>>1983152You do wear knee pads and elbow pads for mountain biking. The difference is what they are designed for. Motorcycle pads are D30 and built into the jacket, luckily unless you highside most motorcycle crashes involve sliding down a highway. This requires a tough leather jacket with SOME padding. Also why the gloves and boots are much tougher, since those parts hit down first.
When mountain biking you go over the bars for most crashes, or you slam into the ground with the front end washing out. So you need much less abrasive protection, and more impact. Since when going OTB you can be 3+ft in the air launching down a hill. Most crashes are minor, but I have gotten a concussion in a cross country race that left a big crack in my helmet. My hip has permanent damage after a crash that involved me hitting a steel bridge with my hip, luckily it only flares up at my current age, but when I hit 50+ I know it will be one more nagging injury.
I know someone else who had to go to the hospital after casing a 8ft tall dirt jump.
I whacked my nuts one time when I was doing blacks on a dh trail. Best part was me and my friend both did the same damn thing.
On a motorcycle it's a much higher chance you get a HUGE injury, or almost none. Mountain biking you generally get lots of small injuries.
I know someone who broke a collar bone on a road bike. This involved a front wheel collapsing after hitting a construction ditch on the bike trail that went across both lanes. Another rider had a permanent brain injury after going down on a road bike. Heard he was on a descent that had been done for hundreds of times carrying 30+mph but this time there was gravel on a blind corner.
Everyone can do what they want. I wear a helmet and gloves most of the time.
