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FRO Neck Protect

GPERKINS

Monkey
Jul 25, 2007
303
0
Timberlake
After seeing all of that has happened to Tara and Steven Murry I have decided that I will be sporting a neck guard for the 08 downhill season. I have been hearing more and more about the FRO Neck Protect and wanted to see if any one else had had any exprience with this yet. If you have never thought about wearing on then I would highley suggest it.

Lots of pros this years including Steve Peat, Danny Hart and Cedric Gracia will be sporting them to help reduce the chances of Neck Injury. So dont be a victim of Fashion!! :plthumbsdown:

Thanks,
Austin
 

bpatterson6

Turbo Monkey
Jul 1, 2004
1,049
0
Colorado
I'm also interested in one. I heard a freakin' horror story about my buddy's dad riding an ATV. Broken Neck. Code Blue. Etc. Got me to thinking that one of those bad boys may not be a bad idea. I'd be interested in one as well.

 

GPERKINS

Monkey
Jul 25, 2007
303
0
Timberlake
it is defintley not a bad idea, espically seeing all the pain Tara is going through. Danny hart wrote a review on his FRO neck protect and he said you cant even tell you are wearing it once you get it fitted right, and he was still rocking his sucicide no handers
 

Hulkamaniac

Monkey
Oct 10, 2001
501
0
Germantown, MD
EVS is coming out with a leatt type brace in May and it's only $150-$175 depending on where you look. They are only taking pre-orders right now. This can only help drive down the cost of the brace and I think pretty soon we'll see it as just another regular peice of your average dh (& moto) protective gear as they become more affordable.

Alpinestars is also working on their own version, but I've yet to see anything other than Reed wearing it in supercross this season.
 

Akula_7

Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
917
0
It's funny you say "don't be a victim of fashion", when in actual fact it is far more fashionable to wear a neck brace at present.

I'll try not to sound like a complete idiot, but how 100% certain can everyone be that a Fro/Leatt or EVS brace will stop neck injurys of all kinds? If you are comfortable wearing one then go for it I suppose, but like with a knee brace, artificially strenghtening one area of your body could possibly lead to complications in other areas.

It is very interesting debate, and obviously if some more high profile DH riders wear them then they will undoubtadly become more popular (ala MX).

But riding with one on a push bike without the aid of 70hp is something I always think of. And also you could just as easily brake a cervical vertebrae while riding some XC trails as in DH runs, but I highly doubt you'd consider rocking a neck brace for some trail riding with friends?

And to finish off, you are also siting Tara Llanes paraylse as a reason for thinking of a neck brace, but I highly doubt a "neck" brace would have prevented Tara breaking her back, i.e. she broke, thorasic and/or lumbar vertabrae, which from what I can see a neck brace like Leatt would not have stopped.

If people are so worried about injuries, maybe DH isin't the sport for them, taking sensible precautions is worthwhile, but jesus you cojuld have a small crash, get a blood clot, then brain haemorrage and die in 10mins! Which like breaking ones neck is unlikely but possible, so how far do precautions go? Pack it up and stay at home? Or hold it wide and let it slide!!!
 

GPERKINS

Monkey
Jul 25, 2007
303
0
Timberlake
that is the dumest Post I have ever heard. If you dont want to take percutations so you dont break your neck then hell, go for it. I'm not saying that you need to sit in a room filled with tires and bubble wrap but I doubt that even you will not want to be sitting in the middle of a DH run with a broken neck, its common sense
 

Akula_7

Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
917
0
that is the dumest Post I have ever heard. If you dont want to take percutations so you dont break your neck then hell, go for it. I'm not saying that you need to sit in a room filled with tires and bubble wrap but I doubt that even you will not want to be sitting in the middle of a DH run with a broken neck, its common sense
Settle down there horse, why is my post dumb? Did you even read it fully? I'm not saying that a neck brace is a waste of time, but it can only protect you from braking a limited amount of your vertabrae. I think my post was quite measured really.

Has anyone ever proved the effectiveness of a neck brace in all situations? I think you just seemed to focus on the last portion of my post?

I think that in many cases having a well developed, balanced and strong neck and back and torso muslces will go a long way to preventing many spinal injuries!

It's funny, people are so petrified of spinal injuries because of high profile horror stories, when there are countless other injuries out ther that can be equally as debilatating.

Leatt has been around fo 3-4years now, but before that no one really thought or cared about the possibliity of neck injuries. After all that is the only thing a neck brace wil do is protect your neck.

I mean most MX back brakes have come from casing or over shooting jumps, something a Leatt brace etc... could never prevent. (Fonseca et al aside).

I know a lot of motocrossers and DHers who have had spinal injuries and some of them share my ideas about the true merit of a neck brace. Some however don't and have chosen to wear a Leatt brace...however we don't call each other stupid, we just respect each others opinions. Opinions which are not made out of fear but experience.

And this is coming after I cracked a cervical vertabrae early last August. Very fine crack but I know what it feels like now!
 

GPERKINS

Monkey
Jul 25, 2007
303
0
Timberlake
Sorry I jumped the gun there man, so your saying that a Body suit with a good Back plate would have prevented the MX injuries that some guys have been getting?
 

Akula_7

Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
917
0
Sorry I jumped the gun there man, so your saying that a Body suit with a good Back plate would have prevented the MX injuries that some guys have been getting?
No need for sarcasm. What I saying is that ther are only so many precautions we can take as reletively fragile mammals. And all I am doing is rationally questioning the merits of a neck brace instead of blindly thinking it is some miricle protection system that means I can rag doll all I want an walk away uninjured.

The type of MX injuries I am talking about usually occur from over shooting doubles, which no protection system in the world could prevent.

I'm over having this debate with you, especially seen as you have no interest in giving reasonable answers or responses to some quite rational ideas.

Holding a neck brace as the ultimate in life saving potection and being so blind with fear that you feel compeld to use one I think is quite a bad way to make what should be a measured and rational decision on what protection equipment you require to be confident to ride your bike.
 

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
And this is coming after I cracked a cervical vertabrae early last August. Very fine crack but I know what it feels like now!
Woa, bummer man. You healed up all good yet? btw, I have to agree with you on your post. I'd be pretty bummed out if neck braces became officially mandated by the UCI/NORBA.

And breaking your collarbone with the Leatt brace would really suck. That'd be a nasty break.

Call me a wuss, but I don't always ride at breakneck speeds. I don't feel like a retard for not wearing a brace every time I pull out the DH sled, and neither should anyone else who rides at controlled speeds.
 

Akula_7

Monkey
Nov 15, 2004
917
0
Woa, bummer man. You healed up all good yet? btw, I have to agree with you on your post. I'd be pretty bummed out if neck braces became officially mandated by the UCI/NORBA.

And breaking your collarbone with the Leatt brace would really suck. That'd be a nasty break.

Call me a wuss, but I don't always ride at breakneck speeds. I don't feel like a retard for not wearing a brace every time I pull out the DH sled, and neither should anyone else who rides at controlled speeds.

Ha, nah it's all good, went ice skating (for first time) 2 days later, that was heaps scarier! Was back doing DH runs in 4 days, a bit backed off though! Took two weeks to get confidence back, had some pain from legiment damage for around 2 months!

Not a major deal really, broke a toe once and that gave me way more ****!

There are some could points in this thead about this very subject!

http://www.descent-world.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,48348.0.html



You have any WC's planned for '08 Jeff?
 

Biffff

Monkey
Jan 10, 2006
913
0
And breaking your collarbone with the Leatt brace would really suck. That'd be a nasty break.
You're Feckin right there. I broke my collarbone last year the good old fashined way (15x20 road gap in the wind too head and sholder plant) with no brace. It sucked. That thing would likely cause a serious union fracture, or compound fracture in the right situation.
 

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
Ha, nah it's all good, went ice skating (for first time) 2 days later, that was heaps scarier!
I'd be afraid of ice skating too. Not so much afraid of falling on the ever-so-hard ice, but more afraid of being seen by anyone with a camera and access to mySpace. :)

No '08 WC's planned at the moment. Getting all the way over to Bromont isn't looking good, and I don't wanna deal with a trade team or whatever. I'm graduating school in a few weeks, so I'm broke, but there are some job prospects on the horizon. Hopefully by next summer I'll be back in Europe. That damned 3 month long tourist visa is pissing me off greatly! I wanna go back to Spain for a year or two, but spend time working instead of going to school. I'll race a buncha NORBAs and other US events.

Which WC's are you doing? How'd you break your back? A buddy of mine broke t6 and t9 the day before I did my pelvis, and he's just barely getting back to XC. I was fine four weeks after that weekend. Backs suck! Good luck with the confidence building, Chris.
 

General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
You're Feckin right there. I broke my collarbone last year the good old fashined way (15x20 road gap in the wind too head and sholder plant) with no brace. It sucked. That thing would likely cause a serious union fracture, or compound fracture in the right situation.
You can still walk with the broken collar bone, right? and it will eventually heal, correct?
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
You will never know for sure if a neck brace prevented an injury. However, it is clear that in many instances that it will help to prevent a broken neck. No one to date has broken their neck with a Leatt on. There are a lot of MX guys that are using them Sure, some have broken their collar bones and one guy cut his neck. I see those injuries as an acceptable side effect.

You really need to make up your mind what you want for protection. I always wear my Leatt on the MX bikes and sometimes wear it for DH. I really should use it for DH all the time.
 

davep

Turbo Monkey
Jan 7, 2005
3,276
0
seattle
It's funny you say "don't be a victim of fashion", when in actual fact it is far more fashionable to wear a neck brace at present.

I'll try not to sound like a complete idiot, but how 100% certain can everyone be that a Fro/Leatt or EVS brace will stop neck injurys of all kinds? If you are comfortable wearing one then go for it I suppose, but like with a knee brace, artificially strenghtening one area of your body could possibly lead to complications in other areas.

It is very interesting debate, and obviously if some more high profile DH riders wear them then they will undoubtadly become more popular (ala MX).

But riding with one on a push bike without the aid of 70hp is something I always think of. And also you could just as easily brake a cervical vertebrae while riding some XC trails as in DH runs, but I highly doubt you'd consider rocking a neck brace for some trail riding with friends?

And to finish off, you are also siting Tara Llanes paraylse as a reason for thinking of a neck brace, but I highly doubt a "neck" brace would have prevented Tara breaking her back, i.e. she broke, thorasic and/or lumbar vertabrae, which from what I can see a neck brace like Leatt would not have stopped.

If people are so worried about injuries, maybe DH isin't the sport for them, taking sensible precautions is worthwhile, but jesus you cojuld have a small crash, get a blood clot, then brain haemorrage and die in 10mins! Which like breaking ones neck is unlikely but possible, so how far do precautions go? Pack it up and stay at home? Or hold it wide and let it slide!!!

So I gather that you wear zero protection? No helmet, because that does not protect your neck. No upper armor as that does not protect your wrists. No knee pads as you can still break an ankle.

Since nothing is a guarantee, why wear ANY protection of any kind? Why wear clothing at all????

The fact is that a neck brace is (like EVERY other piece of protection) designed to help limit risk to a CERTAIN area..nothing comes with a guarantee nor the idea that one 'pad' will cover any and every area of the body in every circumstance. Where did you get the idea that a neck brace should protect the lower back to be beneficial?

Sorry that you had a fracture, but the reality is, that is small time. If you ever have the unfortunate circumstance to have a serious, life changing injury, you might understand how a person could want to continue to be able to participate in a sport they love and yet at the same time possible help limit the risk of permanant disability.

I have been through some serious spinal injury, and like most others who have, I applaude companies who push to offer any incremental safety benefits.

No one is forcing you or anyone else to wear anything you do not want to...but for you to tell someone who IS interested in precautions that DHing is not appropriate for them....

When you have experienced an injury that might forever prevent you from living the life you have come to know and expect from the most basic skills like walking or dressing yourself, come back and let us all know how you feel about injury prevention.
 

dondon

Monkey
And breaking your collarbone with the Leatt brace would really suck. That'd be a nasty break.
I dont know where this rumor was made up. On crashes when a collar bone broke while wearing a Leatt brace in 99% of the time th e collar bone would have broken anyway without the brace. And if the crash was that severe that the collar bone did break, then the Leatt brace did its job protecting your neck.

The brace is not simply an untested piece of protection like a knee pad or pair of gloves. It undergoes many rigorous scientific and medical tests...stay tuned for more on this later...
 

Jonny5

Monkey
Feb 13, 2007
502
0
How much testing has the fro had compared to the leatt?

The only issue I see is that most injuries happen when you are just mucking around on a bike. My mate is a quad after trying to bail with clip pedals off a 4ft dirtjump. Another broke is neck dropping off a 3 ft retaining wall- lucky he is fine now. It just one of those bull**** things that happens. These people would never have had a brace on while doing these things, even if they owned one.

So I really don't know. I race BMX and DH, but 90% of my riding is just mucking around. Be it at the skate park, dirtjumps or trails- doesn't really work with an open face...

Do I buy one? Hmm.
 

bikenweed

Turbo Monkey
Oct 21, 2004
2,432
0
Los Osos
I dont know where this rumor was made up.
At first glance, it's what I immediately thought. It really seems that others have had the same first impression as well. And many will continue to conjecture that the brace will leverage force onto the collarbone until there's some proof that it doesn't. We're not doctors, nor are we sports-brace specialists, but we are allowed to doubt something.

Unfortunately, so many things in mountain biking fall under this doubt of "guilty until proved innocent" cloud. Heck, the brace is probably great, but it sure does look scary. On a personal level, if people want to wear it, that's fine. It really doesn't affect me what others do.

Anyhow, you had a really bad injury a few years back at Whistler. How's it all feel? It was a broken neck, right? Are you going to be rocking the brace over the season? What do you think about it?

Cheers!
 

General Lee

Turbo Monkey
Oct 16, 2003
2,860
0
The 802
This video was made by David Baily last February as a call to professional motocross riders to take the Leatt brace seriously. One year later and they are everywhere. With the DH season starting right as supercross ends, I can't imagine the DH crowd will be too far behind.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2540171359427789623&q=david+bailey&pr=goog-sl

And though we aren't going as fast or as big as 450's, the huge improvements in technology over the past few years have brought DH speeds way up and made the margin for error razor thin.
 
Dec 11, 2007
43
0
i have no idea why people on this site are trying to bash armour and a leatte brace. The comments about getting hit by a car and **** are just plain stupid... that has nothing to do with downhill mountain biking! First off armour is great! its good to wear it just riding or practising for a race and such. Of course armour wont stop u from landing funny and seperating a shoulder.. so dont think people who wear armour think its some sorta miracle thing that prevents them from injury. What people seem to be missing is that in downhill we dont always have an end all crash when we fall. Most of the time i wash out in a berm or something and am unaffected. Armour is nice because it covers the main points of contact that your body will hit. When your rolling on rocks armour reallly helps and your able to get back up surprisingly fine. Armour cant help you going like 60mph shoulder first into a tree but most of the time that doesnt happen. In the end armours great! it just can get a little hot in a race run so if people want to take the risk then go for it! thats biking! as for the leatte brace though please dont try and question its affectivness. This this defiently does work and has saved many. Its starting to come up in biking more now and is great for the sport and offers more protection! right now though it seems like its gonna be tough to get use to the loss of mobility so for some it just will not work for them which is understandable. Also i would respect the pros desicions to wear a leatte brace because they are very knowledgeable in this sport. Just stop bashing the leatte brace because it does work!
 

Rick205

Monkey
Jun 20, 2006
200
0
I for sure will be investing in one for when im riding at decent tracks (i say that as my local track is very very poor - almost open helmet territory)

I cracked my sternum a few years ago just before my 18th birthday, i went to a track i had raced a few times just after passing my driving test and kept getting faster and faster down this steep to flat to steep section.

Anyway, i hit the flat after the first steep, bottomed the bike which bucked me up and over the bars andi didnt hit the floor until the bottom of the slope (30 plus feet down onto my head)

My chin guard was forced forwards into my sternum cracking it and my helmet (yes my helmet cracked on my chest bone)

- i was lucky i didnt sustain a spinal injury or possibly worse -my friend said he thought i was screwed when i touched down due to the angle my kneck was forced.

Needless to say if really fu@k1ng hurt! and i think i would have been ok had i been wearing a brace - i suffered for a few weeks after not even being able to get out of bed myself, and everything to do with my spine/neck hurt like mad.

To be honset, as stated, i would wear this and no elbow/chest armour - a cut or broken collar bone will heal and may hurt, but damage your spinal areas/neck etc and we all know the consequences.
 

ChrisKring

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
2,399
6
Grand Haven, MI
The KTM is the same as the sport version of the Leatt. KTM and BMW helped to fund the development of the Leatt with Dr. Leatt. Therefore, they are able to brand and distribute them. I think the pricing is similar. Cool color though. KTM became involved with Leatt after some serious injures with some of their factory enduro guys in Europe.

For people outside the US, a KTM dealer would be a good option to try one on at.

Also for the fasion concious, many graphics companies are making custom stickers for the Leatt that will make them match the rest of your gear and add sponsor logos.

It might have been discussed above, but EVS also has a new neck brace out. Retail is around $180 but it is going for $160 online already. Many stores are taking pre-orders now. motosportoutlet.com and thumpertalk.com have pictures. It is offered in many colors and seems to address the collarbone breaking issue disscussed in a few of these threads.
 

JohnnyC

Monkey
Feb 10, 2006
399
1
Rotorua, New Zealand
it is defintley not a bad idea, espically seeing all the pain Tara is going through. Danny hart wrote a review on his FRO neck protect and he said you cant even tell you are wearing it once you get it fitted right, and he was still rocking his sucicide no handers

I was travelling with Danny when he came to NZ last month, he wore his FRO brace for EVERY ride we did and it wasn't restricting at all. I tried it on quickly and while it wasn't sized right it felt pretty good. Yeah it could break your collarbone instead but I've broken mine and don't think it was that bad, I would far prefer it to a boken neck!