Body Armour
 

I'm thinking of splashing out on new protective gear for the bike. I've seen some body armour from Dianese (sp?). It's a vest thta has a kidney belt, back and chest armour + neck protection.

The cost is a little high, but if it's any good that's the least of my concerns (to a point :D) - my saftey gear is already worth more than my bike, but I wondered if anyone knows how good this sort of protection is and what difference chest armour / neck armour would make if the worst happens...

Any thoughts?

Stu

Re: Body Armour
 

have a look in the review section in riding gear and no doubt there are a few threads in there that may be able to help you out with that ;)

Re: Body Armour
 

you can get em cheaper than the dianese name. Im Indoors has one identical that he wears in summer and theres not a difference between the dianese and the one he has that we can see...apart from a whole load of dosh!

Re: Body Armour
 

Any idea what the name of the other make is?

Re: Body Armour
 

Is what you are looking at not for off road bikes?
Sounds like it won't fit under leathers? & if not wearing good leathers that probably a better starting point

Re: Body Armour
 

mines Knox, spend as much as you can afford u are priceless.

Re: Body Armour
 

There was a recent review, halvarrsons track and I think one of the knox back protectors won it. The hard-shell armor did badly in impact testing.

Re: Body Armour
 

Ride magazine did a recent review on back protectors and found the Forcefield L2 Pro to be the best. I have a Knox Contour and it's a bit uncomfortable since I went for the one with a longer coccyx protector. Thinking of going for a Forcfield L2 to replace it.

Re: Body Armour
 

The RiDE test a month or so ago for back protectors (as opposed to the MotoX vests that this sounds like), scored the Forcefield and Halvarsons items top. Funnily enough Forcefield (Davies Odel) make the other one. There were a few VERY expensive items which didn't fare too well in the tests.

Garry;-)

Re: Body Armour
 

Here's a link for the review (from the forcefield website): http://www.forcefieldbodyarmour.co.u..._Protector.pdf

Re: Body Armour
 

I think Spidi just launched a back protector with a chest protector in, knox do a couple too. Seem a wee bit gimmicky, i'd sooner have a really good back protector. IE, Forcefield. (I don't, I have an old Knox Ricochet, which is at best OK- but it's convenient)

Re: Body Armour
 

Forcefield also do a chest protector that straps on, could be worn with the back protector too. Personally I think a decent back protector on it's own is adequate. I just ordered the Forcefield L2 Pro so I will post a mini review of it when I get it if you like? Hopefully it will be comfortable enough, not sure if I ordered the right size or not as I couldn't make head nor tail of their size guide so I just went for a medium.

Re: Body Armour
 

Well the way I see it you can break a lot of ribs and have some spare, you only get one spine...

Re: Body Armour
 

I have a dianese back and coxyx protector, more expensive than most but worth it.......its by a very long way more comfortable than any of the other on the market that I tried, which was pretty much every single one going, and offers much much better protection to areas than most, the coxyx area protection i think is essential and alot dont have it.

Your call, try them all and see which fits YOU the best and is most comfortble under your gear.

Re: Body Armour
 

I got a back protector in my Halvarssons jacket, but it feels really exposed around the kidney, pelvis area...any one know of where i could get something that fits the bill? There is a cavity in the jacket that caters for such a thing but I haven't found it yet


edit, after battling with the many pockets in the triple layered jackets I have found a tiny pocket, and managed to squeeze said back protector in there......lo and behold its dropped several inches and is sitting in the right area. Ya see there was a pocket in a pocket......bloody expensive thing....but my is it complicated

Re: Body Armour
 

nope....still not right...grrrrr

Re: Body Armour
 

That just about sums up Dainese and AlpineStars gear tbh.

Re: Body Armour
 

I've got a Lidl back protector for 20 squid.

Re: Body Armour
 

I have this....

http://www.planet-knox.com/detail2.aspx?ID=34

Most parts are detachable and you can use it in a variety of ways. I use the back protector in my leather uppers.

I have an aplinestars textile jacket. I removed the oem protectors and use the knox body jacket inside. Fit is great.

When I'm mountain biking I just use the body armour over a t-shirt.

Re: Body Armour
 

Couldn't agree more - which is why I was asking about the Dianese one - at 200 quid it's not OTT and I like their kit.

Incidently my leathers are worth more than my bike now... (Without all the kit that goes with them. It's why I can't understand people who buy 8K bikes then say they can't do 90 on a decent back protector...

They way I see it if the D-TEC kit is good enough for racing then it's good enough for me on the road - I've seen real life 'tests' of my leathers at 120mph and the fact that the person who did the 'testing' wrote about both the accident and the cost of getting the kit fixed speaks volumes to me... I just don't want to spend money for no reason.

Re: Body Armour
 

Is it really that bad? Seems overpriced but I would usually expect "you get what you pay for"

So far from what I've tried, halvarssons is excellent and belstaff does what it says on the tin

Re: Body Armour
 

HMMM Interesting reading that PDF...

Interesting though the Dianese back protector there has less protective material than the one I have even though it costs more (then mine is 6 years old)... It says foam padding only!!! Mines honeycomb! Is the wave a 'cheap' Dianese product, or have they gone backwards (seems odd).

Seems I have a lot more research to do... (like finding a dealer for the Held over here for one!)

What do you class as comfortable BTW? My back protectors a nightmare off the bike, walking is not nice. But on the bike I don't even know it;s there...

A very confused Stu...

Re: Body Armour
 

I bought the Forcefield from intobikes.co.uk, but I don't know where you would go to try one on! They deliver worldwide though. I just guessed at a medium for me but if it doesn't fit I'll change it (problem is I'm tall but skinny). I guess sending it back would take quite a lot longer for you over there.

The Knox contour would be fine if I had bought the one without the coccyx protector on I think, but it can't be removed. It's terrible off the bike and only good on the bike if I stay upright (i.e. not leaning off the bike like I do). Hoping the Forcefield will be much better (review seems to say so).

Re: Body Armour
 

Forcefield is really the one to buy, it offers superior protection and it's comfortable and flexible. Cheap, too, for what it is. I can't see any real justification to buy anything else these days.

Re: Body Armour
 

+1 on that (actually +2 cos Vixis just got on as well)

Oh and I just got the armoured trousers and shirt to go with it - even better effect than the 8-pack my Icon jacket gives - its Super hero time :)

Now just to go build some leather and chainmail armour that will go over it for LARPing in...............

Re: Body Armour
 

I have one the dianese wave 13's like below, its super comfortable and offer more protection than the knox or anything else I tried on which was most available, it was £100 but it fitted and felt the best so i spent it.

It has a cloth layer then half inch of meshed honeycomb effect then a felixble hard plastic layer......not just foam, not sure why they say that.

Try them all on and see how they feel, I wouldnt just accept anyone on here criticism of something they have probably never even tried.

http://www.ducaticanada.com/adsimage...0protector.jpg

Comfortable to the point you dont know its there even when its on, but when its not on you know its not.

Re: Body Armour
 

My mesh + armor shirt is really comfy, but that doesn't mean it's going to offer good impact protection. That's hard-shell armor backed with foam.

Anyway based on the test in the mag a while ago I'd say forcefield or halvarrsons track, same product, slightly different shape. Get one of those if you can, however there's no point buying an uncomfortable one as you won't wear it.

Re: Body Armour
 

I did have a dianese wave for 3 months, nice and cool on a hot day (the honeycomb effect letting air through) :sunny:

but because of the had plastic, it feels stiff under leathers, quite restrictive, sometimes digging into my low back and sides of shoulder blades when I lean forward :sad:

The one massive drawback for me is that the dianese wave is it is only designed to take one impact! as the honeycomb deforms to absorb the energy it doesn't reform. Meaning the safety of the unit is compromised for further uses! This makes it a very expensive disposable back protector...

I sold it on e bay and got a forcefield L2 pro, don't notice it much once it heats up and molds to your body, very comfy and non restrictive. It does feel warmer when compared to the honey cone effect. O, its reusable too ;)

Re: Body Armour
 

Dont believe everything you read in the papers they say......brands pay magazines to give them a better write up than others ;) proven fact, the niave would only believe otherwise.

Never noticed it, pure comfort for me, hence why people should try them all as people body shapes are different.

Sorry :S, does that mean you buy a solid helmet that doesnt offer as good protection, just so that you can use it more than once after a big accident?

Re: Body Armour
 

+1 :D

All helmets are designed to be disposable after one incident, while most back protectors are designed to be reusable and offers equal or better protection for around the same price :rolleyes:

Re: Body Armour
 

It appeared to be a scientific (ish :-P) test, which is appears to me to be better than just buying a posh Italian brand :-P

Anyway at the moment I just have the protector in the jacket, when I do buy a "proper" one I'll be going for the halvarrsons one if it's comfy as I like and trust their kit. The review just confirms that.

If the dainese one is comfiest for you then that's the best one for the job, better something comfy which you'll wear than something perfectly protective that you won't wear. What's the old adage, something like better a .22 in your hand than a .45 in the cupboard...

Re: Body Armour
 

+1 :D

Re: Body Armour
 

I love how people will swear black is white just to justify a purchase :) .

Re: Body Armour
 

Has anyone tried these ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CE-Motorcycle-...6.c0.m14.l1308

Re: Body Armour
 

It's only CE1, the Forcefield ones are both CE2, as I think is one of the Knox range. On what do you base the assumption that it's more protective than others? Since it seems like you're disregarding all independant testing on the grounds that they might be corrupt, and you're also disregarding CE...

Re: Body Armour
 

I was going on the coverage it gave me whilst on my back compared to the coverage others in the same shop gave me. Mostof the ones I tried on didnt give any protection to the cocyx or upper back/neck area.

Re: Body Armour
 

Fair enough, apologies, I'd misunderstood. The forcefield does have coccyx protection but not as much up top, that's for sure. But it does protect better where it covers.

Re: Body Armour
 

Some thinking out loud here...

As the honeycomb is single use only, do the tests repeat on new protectors, or do they repeat the tests on a used protector. If they don't then I would be interested in knowing what the initial impact figure was. If not I'd like a new protector (but somehow I still can't get over that I've seen racers in TV use the Dianese hard protector and if it's so bad why would they do that?????

The more I think, the more confused I become :)

Re: Body Armour
 

Not going into great debate on this, anything is better than nothing, but there are different priorities on a track and on the road.

Tracks are generally fairly benign places to fall off, just you're going fast so need to stop eventually. Roads are hideously hazardous, street furniture, lamp-posts, trees, fence/gate posts, vehicles coming the opposite way etc. Fall off on the road and the biggest worry is hitting some very hard immovable object. Sliding along the tarmac is not such a big issue generally.

I have a Forcefield and it is very comfortable and well made. In view of the tests I'm happy with the choice, and agree with the various comments about the road-testers liking them. I'm sure other protectors are very good too.

Re: Body Armour
 

Not trying to debate (I have no idea what's best) just trying to work out what I should buy to protect myself the most :)