Im on the hunt for some new elbow pads, Something that fits really well and wont be annoying to wear on a long day of riding. I am kind of a lanky skinny dude so im hoping some fellow stick people can come through with some solid recommendations. Im particularly interested to hear if anyone has tried Akta's elbow pads, as i own their knee pads and love them.
Probably gonna lean towards getting something level 1 protection rated, as those seem to be a lot more comfortable and ergonomic. Any help is much appreciated, thanks!
I find that elbow pads do nearly as much damage as good... but there are certain situations where I may be pushing my limits, whether that be through practicing specific skills, dialing in specific trails or types of trails or sometimes bike park days where they are a necessary evil. Regarding the do as much damage as good, what I mean by that is the constriction on my forearms or annoyance dealing with them, or added heat leads to a higher probability of a crash then I would otherwise have. For example, I rarely wear elbow pads, but I was wearing them for the first day of a multi-day bike park trip just a week ago. I forgot that I do not wear my garmin fenix watch when wearing elbow pads and wore them together on the first day. As bad luck would have it, I gave myself a gnarly bone bruise in the small sliver of arm that is between my elbow pad and watch... which really screwed up my grip strength in the days that followed.
With that said, I have two pairs of elbow/arm pads that I wear occasionally (very rarely). POC VPD Air and TLD Speed Elbow Sleeves. I wear the POC's as actual elbow pads and I wear the TLD speed elbow sleeves as abrasion protection when bushwacking off the menu trails in my local mountains.
Neither are particularly fun to wear and if you asked me whether I would rather get stiches for an hour after the ride, or spend 5 hours in elbow pads, it's a coin flip which option I would chose.
I grabbed those dirt cheap Pearl Izumis from Jenson and they were fine. I used to use G Forms which were okay, particularly when they were cheaper, but I saw someone take a rock between the padding and decided to avoid Gform lol (plus they got stupid expensive)
As much as I love hard shell pads, I would avoid them for elbows. Haven't found a good one yet. Tend to be really uncomfortable. If I were going to try I would go for those Leatt hybrid ones.
That said, money no issue, if I wanted what looks like the best elbow pad in the market... It would probably be Ion Arcon LT. Those knees and elbows look elite. Not cheap and not every storefront has em tho
If you are just looking to... Trying them out, you can def start with those Pearl Izumis on Jenson (or other places, on sale everywhere). They're the first ones I've tried that feel as comfortable as Gforms but don't look as compromised as Gforms.
hi there fellow ectomorph
I've been searching for those kinds of elbow pads save for ce level 2 and found that ion arcon lt and tld stage pro elbow pads fit me really well, arent really noticeable, and provide lots of protection. I think I love ion stuff more than tld (blasphemy, but yeah). they just never slip.
Elbow pads are tough to size. Like @ebruner says, they can be a real problem if they're too tight on the forearm leading to arm pump. I have large forearms for my build, which makes sizing hard, but if you're skinny you probably have more options. The new Chromag ones work great for me and are true to size I'd say (I wear medium shirts and shorts and their medium elbows fit me). I would skip anything with a velcro strap because it'll just get in the way. The GForm X4s are less GForm-y (have a single continuous pad) and had a nice cupped shape, but were too tight in the forearm for me.
I'm using the Dharco Gravity elbow pad. First elbow pad I've ever used that doesn't slip and generally just disappears. No issues with arm pump or tightness in the forearm. I measured up between sizes and sized down. Past pads have included Fox, TLD, RaceFace and Dainese.
Ion Acorn LT for elbow and K-Pact SQ for the knees. Zero shifting and CE level 2. I wouldn't do all day xc rides in them, but they breathe really good and are comfortable enough for 3-4 hour pedal adventures but have the protection to give me some piece of mind racing DH. Was on leatt's before and I hated the fit, and lack of side coverage of the knee. One crash earlier this year resulted in the pad slipping and I hit a nerve in my elbow pretty good. Still get some pain during certain movements, bought the ION's on my way home that day. Out of POC VDP's, Troy lee, RF, FOX and my Leatt's the ION have been the best ive used so far.
I have never had a pair of elbow pads that didn't constantly fall down while riding. Except for a pair of volleyball knee pads I used as elbow pads for most of a season, but they were soft pads without a hard insert, so I'm not sure they'd do anything helpful in a crash. YMMV.
661 Recon Elbow Pads (V2) Black - JetBlack Cycling Ride faster, harder & have more fun
These work, I have tried lots of different elbow pads and it's all over the place with what you get. I too am a lanky build, and they stay up - which seems to be the only important metric for elbow pads. Once on I forget I am wearing them. The original G-forms were epic but as other have said they now don't stay up as well and cost a shit load more to boot. Basically all you want is a tight lycra style sleeve with some silicone grippers and d30 gel or similar.
Yeah I get that, and have carried the same mentality for the majority of my time on my bike. The thing is that I'm barely a year into riding, and have quickly progressed to black diamond trails at my local system. They are absolutely gnarly, mostly loose dirt and tons of very sharp rocks. I'm usually riding at the very limit of my skill, and don't plan on pulling back. I have been lucky to avoid many crashes so far, but I know it will happen, and I want to avoid time off the bike. I figure if I can find some elbow pads that fit as well as my akta knee pads, I will barely notice them. I don't mind carrying a pack and putting on/taking off pads as needed so the heat issue has never really bothered me.
I got the Pearl Izumis too and they fit really well, best elbow pads I've owned to date! great price too.
Been using a set of raceface ambush elbow pads for ~2 years now. Reasonably low profile, stay in place, and have saved my elbows in a couple heavy crashes. Pretty sure I would have been done for a season if not for these pads.
This thread does make me wonder if they are contributing to my arm pump though.
I recently bought a pair of IXS Hack Race because they were on sale and have a hardshell-ish outer, which will hopefully make them survive a few crashes on asphalt pumptracks. So far quite happy with the fit
https://www.ixs.com/en/products/ixs-hack-race-ellbogenschoner-schwarz
With unlimited budget I probably would have gone for the Arcon LT, they seem real nice for a level 2 pad.
2nd the Ion Arcon LT pad. Love their knee pads, and the elbow pad I also got seems just as spot on. Can't say much for fit as everyons arms are different, but will say the knee pad sleeve has held up reallllll well for almost 2 years of use without any significant sliding issues.
I have never heard of ion before this thread, seems like they are quite popular. Gonna try and hunt down a local shop that sells em to see how they fit.
Went to a local shop over the weekend and the chromag pads are at the top of my shortlist. They fit the best by far. The Akta ones were pretty nice too, but the chromag ones fit slightly better.
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