Knee braces are worth every penny...

[Gary Roach]

...and here's proof.

I destoyed one of my carbon fiber knee braces today...but I never crashed...and I really don't have a clue on what I even hit!

Here's what happened. I was riding my modern KTM in an Enduro today in southeastern Ohio. I caught a slower rider in an open area along a small creek. He pulled over to the left to let me pass, and I went between him and some tall weeds on my right. Immediately after that was a small ditch, and then an uphill, which was wide and looked to be an old road. Well, when I went to pass him, I was in about third gear, and I blipped the throttle to jump the small ditch. But when I did, something didn't feel right, and then the bike made an immediate turn to the left as I was flying through the air across the ditch. At that same time, my brain gets a message that says, "Hey, we just hit something with our right knee". When the bike landed, I was up against the left bank of the hill, but I put my feet down and caught myself from falling over. Feet? How did I just put my feet down? It should have been just my left foot! It was then that I realized that both of my legs were on the left side of the bike. That's why it didn't feel right jumping across the ditch...the bike wasn't between my legs! I then started to feel a little pain in my right knee. Not bad, but I can tell that I had twisted it a little. I looked down, and the right knee area of my riding parts were just shredded. I was able to move my knee back and forward, so I knew it wasn't hurt too bad, but I could tell that my knee brace wasn't fitting like it was. I looked back down the trail to see what I had hit, but the only thing I could see was a fallen tree, roots and all, just behind those tall weeds. When I got stopped, I was probably 50-75 feet down the trail from the fallen tree, but from my viewpoint, I didn't see anything sticking out from the tree that would have caught my leg like it did. I was able to finish the run without any other problems (other than getting tired from being out of shape).  

When I got back to the pit area and started removing my riding gear, that's when I found out that the knee brace had really done it's job. I can't image what my knee would have looked like if I were wearing just plastic knee cups....or no knee protection at all! My knee is still a little sore, but I'm not limping, and I have a little area on my shin that looks like a rug burn, but other than that, it all good! The metal pieces that make up the right outer hinge are bent so bad that you can't make the broken carbon fibers pieces touch each other. There is also a vertical crack in the carbon fiber on the lower part that wraps around your shin. This is one of the EVS Web knee braces...or at least, it was. I think these braces run about $300 each, but they're worth it.

Gary

[tlanders]

Thanks Gary for the lesson.

Teddy

[tlanders]

Gary,

I missed the word "each" and when I went to order them at $345 EACH, I chickened out. Something else to save up for!!!!

Teddy

[pketchum]

Amazing you didn't even notice the impact on your right knee given the incredible force that caused the broken knee brace.  I wear Asterisk "Cell" knee braces myself and swear by them.  However, I haven't destroyed one like you have.  Gary, I'm sure glad you spent the money on those or you'd surely have had a lot more expensive repair bill than a mere $345.00.


Phil Ketchum
79/80 KTM 250's