not saying its the best invention ever or it will save everyone from breaking their neck for the rest of their lives but you have to realize that companies that pioneer something have extensive testing/engineering time put into it. I hate to pay 500 bucks for something as much as the next guy, but I also don't expect engineers to do development for free.
Leatt brace for biking?
- Thread starter BORN FREE
- Start date
And I agree, but has anyone proved that the $34 donut DOESN'T work? Obviously it does something.
I mean, there will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be the "something better" and the evolution of everything created, but in the meantime, there's still things that work just fine.
I look at both braces and the Leatt and the look-a-likes and just wonder if they aren't too much. I've got this image in my head of trying to ride with a cast on a broken wrist and crashing...breaking your elbow. I AM speaking out of ignorance here because I have NOT ever used or even seen a neck brace. I'm thinking I might just run down to the moto shop and see if they have one on hand that I can throw on and see what it feels like. Like I said, it obviously does SOMETHING, even if not to the extreme degree that the $500 versions do. Right?
"The Leatt Brace has been getting a lot of press lately. What separates the brace from other more traditional "neck rolls"?
Everything. The Leatt-Brace limits all forms of head and neck movement in the event of an accident. It is designed to withstand great impacts and distribute energy through alternate load paths. By changing the way energy travels through the helmet, into the brace, and eventually onto your body, your neck is taken out of the equation all together. Traditional neck rolls are made of foam, and most of them only cover the back of the neck. Most neck injuries happen because the neck is pushed forward toward the sternum. This is called hyperflexion. Foam is collapsible, and will not absorb much energy before it is completely crushed. At that point, I believe the traditional neck rolls become completely ineffective."
It may be part research and logistics, but it's still speculation, his own, personal opinion. I don't think that a $30 neck roll WILL do the same job, but I have to think that there's something out there that will provide some real protection for a non-ridiculous amount of money.
I mean, there will ALWAYS, ALWAYS be the "something better" and the evolution of everything created, but in the meantime, there's still things that work just fine.
I look at both braces and the Leatt and the look-a-likes and just wonder if they aren't too much. I've got this image in my head of trying to ride with a cast on a broken wrist and crashing...breaking your elbow. I AM speaking out of ignorance here because I have NOT ever used or even seen a neck brace. I'm thinking I might just run down to the moto shop and see if they have one on hand that I can throw on and see what it feels like. Like I said, it obviously does SOMETHING, even if not to the extreme degree that the $500 versions do. Right?
"The Leatt Brace has been getting a lot of press lately. What separates the brace from other more traditional "neck rolls"?
Everything. The Leatt-Brace limits all forms of head and neck movement in the event of an accident. It is designed to withstand great impacts and distribute energy through alternate load paths. By changing the way energy travels through the helmet, into the brace, and eventually onto your body, your neck is taken out of the equation all together. Traditional neck rolls are made of foam, and most of them only cover the back of the neck. Most neck injuries happen because the neck is pushed forward toward the sternum. This is called hyperflexion. Foam is collapsible, and will not absorb much energy before it is completely crushed. At that point, I believe the traditional neck rolls become completely ineffective."
It may be part research and logistics, but it's still speculation, his own, personal opinion. I don't think that a $30 neck roll WILL do the same job, but I have to think that there's something out there that will provide some real protection for a non-ridiculous amount of money.
I'm gonna make one...Thinkin a toilet seat glued to one of those neck rolls??? Hells yeah... Maybe one of those clear ones, with the barbed wire running though it? Sickness.
Sorry. Long day.
Sorry. Long day.
foam isn't stiff enough. If you an deform it with your fingers, just image what kind of force is generated by your body slamming the ground at 300g.
At the end of the day you need to decide what safety gear you need. I just know that for me, it is worth $400 for even a marginal amount of help to prevent sitting in a chair 24 hours a day and pooping in a diaper. Of course, it depends on where you are riding. I don't ride XC in it and don't always ride DH with it. I always ride moto with it.
At the end of the day you need to decide what safety gear you need. I just know that for me, it is worth $400 for even a marginal amount of help to prevent sitting in a chair 24 hours a day and pooping in a diaper. Of course, it depends on where you are riding. I don't ride XC in it and don't always ride DH with it. I always ride moto with it.
Neck rolls won't do you much good at all as far as neck protection, they were never designed to save your neck. they were designed to protect your collar bone and for comfort.
Yeah they kinda expensive, so are medical bills as it's been stated. So are HANS devices and you see them everywhere now on the autoracing side, even for classes they're not mandated in.
Yeah they kinda expensive, so are medical bills as it's been stated. So are HANS devices and you see them everywhere now on the autoracing side, even for classes they're not mandated in.
That's kinda something I'm worried about, and mentioned it earlier, either in this post or another... I think once you make the descision to start wearing one, you pretty much better race in it EVERY TIME. Imagine going out for a quick session and ending up in a chair and a diaper, and knowing you HAD a $500 brace but it was in your gear bag in the front seat? THAT would be the real torture to me, mostly because I've been in situations like that and already know what it feels like!
I think the neck brace/integrated armor idea was right on the nuts. And THAT would be worth $500. That way it's just kind of predecided(is that a word?): if you're riding in a place that you should probably be wearing armor, then you should be wearing neck protection as well.
And I agree with the comment about the foam density, and I said I realized that the donut isn't going to do what the Leatt probably does, but that there MUST be a better solution. And of course, it's just withing the last 6 months that neck braces have really been digging up more questions, and even less time for DH racers, so I think if it gains any more momentum, we'll see PLENTY of new options in the near future. All we have to do is want, someone will provide.