# What are the best kids enduro/DH knee pads?



## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

My 6yro is doing his first DH race (cat3) and we have some regular GForm knee pads but they aren't as protective as I thought they would be. Want something tougher but hopefully still comfortable enough that the kid doesn't hate to wear them. Any advice?

If you have any additional advice for a DH event, I'm game for that too as I'm new to whole thing.


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## dc40 (Oct 4, 2013)

Not a lot of bikes dealers will carry gear... recommend going Motorcycle dealer that sells mx gear to see if they have any pads to try on.

here are few

Fox
https://www.foxracing.com/mtb/youth/guards/

Leatt has Jr size, but maybe to big for a 6 yr old
https://www.leatt.com/shop/junior/body-armour.html?p=1

Troy Lee
https://shop.troyleedesigns.com/youth-knee-shin-guards?quantity=1&color=54&size=58

Evs sports
https://www.evs-sports.com/collections/youth-gear/products/tp-199-knee-pad

IXS kids Mtb knee guards
IXS Black 2018 Hack EVO Pair of Kids MTB Knee Guard | IXS | FreestyleXtreme America | United States


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

I've heard of the IXS and someone on here liking those. I can get them off ebay (UK company I think). Any ideas on if it's the hack or Evo that is more burly?


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

We use the Fox launch youth... they barely still fit my now 8yr old ... without them he would probably still be in physio learning to walk again... he’s never actually fallen in an actual race but he falls plenty in practice... his first day he had a FF he wrote it off in hours (actually same incident as the knee pads got really badly scuffed and he has a scar 2 yrs on from the flesh that wasn’t covered on his thighs... (though this was just bouncing 50’ on his chin and knees he slightly scraped the floor) scary to think what his knees would have been like without on hard pack .he rode down and we sprayed him with synthetic skin to stop bleeding then got back out riding and he raced the next day.. last thing he got was body armour and he tested that out pretty good... I had a lot of work on the bike and he was out riding his XC bike down the DH runs whilst I fixed it... the body armour all scratched and gouged. 
I used to think we could do without but he has thoroughly tested every bit of protection... and I now wouldn’t think of riding without it. Expensive? I started wearing a FF for uplift after I spent enough of dental work to buy a VERY nice bike last year... and I still need a further crown this year to finish but ran out of money last year. 


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

Steve-XtC said:


> We use the Fox launch youth... they barely still fit my now 8yr old ... without them he would probably still be in physio learning to walk again... he's never actually fallen in an actual race but he falls plenty in practice... his first day he had a FF he wrote it off in hours (actually same incident as the knee pads got really badly scuffed and he has a scar 2 yrs on from the flesh that wasn't covered on his thighs... (though this was just bouncing 50' on his chin and knees he slightly scraped the floor) scary to think what his knees would have been like without on hard pack .he rode down and we sprayed him with synthetic skin to stop bleeding then got back out riding and he raced the next day.. last thing he got was body armour and he tested that out pretty good... I had a lot of work on the bike and he was out riding his XC bike down the DH runs whilst I fixed it... the body armour all scratched and gouged.
> I used to think we could do without but he has thoroughly tested every bit of protection... and I now wouldn't think of riding without it. Expensive? I started wearing a FF for uplift after I spent enough of dental work to buy a VERY nice bike last year... and I still need a further crown this year to finish but ran out of money last year.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Those launch pads look great! What size did you buy? Its only S/M and L/XL...I'm guessing the big 6yro I have will use the S/M but you never know.

I like that they seem to have a fair amount of vertical coverage too. We are setup with a full Demon Armor suit that has a jacket with padding and hard pads on elbows, spine, shoulders etc. The Shorts have pretty significant padding all the way around the hips, quads, tail bone etc. Planning on just wearing those underneath some TLD Sprint Shorts and with some shin/angle guards and call it good. Its all black. I also want to Spray paint a Dark Knight style batman logo on the back lol. The little guys look so cool when they are all dressed down.


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## Steve-XtC (Feb 7, 2016)

svinyard said:


> Those launch pads look great! What size did you buy? Its only S/M and L/XL...I'm guessing the big 6yro I have will use the S/M but you never know.
> 
> I like that they seem to have a fair amount of vertical coverage too. We are setup with a full Demon Armor suit that has a jacket with padding and hard pads on elbows, spine, shoulders etc. The Shorts have pretty significant padding all the way around the hips, quads, tail bone etc. Planning on just wearing those underneath some TLD Sprint Shorts and with some shin/angle guards and call it good. Its all black. I also want to Spray paint a Dark Knight style batman logo on the back lol. The little guys look so cool when they are all dressed down.


I'm guessing they are the smaller ones. He hates the labels so they were cut out ... the Batman logo would be supercool...
Winter he has DH trousers but our temperatures are soaring right now so some good padded shorts would be good.

I'm expecting carnage this coming weekend as I've been away with work for 3 weeks and he missed a race yesterday... his friend/rival won so I expect they will have to have a one on one ... or quite a few!

Some decent padded shorts would be good... he's got the top bit covered but I feel a few big crashes this weekend.

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## WTomlin76 (Jun 13, 2018)

When my very small 4 yo started racing BMX last year we found better fits substituting youth elbow pads for knee pads. Now he wears EVS Options when he's wearing shorts in practice or clinics but he always races in pants.


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## Tjaard (Aug 17, 2007)

svinyard said:


> I've heard of the IXS and someone on here liking those. I can get them off ebay (UK company I think). Any ideas on if it's the hack or Evo that is more burly?


 Maybe from me. We have Flow Evo + and Carve Evo+ , the Carve is the burliest one: top _*and*_ bottom straps, and side padding. Still soft, flexible and comfortable.

Bike Armor | iXS Sports Division

The Hack are the cheaper version, with lower level foam. I would avoid them If it was meant as an upgrade from G-Forms.

Note that they run (much)smaller than the size chart indicates.

The IXS shorts with hip padding are really nice, my youngest (7)wears those as well. Unfortunately, their body armor, which is great, is only avaible in pretty big sizes, so only my 10 year old wears that.
The G-form shorts are more protective, but are not offered in the very small sizes.

Both my girls are (quite) big for their ages, 60 and 100 lbs respectively.


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## svinyard (Aug 14, 2017)

All good stuff. I got some TLD Sprint Youth pants on sale (liked the length) and the Fox Launch Youth knee pads. The knee pads seem legit and have hard caps as well as padding all around and double straps. We'll see what they look like in person when I get them tho.


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## CeUnit (Jul 9, 2014)

WTomlin76 said:


> When my very small 4 yo started racing BMX last year we found better fits substituting youth elbow pads for knee pads.


We did the same thing for our 5 yr old, using Fly Racing Youth Flex II Elbow Guard as knee pads. However, we found they slipped down a lot so we relocated the strap that's intended for the forearm and moved it up a couple inches so it wraps around the top of the calf muscle. Requires a bit of time and sewing skills, but now it's totally awesome


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