If you are a new mountain biker, then you are no doubt going to fall off of you bike at least once or twice, even more so if you are not even used to riding a bike on the roads. Therefore, in order to avoid getting injured during these falls, it is very important that you are wearing elbow and knee pads in addition to your helmet.
Even if you are an experienced mountain biker you may still want to wear pads on both your elbows and knees if you are doing stunts of any kind or if you are doing downhill mountain biking where your chances of crashing are somewhat higher.
With all of the options out there for these kinds of pads it can be hard to pick which ones you want to get, however getting them all together as a set is perhaps the best choice that you can make. Not only will the different pieces then go together much better, but it is often cheaper to get them as a set instead of buying them individually.
Top Pick – JBM BMX Knee Pads And Elbow Pads With Wrist Guards
These pads come in three different sizes to help you get the right fit for you. This makes these a great option if you want to get these for a teen or if you have someone much bigger in mind, and there is even a sizing chart for both the knee pads and the elbow pads so that you can get the size that is best suited to you.
These do not cost as much as you might think that they would, and the addition of the wrist guards is something that it is very nice to have. All of these different parts are built specifically with mountain bikers and downhill mountain biking in mind, and so are extra durable.
The wrist guards in particular are made with a special hole for your thumb so that it fits as comfortably as possible. These do a great job of supporting your wrists and this is a necessity if you know that you tend to use your hands to catch yourself when you fall, which is what most people do.
All of the pads are made out of durable PE and PP materials for this purpose, with the sleeves being made of a breathable polyester so that there is plenty of airflow and your joints don’t get too hot. The straps that attach these pads to you are very adjustable and can be worn really tight if you like it that way or a little looser if you find that it being tight makes you uncomfortably warm or if you don’t like it for any other reason.
One thing that is great about the adjustability of these pads is that if you are buying for a teen who is in between sizes and still growing that it is perfectly safe to go with the size up and still have them fit right as your teen grows into them.
The only real downside to these is that there are not any color options, however the black color that these do come in pretty much goes with anything anyway. Another thing that is nice about these is the fact that they are perfectly suitable to wear for other sports besides mountain biking, including rollerblading, skateboarding, and other things that require you to still be able to move your joints around even with the pads on them.
Alternate Pick #1 – LANOVAGEAR Knee Elbow Pads And Wrist Guards
If for any reason you decide that you don’t like the top pick, this is a great alternate option that you could go with instead. It comes in 3 different sizes with a handy sizing chart available so that you can choose the one that best fits you. It also comes in two different colors, one of which is a solid black while the other is white on pink.
It is very durable and the plates are made out of a tough plastic with some soft EVA padding for comfort. Best of all is the fact that these are equipped with both straps and sleeves, so you can wear whichever one you prefer and either slip it on or strap it on.
This helps it to fit to you no matter what and yet to still keep your range of motion as much as possible. Finally, there is also the fact that these also come with a 1 year warranty, so if you use them and find that they are not able to cut it for you then you can return them.
Alternate Pick #2 – OMID Knee Pads And Elbow Pads With Wrist Guards
This is another set that not only has the knee pads and the elbow pads, but it also has the wrist guards as well. It is made of tough plastics plates and the same soft EVA padding that the last option had, and this does a good job of protecting you against even nails, screws, glass, and other things.
It comes in a total of 6 different sizes which means that it can fit mountain bikers of all ages and sizes quite easily, and the sizing chart helps you to choose the right size you need. It comes in two different colors: black on black and black on pink which can be nice if you are a girl and like pink things.
The fabric of the sleeve is breathable as well as sweat absorbing, however these guards do not rely on the sleeve to keep them in place and they also have Velcro straps to them to make sure that they stay on. These are also great pads to wear for other things besides mountain biking, and the straps are quite adjustable to make sure that they fit well.
Alternate Pick #3 – Mongoose BMX Bike Gel Knee And Elbow Pad Set
Finally, the last alternate pick that I will mention is one that only comes with a knee and an elbow set. However, this made the list for good reason, since it has on outer shell that is every bit as tough as the others but it has a gel in the padding instead of having EVA padding.
This gel acts as a great shock absorber and makes them even more comfortable to wear even on long days due to the fact that it conforms to your shape better without making you as warm. This is still a fairly new feature on the market and as such it can be slightly more expensive, but the price of this set is actually not too bad.
These have the usual Velcro straps which are easy to strap on or to take off and which also make them easy to adjust these pads to the right size to fit you. The fabric is a breathable mesh that is made to fit your form and, finally, they come only in black but they can have either orange or pink accents on them.
What You Should Look For In Pads
Choosing the right pads for you is something that can be hard to do considering all of the different options that are out there. However, by knowing what you want and what you need in pads before you even start looking, you can often find it a lot easier to make your final choice.
One of the things that you will want to think about is how long you will be wearing you pads at a time and if you intend on doing anything else while wearing them. Also, you should keep in mind if there are going to be any big hills to climb or hike a bike sections in the trails that you like to ride.
These are very important things to know before you make your choice because they will give you an idea of what you need to look for. Climbing uphill uses your legs a lot more, so you would want to make sure that your pads have plenty of motion for this, and if you know that you will be walking for long sections then you will want pads that feel fine when you walk with them so that you do not have to take them off and put them back on.
When it comes to longer rides vs shorter rides, if all you plan on doing is short rides then the amount of comfort your pads give you is something that will not be as important since you are only wearing them for a little while. For really long rides you may feel like sacrificing some protection for more comfort.
Another important thing that you should keep in mind is the kind of mountain biking that you plan on doing the most of. For example, if you are doing downhill mountain biking then you are going to need a lot more protection than if you are going to be doing most of your rides on trails that are comparatively flat.
If you do more than one kind of riding then it might be well worth it to you to have more than one set of pads. If you do choose to go with this route, you can get one set that offers a lot of protection for those more dangerous trails or the shorter trails and another set that gives less protection but is more comfortable for the longer trails.
While there are obviously going to be certain differences between elbow pads and knee pads, there are going to be certain things that you will want to be the same in both of these items. These are the features that you are going to want to look at specifically.
Good Protection
This feature should be a no brainer and one of the first things that you look at when you are trying to decide what pads to get. As mentioned, there are different levels of protection in a pad which will depend on what kind of riding you plan on doing.
Your pads should give you the right amount of protection, maybe a little bit more, but they are not something that you should go overkill on so use a bit of common sense here. You should also keep in mind your own riding style.
In other words, if you know that you are always careful you could probably get by with a little less protection, but if you know that you are for any reason more prone to getting hurt then you should go with more protection even when compared to other people who ride the same trails as you do.
Comfort
This is the second most important thing that you should look for when you are picking out knee and elbow pads to wear mountain biking. There are two main things that will affect your comfort: breathability and range of motion.
If the pads you are wearing are not breathable then this could make your joints quite hot and uncomfortable. Of course, if you are riding in the winter when the temperatures are cold you might actually like this, but in the summer when it is hot it will only serve to make you miserable.
Some options let you wear the pads a little looser so that there can be some airflow between the pads and your skin, but other kinds of pads solve this by making the fabric as breathable as possible. Polyester and mesh are both pretty good options for this.
When you are mountain biking it is very important that you are able to move both your legs and your arms freely and without the pads chafing or rubbing you anywhere since this will lead to blisters or at the very least be quite uncomfortable.
Your knees are going to be moving around a lot as you pedal, bending and unbending with each stroke of the pedals. While your elbows may not be needing to move around so much, you will need the pads to not resist your movement when you need to turn your handlebars or anything else, which is something that becomes even more important if there are a lot of turns in the trail.
Straps Vs Sleeve Design
When it comes to how mountain bike elbow and knee pads stay in place, there are two main designs: straps and sleeves. Sometimes you might find some pads that have both of these options built in and which let you choose which one you want to use, and this is something that can be really handy if you are not sure which one suits you best.
Then there are other options that have a loose sleeve with straps as well, which I will get to in a moment. One thing that you should keep in mind when going with a knee pad that has a sleeve design is that you will have to remember to put it on before you put your shoes on.
While it can be possible sometimes to put the sleeves on and to take them off over your shoe, this is not only much more difficult but it is also quite likely to get mud and dirt on the inside of your pads.
This is not only something that can be uncomfortable, but it is also going to be something that you would not even want to consider doing in muddy conditions.
The reason why sleeves are nice is because of the fact that they do not dig into your skin like straps can tend to do. However, straps are much better at making sure that the pads stay more securely in place even if you have a bumpy ride that would be enough to jostle a sleeved pad out of its place.
Another thing about straps is there is no fear of them stretching out over time like a sleeve can do, and there is also a better availability to adjust them more if they are too big, not to mention that a sleeve can sometimes be too small to even fit on.
Finally, another advantage to the strap designed pads is the fact that they do not cover as much of your arms or legs like a sleeve does, meaning that these can help to keep you cool. All in all, these are probably the best option if you want to do a lot of pedaling on really big hills since you could take them off for the uphill and strap them back on for the downhill.
As mentioned however, these straps can rub you in places, and they can also cut into your skin some if they are even a little too tight. This is why people with even moderately sensitive skin when it comes to such things are often far better off with pads that have the sleeve design.
This is also why it can be very useful to have pads that have a sleeve as well as straps, since the sleeve will be under the strap and can be a huge help when it comes to preventing the straps from digging into your skin.