Average Joe Reviews... Mace T-II arm and leg armour

For the harder core of us in the mountain biking world, soft pads just wont do and something with a plastic shell is a must and the proliferation of knee/shin and forearm/elbow pads has increased year on year. Not only are these items solely in the possession of DH and FR riders but can often be seen sported by trail riders and even those who ride XC. There is a growing distaste in the DH world of what they call 'XC mincers' who will ride trails such as Glentress kitted up with such protection and full face helments. While sweating on an XC course in such gear isn’t my bag, each to their own I guess. Out of the mesh bag, the armour looks well made and robust and certainly coverage of the key parts of the body is good. Generally both units look smart and pretty scuff resistant with the legs looking a bit wider than most models. If it’s the Stormtrooper in black look that you are looking for then you have found the right gear. Fitting the legs the first few times is a bit of a puzzle as the straps are detachable hooking into the hard shell at one end and sticking at the other end via Velcro. Admittedly (and for the first time ever) I had to reach for the instructions on a set of body armour to work it all out and was disappointed to find that they were not much use either. Once all hooked in and strapped up, the pads are really comfortable and work really well certainly on a par with their rivals. Falling off and hitting the dirt led to little movement of sliding which can be common with similar designs and no real problems were experienced. All in all a good set of pads but with a confusing fitting system which could be solved by permanent fitting of the ends of the straps, I may have missed something here but I cannot see why they need to be detachable in the first place. www.windwave.co.uk www.macegear.com