Quote:
Originally Posted by craigosh
Wear a Bern hardhat type helmet for easy trail center riding. Fullface for dh and fast aggressive trail riding! Goggles as well with the fullface. The face coverage has saved me some nasty high speed injuries in the past. Hate gloves so dont wear em. Wear knee pads all the time. But mine are sensitive to knocks and can seize up with even a slight knock in the wrong place.
Thing i don't get is why road/xc helmets have so little coverage at the back of the head, that's a really critical part of your head, especially the lower bit by the neck. If i commuted on my bike I'd wear the Bern so I have that protection to the back of my head and sacrifice the ventilation.
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The easy answer on the XC lids is comfort - specifically airflow. Out in the Alps with my freeride bike I'd often take two helmets with me - Full face for descents, XC lid for the trails along the top. You'd see a lot of other riders doing the same trails with their full facer on the bars or their backpack - too hot to ride in. But then they get no protection from it at all.
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I always wear a helmet and gloves, but these days since I've grown too old for DH/FR its mostly an XC lid and fingerless gloves. I've still got a full face, body armor and armored gloves from my DH days, but would never wear them anywhere I might actually have to pedal!
I wear glasses these days anyway, but when I wore contacts I always used shades/clear glasses/goggles. Peak District trails are too muddy not to.
XC helmets only offer limited protection, but limited protection you wear is better than full on armor you leave at home.