well its about time to get a new set of knee guards, is anyone using the 661 evo guards? how do you like the d30 material? it looks pretty cool, but i am curious to hear some real world experiences? thanks for your time/input, happy new year!
Anyone using 661 Evo knee guards?
- Thread starter Morgan
- Start date
I'm using a pair right now, and although I'm yet to actually fall on them, I can say that although they are slightly more flexible, the Evo knee pads seem to have about the same protection as the Kyle Strait's, regardless of whether the D30 actually helps or not. So, if you're looking for something along the lines of the Kyle Strait's, the Evo's are basically a sleeker version, and I'm sure the D30 stuff would work so probably a bit more protection
I used them for half of last season for DH racing and I had to end up buying the new 661 knee/shin combo. They are lightweight and didn't move around too much but the D3O was not enjoyable on sharp objects. I slammed the top of my knee on my stem hard one race, when I took the pad off I had a perforation bruise from where the D3O is perforated at the top. I noticed throughout my time on them that they weren't as protective as even the kyle straits or a similar product without the D3O. I wear them for freeriding/cross country and love them for that.well its about time to get a new set of knee guards, is anyone using the 661 evo guards? how do you like the d30 material? it looks pretty cool, but i am curious to hear some real world experiences? thanks for your time/input, happy new year!
The D3O works to a degree. It doesn't take the shock out of the hit as much as a piece of plastic would so it will give you some protection but it still hurts a lot more than a product with a hard piece of plastic that disperses the energy.
It is up to the rider obviously. My teammate swears by them and won't go back to anything else.
There is huge potential for the D3O tech. and it is nice to see 661 putting it on a lot of their products in a good way. I can't wait for the D3O upper armor to come out.
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Second on everything rufus said. I feel like they would stop my knee from breaking, it still hurts like hell when you hit sharp rocks hard. I like my tomcats more, and I feel like the plastic in the tomcats stays on your knee better. I also want to see the jacket with a hard plastic spine guard, D30 everything else
Kyle straites and be done with it!!!!! 
I tried pair and couldnt get past the fact that they felt baggy on me (same size as straits) and jumping in air to ground on knees they hurt compared to the straits! 'Id be intrested in a set of straits with shin option as my shins look like carnage with scars etc.....
I think the technology is great but lacks a little bit yet, or needs to be matched with a litle more padding underneath to help with initial square or sharp hits.
I tried pair and couldnt get past the fact that they felt baggy on me (same size as straits) and jumping in air to ground on knees they hurt compared to the straits! 'Id be intrested in a set of straits with shin option as my shins look like carnage with scars etc.....
I think the technology is great but lacks a little bit yet, or needs to be matched with a litle more padding underneath to help with initial square or sharp hits.
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I really like mine, can't say as I hit anything sharp with em, but did go down in the rocks at angelfire, and highspeed stuff at snowmass with little or no marking where the pad caught the impact. where it caught the impact being the key. When I crashed at snowmass, there was a lot of tumbling involved and one of them moved off my knee.....so. Like I said, I really like em, but I would say if you're prone to crashing a lot, look into something with a little more to it.
I'm a big fan of the Shadow Conspiracy pads. They are super low profile, really good mobility, and have a hard plastic knee cap. I had Kyle Straits before, but they always slipped down. They shadows protect better, and fit better under pants. I don't understand what that weird padding that bunches up on the sides of the 661s is for?
I put beads of silicone on the inside to prevent them from slipping. I landed on my knees once after overshooting a dirt jump and had to throw my bike away mid-air. It was my real first test of the Evo's and walked away w/o any pain. I've yet to land on anything jagged yet. It's no replacement for plastic, that's for sure.
Thats a good idea, mine slipped when I overshot a jump and got body checked to the ground. Right one slipped (kyle strait) and my scab finally came of the other day. Needless to say the one on my arm, shin, butt, shoulder are still there!
Atleast I could have prevented 1!Ill try that! Thanks.
Hucking2flat wasn't bad enough??
Morgan, the Evos are pretty sick and really easy to move around in, but like everyone else said, they really suck on anything sharp. I have a pair for dirtjumping and they work awesome, but I still like the T-Bones for DH. When you get down here in a few days you can check out mine, if you want a pair my shop has a bunch of them. Maybe some full wrap around knee/shin/ankle/back of leg/feet protection is in order (yeah right...f that s!) Hopefully you can get out of the snow, we gots trails ta ride!