I am a beginner mountain biker who is 43 years old and progressing in confidence and terrain. I wear light padding, including McDavid Hex kneepads, Shadow Conspiracy shin pads, lacrosse elbow pads, in addition to the specialized gambit full face helmet.
I recently did one of those skinny balance bar type obstacles that was a little than a foot off the ground and fell off a few times, however, one time I hit the ground and apparently broke the fall a bit with my wrist. Not a bad fall at all, however, my wrist was somewhat sore/sprained but recovered in a couple days. That got me wondering what can I do to protect my wrist. I know if I fall they’re very likely to take the brunt if I don’t consciously tuck and roll (I got to look into that concept more).
I was doing some research and didn’t find much in terms of mountain bike specific wrist guards, however, I did find a pair of wrist guards on Amazon that had a couple of mountain biker reviewers that gave it a thumbs up so I bought it and rode around the block with.
CTHOPPER Impact Wrist Guard Fitted Wrist Brace Wrist Support
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074SJYRD1?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
What I like about it is that it has some cushioning on your hand so if you were to fall, it would absorb some of the shock plus on the back of the hand that has the stiffeners that will help reduce hyperflexion. The padding on the hand does impact the grip a bit, though it’s really not bad and I think I can get used to it.
It’s much better than the rollerblading style wrist guards that have that big hard plastic bump. I also tried those but felt it was putting too much pressure on the grip. I could have technically used these too, but the others were better.
Curious if anyone else has any recommendations for something to look into before I commit to using these on the trail. Not looking for something super expensive like the Mobius X8 (which also has no padding). Just something that will help with injury prevention and pad the area of the lower hand.
Has anyone had experience with the EVS Wrister glove? Can’t tell for sure, but it does not look like it has any padding on the lower hand to absorb shocks.
Thanks for any responses in advance truly appreciate it.
by aloncc
2 Comments
I have spent decades not using any kind of padding. Scars are ok and all, but I definitely wish I would have worn shin pads. And the most annoying injury is something to your hands. Much gravel has been taken out of bloody wounds on my palms. You definitely have the right Idea. As your confidence and skills grow you may find some rides you don’t need to be fully padded and you will find your comfort zone.
These look like the wrist guards I had for rollerblading in the 90s. Personally I wouldn’t wear anything that restricts my wrist movement or had a big pad on my palm. I think this particular guard is going to give you trouble gripping your bars. My buddy wears a wrap thing on his wrists above his normal gloves, it’s to protect tendons or something, overall it stiffens and supports the wrist but doesn’t interfere with the hands. It’s not a biking specific thing, not sure what they are exactly, I would search something other than guards or protective gear to find them, it’s more of a medical device or sports medicine type thing. I’d just ask him but he’s asleep right now sorry.