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At one point it seemed to be pretty common to see a small-ish percentage of WC DH riders and every-day park riders rocking a Leatt or similar neck brace. Now that I'm on the other side of 40 but still wanting to hit the bike park every now and then, my mind is wondering a.) if I should dust mine off for park days, but also b.) why we don't see them anymore on the WC circuit.
Sidenote: It's been 7+ years since I've used my Leatt, do these have a shelf life like bike helmets? I would assume not...*shrug*
Sidenote: It's been 7+ years since I've used my Leatt, do these have a shelf life like bike helmets? I would assume not...*shrug*
I remember rumors floating around of people having the neck brace causing a collar bone break when they crashed -instead of breaking your neck, that's a better alternative for sure- but it was still negative attention.
Also it's worth noting the classic body armor dilemma: you feel unstoppable with a lot of armor and then you ride beyond your limits more often, causing more crashing than if you had not worn it in the first place. That depends on the person but I'm sure we've all experienced that to a certain extent at some point.
If we saw that people who have spinal injuries in our sport could've prevented them via a neck brace then we may still be on them. A neck brace clearly preventing those injuries that we do see doesn't seem to be what is happening... so we just don't wear them.
Do moto guys still wear them?
When I started wearing the brace I made a point to wear it whether it was an enduro ride or a DH ride so that I was used to it, you soon forget you are wearing it. Same goes for other protective gear, on hot weather days it can be a little uncomfortable but I would rather be mildly hot than injured.
Podcast for reference:
http://pulpmx.com/podcast/guest-chris-leatt/
The brace interferes with my movements too much. I wonder if that's the concern among DH guys?
Edit: It's also possible I"m conflating something that I KNOW happens in American Football, especially for high speed positions as well as an incident I remember reading about where a country's regulating body (maybe Italy) was requiring DH riders to wear spine protection, and a lot of them were complaining because they never ride with it.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26902784/
Anyway, I digress.
The neck brace dilema has been on my mind. If I raced DH and rode more park I would definitely invest, plus more body armor. But, 95% of my rides are pedal access with small climbs scattered throughout the descents. Knee pads and long sleeves are enough for me on those rides.
I think if you wear it more you get more used to it, but the riders at the pointy end of the sport probably prefer the unhindered movement, so don't wear them, and then aren't used to them.
Basically it caused issues when he went to a longer reach bike, which also made his riding style less wild. With the new body position he couldn't hold his head high enough with the brace.
He's definitely stepped up his racing game since he made those changes.
1st occasion i speared a tree.
2nd occasion i went otb in the "do not otb' spot.
Yeah, its annoying... but I've known too many people who have gotten spinal chord injuries... i can make do with a little discomfort when scoping berms. I've kinda just gotten used to it i guess?
When it comes to DH, I'm not just crashing the bike.. I';m crashing the bike on steep gnarly Welsh mountain sides, and it's the crash that I don't see coming that I want to be protected for!! Especially in the steep hills.
If your neck brace is interfering with your concentration or hitting your helmet I would say it's poorly adjusted/fitted. I really do not notice mine at all....
The reason is simple: it doesn't take into account the percentage of people who wear and don't wear neckbraces.
Example:
Statistics 1 - 239 recorded cases of injury without the neckbrace, 26 cases with the neckbrace.
Stated conclusion that injury is 89% more likely without neckbrace is wrong, because it doesn't take into account that most riders don't wear neckbraces. There is 9 times more injuries of people without neckbraces because there is about 7-8 times more riders who don't wear the neckbraces. (23% were wearing in 2012, 12% in 2022 - Whistler opening day data).
So if you take this into account, then 239/7 = 34 (to compare apples to apples)
26 injuries vs 34 injuries - doesn't look like 89% more likely
that said, i don't think their findings are necessarily wrong the way they are presented, just the percentages and likelihoods they are claiming are off.
should also be noted - this study was on motocross riders, not downhillers / mountain bikers.
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