Rib Protection

[BenF]

Firstly - well done to all the racers and the club website. I've really enjoyed checking out the Forum.


Does anyone know of some sort of upper body protection that protects the ribs but doesn't make you look like robocop. I only do XC but keep damaging myself.


I banged my ribs over 3 weeks ago and as they are still pretty sore - it seems I broke one. This is the second time I've done this and my lovely wife is contemplating a lifetime ban from mountain biking. Not a great loss to Ireland's Olympic hopes but none the less distressing to me.


Suggestions like 'don't fall off' are pointless as falling off best describes my riding style.


I've checked the web and seen a few things.

- Answer Stonespray Shield

- 661 Core Saver

- 661 Moto Air Vest

- RockGardn Flak Vest

- McDavid HexPad Lacrosse shirts

but it's hard to judge how much protection these give.


Everything else seems to be huge and have no real side / rib protection

apart from the Skeletools Torsotool - but this looks massive.


Does anyone out there have any experience of any of the above or other suggestions?

[Fergal]

Ben - you should probably get yourself an account on www.irishdh.com forum:

http://www.irishdh.com/forum2/ucp.php?mode=register&sid=e0941dfb4693eda5cb9bf023d0632b63


..and ask your question there

those guys have an awful lot of experience with hurting & protecting themselves (in that general order)

[Richie]

Ben, I'd recommend the Skeletools Torsotool or RockGardn Flak Vest... purely on the basis that they sound well ard'.

[diamondG]

another way to approach it this, and sounds like I'm joking but I'm not...


what way do you fall?

and can you learn to fall better :)


I had a similar problem in the sense that I crash a lot. Luckily I rarely ever do damage.


One spin I had changed the settings on my forks and gone with Fox's recommended settings, which was much softer than I usually ride them, it didn't suit me because I'm tall and on a downhill all my weight is on the bars, to cut a long story short, the spin was 40km, it was wet, the ground marshy and I went over the bars no less than 7 times, including once on a climb, beat that!!


I should point out that I've changed the settings back on the forks and haven't gone over the bars since (don't nobody get wise and start pointing out times!)


But the point is I didn't put a single scratch on myself, 7 times over the bars and not a dent in the fender.


I put this down to falling correctly.

you're laughing aren't you :)


But when you crash you have to roll with it, after a certain point you know you've lost control, panic sets in, you tense up, the hand goes out, you want to 'stop' the fall.

All your weight landing on that outsretched hand equals a broken wrist, collar bone, messed up shoulder or maybe the ribs get it.


If you roll with, tuck in the noggin and don't crash into the ground but roll onto it.

sounds completely daft but it works.


I found out by accident, I used to do kung fu and when we were doing take downs and practicing sweeping the legs out from under each other, great fun, but you have to be able to fall cleanly.

During those classes after a warmup we practiced drills for falling, practiced falling straight back on your back, being hurled forward, legs being knocked out from under you etc each has their own technique, but they all involve going with it and relaxing


luckily XC mountain biking there's not too many type of crashes to the ground, in terms of how your body hits the ground that it. Its generally you falling foward, sometimes the bike slides out from under you, sometimes it stops and you don't, but mostly you're falling foward.

but if you know that you've lost control, and know you're headed for the ground, avoid tensing up, relax and roll with it, chin tucked into chest and have the first part of the body that hits the ground be your shoulder,and make sure its not a sudden stop but that you're rolling with it.

The rolling means that all the momentum your body would have crashing into the ground is spread out over the roll, no one body part gets all the abuse.


yeah yeah, I've had my say, I'll shut up now


can't wait to read the replies to this one :)

[Cormac]

I think this guy could do with your advise Graham


http://imbrc.com/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=26&g2_itemId=9279

[Liam]

You can get padded rugby tops in the sports shops which aren't too bulky, also ski shops have similar padded tops designed for wearing under warmer clothing which might do the trick.

[Conor]

Kung Fu ? Are you saying your like Bruce Lee.... on a BIKE ?!? Hehehe I'm laughing now all right.


That said, I would agree with almost all you said. I havent broken anything....yet. And thats after a few falls. Also, wearing body armour gives you a sense of invincibility,(it does for me anyway.) This can lead to a rider thinking "ahh sure I can crash all I want, the armour will save me!" and they end up going too fast, crashing, and hurting themselves worse.

[Fergal]

I wore elbow pads for nearly a full year on spins - and races - then it was time to take off the stabilisers as my confidence had increased


Bruce 'Diamond-edged jumping-split-kick' Lee is right in what he says about how you fall, the roll-with-it principle seems to work well re; reducing injuries


another thing that helps me fall less is trying to keep 'loose' on the bike in techy sections/tricky situations, when you tense-up you tend to loose balance as you don't allow your body, and subsequently the bike, to move as freely as it should, I actually exaggerate the 'looseness' now and again to keep myself responsive on the bike - might look a bit silly/like throwing shapes but it definitely helps...

[BenF]

Thanks for all the replies.

The Bruce Lee rolling and general ninja stuff presupposes degrees of suppleness, coordination and natural rythm that are at best very deeply suppressed in my generation - probably requiring many years of expensive psychoanalysis to unlock. I simply don't have enough money or lifetime left. I also suspect genes are at the real root of it.


I try to loosen up - I am getting quite proficient at converting going-over-the-handlebars into jumping-through-the-handlebars - and survive most of my unplanned dismounts. The protection is for that 1% of times where you hurt yourself no matter how good you are. Unfotunately 1% of the amount I fall off is quite significant.


I had another look at the Torsotool - lots of removeable pads and only about a $95. Might as well avail of the collapsing US economy before ours does too.

[Cormac]

Ben,


Are most of your accidents similar?


I found that on the full suss my weight was far too forward and I went over the bars quite a few times before I got a shorter stem. This really helped.

[BenF]

Yep usually forward and to the left - I seem to have a bias that way.


My new frame has helped a lot as I can get my weight back further. My stem is 100mm, I don't want to go shorter than that as the handling starts getting very twitchy. I am still messing with the fork to find the optimum damping & rebound pressures (Rockshox Revelation Air UTurn). The recommended pressures for my weight I found very stiff and - the cable tie around the fork showed it nearly an inch of unused travel at the end of a ride.

[paddyobrien]

The rugby pads wont really help in any way, unless you try to rugby tackle a tree or something as the protection is only really around your shoulders (i once broke 3 ribs while wearing the pads).


Ignore the recommended pressures and set the pressure in the forks purely based on the sag. REmember to check it every couple of weeks as when forks bed in they move more easily etc.


Another suggestion is to check the speed of the rebound. Since you're on a hardtail you have to consider that the back end of the bike will kick up a bit when goign over bumps and so on. If the front does not rebound fast enough then this can have the effect of pitching your weight forward a bit and can throw you over the bars more easily. On the other hand, if they rebound too fast, its like being on a pogo stick or something.


And finally, related to this point is to maybe have a look at your technique goign over obstacles. Are you pulling the bike up wiht your feet at all? Your legs are basically the suspension on the bike so you need to try (as much as is possible) and let the bike float over things while your body stays still, rather than having the bike hit obstacles and having to move you and the bike over it. This will give a smoother path and so should involve less goign over the bars.


And finally .. let go of the damn front brake!!


;-)

[BenF]

I rarely use the front brake so it is usually not a factor. I do notice I sometimes turn the front wheel too sharply trying to avoid an obstacle causing it to dig in rather than turn.


When I'm back on the bike I'll try practice some of the techniques suggested and those from the mountain biking instruction Martin organized up north - and generally trying to get a bit of flow in my riding.

[Martin]

Ben you usually fall off within 10m of where I'm cycling, so best avoid that kill zone! hope your getting better and tell your misses that if she bans yeah she'll have Fergal to listen to (and that would be some earful, if she can make sense of it ;-) )!


get back on the rothar as the nps is only around the corner and you were missed in KCAP week 1,


As for pads, can't seem to cycle with them on for love nor money,even the wrist ones do my head in! Cormacs stem thing vaguely helped my spill/dabbing problem on the old stumpy, felt like i was in an ejector seat most time with weight over the handlebars! i think bike fitting is so important here!


anyway see you out soon!