Topic Title

Can someone please give me some guidance on what level of protection I need for mountain biking? I know that most of us mtb folk dont wear anything more than a helmet and gloves but im getting fed up of my pedals taking chunks out of my shins!
Should I get hardshell knee/shin guards or would thick neoprene ones suffice? Then do I bite the bullet and get elbow pads too? Sooner or later I'll take a big tumble and kick myself for not buying them earlier if I end up breaking bones.
What do you reckon?

If you feel that unsafe you are on the wrong trails. Get your position on the bike and your suspension set up properly, practice your basic bike handling techniques and dont use flat pedals. If you know your limits then a helmet and gloves are more than adequate, if you are riding properly.

Ultimately, it depends what sort of riding you're doing. For most of the stuff we're doing on the Club Runs, Charlie's advice is spot on.

However, if you're challenging yourself on some of the rocky or technical stuff at the trail centres, I'd wear some extra protection. Those that went on the Atherton Course earlier this year were advised to wear knee/shin and elbow protectors. The stuff they were doing was very technical though. Pedals are down to personal choice.

Mikael can give some good advice on protection - he certainly gets his money worth out of his

I have some Fox pads you can try. They are not the best for XC but they will give you some idea of the benifits.

If you want to push your limits round, say, the Scottish trail centres then pads are a great idea but for local routes I know well I don't bother.

How often do you fall off now?

Some thing to remember though; if you fall off at speed with pad on, it still hurts! Less chance of a trip to casualty though! Paul C will tell you about trips to casualty, Pads would have saved day ones trip but probably not day twos!

Simon

Well I havn't had a serious fall in ages. In fact now I think about it I've never actually been badly injured cycling; its not a question of fear or not being able to handle the trails I ride (I'm not daft enough to attempt any black routes yet), but when whipping down the rocky descents we did in the Peaks etc I started to think maybe its better to be safe than sorry. It may not be 'cool' to wear pads in some folks eyes but I'd rather be nursing a bruised elbow or leg rather than taking six weeks off work with a broken one!
As for the pedals...I just like flats and those darn pins seem to get sharper every week!