold pretty well for test ride purposes before I did anything permanent, but I plan to stick them in there with upholstery foam spray adhesive. 

For anyone wondering, those yellow pads behind them are my hip protectors, which get shoved up inside the Leatt's elastic bodysuit material (which helpfully comes down extra low !), and get held in place by the kidney belt. I have another 2, flatter versions of those that get shoved down the back of my special riding pantaloons to make up for the lack of tailbone protection from the bodysuit !

Edited May 4, 2023 by Cerbera

[Cerbera]

5 hours ago, Fuerte said:

You guys see that they now have a 6.5 protection that is even better than 5.5? I don't wear it, but I saw that it is out and since you are discussing it...

https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/riding-gear/leatt-6.5-body-protector-p

That was actually newly out when I bought my 5.5, and I watched a few videos that compared them. But 2 things meant I didn't get that; firstly, I couldn't find the 6.5 in white in the UK at the time, and I liked the whites of the 5.5, and secondly because I got the 5.5 at an epically low price because it was end of line ! When this one wears out I will probably go to 6.5 or even 7.5, which is coming soon !

Edited May 4, 2023 by Cerbera

[Stevebee]

I’m trying these. Quite slim, D30, level 1 protection. Looks like they’ll fit quite well

 

[Stevebee]

Attached using cable ties as the D30 material is quite slippy. Fit like a glove and bend to the curve of the original shape if the rib protection. Feel better having D30 covering the ribs and feels like it's not there. Cost less than £30

[Cerbera]

6 minutes ago, Stevebee said:

Attached using cable ties as the D30 material is quite slippy. Fit like a glove and bend to the curve of the original shape if the rib protection. Feel better having D30 covering the ribs and feels like it's not there. Cost less than £30

 

Ooh nice - hadn't thought of attaching my foam with cable ties ! And forgot to buy the spray glue in town the other day, so it's not too late ! Cheersly !