For most women, unisex sizing is an absolute nightmare. Items are either far too large or too snug, too boxy or the fit is just off. Knee pad sizing is, unfortunately, no different. Each brand’s sizing guide differs from the next, and when you’ve got thighs and womanly curves, finding knee pads that fit properly — and that will stay in place while riding — can be a struggle.
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So we hoped to take some of the guesswork out of it for you by trying on pads, both soft and hard shells, from some leading brands. While simply sizing down may work for women when it comes to some types of unisex bike gear, that’s not the case when it comes to knee pads.
Based on measurements we received test items in anything from a size small to an XXL! I’ll admit that my body image took a bit of hit; I know I’m not a small woman by any means but a double XL in unisex sizing seems a bit extreme. But more noteworthy here is that all the pads fit… sorta, kinda.
I’ll start with some general tips for buying mountain bike knee pads, and then I’ll go through each pair tested and describe fit, feel, and features.
I created this little graph as a quick, go-to guide for the next time you’re shopping for knee pads from any of the brands tested here. Note: these sizes are based off your thigh / above the knee measurements.
For reference, my measurements are as followed:
A note on my personal preferences: I like my clothing and protective gear to be nearly invisible so I can ride unrestricted and with complete freedom of movement. As such, I don’t like the pads to feel tight, especially around my thighs — I loathe “sausage legs”— and thus I tend to size up and base my sizing around the “above the knee” measurement. The problem I had across all brands was that the pads would fit okay above the knee, but the bands below the knee were so loose that they offered little to no aid in helping the pads stay in place. My take-away was that a little sausage leg is ok if it means that the pads stay put. Protection over fashion! Plus, bunched-up fabric causes chafing.
Fit and Feel
Unlike the majority of pads in this list, the Slayer Pro is definitely on the more serious and burlier side of protection. It’s a hard shell that offers quite a bit of coverage, including foam padding and a thicker, abrasion-resistant Cordura fabric on the sides. The back is fully covered with a breathable, narrow mesh fabric coverage.
The pads go on and off easily, and the silicone grippers on both the top and bottom cuffs pair with the upper strap to ensure a secure fit. I probably could have sized down on this pad: it is quite roomy overall, the bottom cuff is far too big, and the fabric bunches together while riding. However, thanks to the strap, they do stay in place and are plenty comfortable on the downhill.
While advertised as “pedal-friendly,” I find the pads too bulky and too warm to wear on the up or on pedally sections. I wouldn’t recommend these for XC riders, but for trail and all-mountain rides, this pad will offer ample protection at a light weight.
Did it stay up? Yes.
Fit: Roomy around the knee, snug around the upper cuff.
Fit and Feel
The D3O® inserts are among the smallest in this review yet offer substantial coverage. The thin, lycra-like fabric and wide mesh back make the pads feel more like knee warmers than knee guards, which is certainly a positive for long days of pedaling.
But while the airflow and comfort are great, the thin fabric doesn’t appear to be very tear- or abrasion-resistant. With that said, the D3O® removable insert and knee coverage are confidence-inspiring despite the thin pad size.
The upper cuff and gripper could be wider, and the pads do slowly meander down throughout the ride. Perhaps a factor here is that the pad itself has no contouring and thus moves around a little. But the occasional adjustments are well worth the all-day comfort and breathability.
Did it stay up? Mostly.
Fit: Overall, good. Form-fitting around thigh and calf, and a tad too roomy around the back of the knee.
Fit and Feel
The Ion K-Traze AMP knee pad is built around a SAS-TEC pad with a thin plastic layer on top. The pad is designed to harden upon impact while the plastic wards off sharp rocks or pokey branches. Surrounding perforated neoprene and foam padding offer additional protection, while mesh fabric and a back-of-the-knee cutout provide good airflow.
These knee pads are the only ones in this review that offer the convenience of a zipper, rather than a pull-on design, meaning you can put these on at any point in the ride without having to take your shoes off. You can just throw them in your bag and put them on after you’re done climbing.
However, they’re also the shortest in the bunch, and I’d prefer a tad more coverage, especially above the knee. But the nice wide silicone gripper and the velcro strap on the upper cuff ensured that the knee guards stayed in place. There’s a silicone gripper on the bottom cuff as well, however, since the lower cuff was too loose for my legs, it offered no benefit.
Also note that if you’re wearing shorts on the shorter end or you have a long inseam, there will be an awkward skin gap between the knee protection and your shorts.
Whilst these pads are more All-Mountain and Enduro oriented, the airflow and ventilation provide enough comfort to wear them while pedaling. And any concerns about chafing or irritation behind the zipper are quickly forgotten; the zippers are completely unobtrusive.
Did it stay up? Yes.
Fit: Too roomy around the knee, loose below the knee. I should have sized down. Relied on strap to keep it in place.
Fit and Feel
Pearl Izumi is not a brand that springs to mind when one thinks of mountain bike protection, which is why these knee pads took me by the most pleasant of surprises.
The Summit Knee Guard was designed around pedal comfort, hoping to eliminate the need to wear your knee pads around your ankles on the climb up.
Inspired by knee warmer designs, the knee pads offer a lot of fabric above and below the knee, which is made entirely of wide mesh fabric and kept in place with nice, wide cuffs. So much mesh makes them highly breathable and very lightweight, though perhaps also fragile when it comes to tears and scrapes.
The knee guard itself is a D3O insert inside a lightweight, four-way stretch Cordura® fabric — much like the Fox and Troy Lee pads also mentioned in this review. However, unlike the Fox Enduro pad, this knee guard is pre-shaped to help it stay put.
The back of the knee is kept completely open and fabric-free, which looks a bit odd yet prevents any chafing from bunched-up fabric and certainly added to the pedaling comfort.
The bands are a bit snug so I think I would prefer a medium. Still, in offering low-impact coverage at minimal weight and restriction-free movement, this pad was my top choice for trail riders who like to pedal and keep their pads on all day.
Did they stay up? Yes.
Fit: Snug, much like a knee warmers. If you’re between sizes, go for the bigger size.
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Fit and Feel
While flexible, the POC’s VPD System Lite knee pads will harden on impact and are said to offer “extreme impact absorption” suitable for Enduro or aggressive trail riding. As such, they sit somewhere between the thin D3O® insert pads in this review and the Dakine Slayer Pro in terms of protection.
Comfort-wise however, I could wear these all day. They slip on and off easily —alas, a tad too easily— and sport nice, wide silicone cuffs on the top and bottom. They also feel flexible and soft.
A durable, abrasion-resistant fabric surrounds the VPD cup and a porous, thin fabric covers the back. Paired with a series of vents in the cup itself, there is a fair bit of breathability.
I do get a bit sweaty under these pads but the body heat is actually a good thing. According to POC, the 3D-molded VPD cup warms to the body and flexes for a personalized fit.
Among the mid-level knee guards, these POC VPD System Lite pads are the most comfortable, but they do slip down on me quite a bit, meaning that I have to re-adjust them at every break. Perhaps the addition of a top strap would make these standouts.
Did they stay up? Alas, no.
Fit: Loose. Could have sized down.
Fit and Feel
Out of the bag, these pads felt incredibly lightweight and thin.
This lycra sleeve pad is built around a SLYTECH™Flexi Foam cup, which much like the 3DO inserts mentioned before, is lightweight and flexible to the touch but hardens on impact.
A combination of thin spandex and mesh fabric surrounds the contoured cup, which keeps the weight minimal while offering full stretch and superior ventilation.
To keep everything in place, these pads rely on the pre-shaped cup, a silicone gripper behind the knee, and rather thin silicone cuffs.
The pads feel very airy and lightweight, however the downside to this exceptionally thin fabric, especially in the back of the leg, is that I worry it doesn’t provide enough protection. The overall fit is too loose for me and the sleeves do not stay up.
I fear that these will stretch out over time and doubt the lycra will be able to withstand much abrasion.
Did they stay up? No.
Fit: Too loose.
Beefier than the SHRED. Flexi Knee Pads Lite reviewed above, the Enduro version offers an added level of protection for more aggressive trail and enduro riding. These pull-on pads utilize the same SLYTECH foam cup as mentioned above but sport additional foam padding below the knee cap and on the sides.
Whilst still impressively lightweight, the fabric sleeve used in the Enduro version is a thicker neoprene material that appears to be more abrasion and puncture resistance, and less stretchy. There’s a silicone gripper behind the knee as well as a velcro strap on the top cuff to keep the pads in place.
The enduro version is certainly bulkier and less airy than the trail-riding-oriented pads above, and the thicker, less stretchy material actually helped keep the pads in place. They certainly felt more sturdy yet comfortable at the same time.
Did they stay up: Yes.
Fit: Form-fitting with a good strap on top to adjust size.
Fit and Feel
These are easily the longest sleeves in the bunch, reaching well up the thigh and down to mid-lower calf. They slip on easily and feel soft and flexible.
The lycra sleeves offer four-way stretch and the entire back is made of a thin, mesh fabric with a silicone gripper at the back of the knee to prevent bunching. The cuffs offer a silicone gripper as well, but I would have liked wider bands.
The protection comes from the D3O® inserts, which are thin and flexible and will harden on impact.
The ventilation is good and they felt comfortable enough for pedaling, and because the sleeves come so high up the thigh, they did not slide down much.
The sizing on these pads are, however, the smallest of the bunch and you will have to size way up, especially if you have thigh muscle. This means that I ended up with a XL/XXL, which fit around the thigh, but the bottom cuff is far too loose.
Did it stay up: Yes.
Fit: Super snug sizing and quite long. Not ideal for shorter riders.
My top choice for trail riders who like to pedal and keep their pads on all day are the Pearl Izumi Summit Knee Guards. For aggressive trail or enduro riding, I like the POC VPD System Lite if you can get a better fit than I did. Otherwise, my second choice is a pair of SHRED. Flexi Enduro pads.
Save the Knees
Contents
The pedaling-friendly knee protection segment has grown dramatically over the last few years, and there are now dozens of options that are designed to be worn all day without causing discomfort.For the most part, this style of pad uses a sleeve type design, similar to a knee warmer, with a large main pad constructed from some sort of viscoelastic material that hardens up on impact. Dainese is the outlier in this group – they use rubber that's been formed into a honeycomb lattice to help dissipate impacts.No matter the material used, all 6 of the options included here meet CE level 1 certification, which was originally designed for protective motorcycle apparel. The test involves a 5kg weight being dropped with a force of 50 joules onto the pad. The resulting force is measured, and the average of nine tests must be less than 35 kN, with no single impact greater than 50 kN. Essentially, seeking out pads with that certification helps make you're purchasing protection that will at least doin the event of an impact, rather than just being knee warmers that'll help hold all the pieces together.What follows is a round up of 6 new options that I've been putting to the test over the last six months. For even more options, there are 10 more picks featured in the Round Up article that was published last spring.
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