Neck braces?

[1vanvan1]

So I am in the market for a neck brace. Looking at getting the Leatt Adventure II.

Any feedback on this or any suggestions for another one?

[IIIRII]

Have you done a search and read the last 9 million discussions about them ?

[BM-GS]

This all went quiet, so maybe the OP searched for days and found something useful, or maybe he went somewhere more user-friendly?

I just searched for "neck brace" and found 13 threads from the last year: 2 in Off Road, 1 thread about sidecars spilling their guts on the track at Paeroa, and one advert. There was a DR650 thread, but that's 110 pages and 70k posts - life's too short. The rest were way down on relevance and under General Ravings, which tends to get off-topic pretty quick. How's "What are you listening to at the moment?" for a thread relevant to neck braces?

Searching for "neck protection" threw up 154, only 5 with entries in the first 2 pages later than 2010, so I'm thinking that the latest crop of braces and decent volume of respondents haven't actually been checked out on here at all... The first 3 threads were this one, the advert and one about scooters, so we're really not in a position to be waving off a noob wanting info.

Most threads offer the opinion that they're a probably Good Thing, but no comments on what brace doesn't work with what armour (or helmet, as in the advert, tho no make/model mentioned) which is what people need to know about. Yes, you can take your gear shopping with you, but that's not always possible, and you have to go to a lot of places.

Can anyone actually point to a detailed thread about these things? One that includes any actual reviews and comparisons would be great, also on the latest (2012) EVS and ProGrip offerings. Most stuff from 2008 has been updated (for better or for worse), is discontinued or legally extinct. If I've managed to miss it, then I apologise, but I'm looking for info, not interested in browsing though 100k posts of any-damned-thing looking for the odd nugget.

I volunteer this post to be Stickied and become a repository of all this stuff.

Then I can find it when I need it... :-)

[jt119]

got that if you wont it http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=466419634

[noobi]

look on thumpertalk...





what?


Ok, then here we go, ill do one if you cant find something else on here.
Just a word of warning, there are no 3rd party tests for neck braces so the only proof that you have for the brace working are what is written on the box.

There are a few ideas on how a neck brace should work. One is to be solid like the Leatt, the other is to be hard foam based and absorb the blow, kind of like how a helmet works, thats the Alpinestar and new EVS R4.
Then the're neck rolls which are just a spongy foam ring that fits between your helmet and shoulders, they are not a brace.
The most common design is one which uses a single piece to brace down the spine when you bend your head backwards. Along with solid or semi solid collar type structures around your head for forward and sideways flexion.
The Leatt opens with 2 latches on either side and has a front and back piece. The Alpinestar is more or less one piece which pivots at the back and latches at the front in the middle. The new R4 is mostly a hard foam based collar, has a small, wide rear brace that sits more on the shoulders than the spine, and it opens with a clasp at the front in the middle and you have to bend it around to take on or off. There are other designs like the old EVS which is a spongy foam collar velcroed in a hard plastic base which arent made anymore but can still be found.

The most popular version by far is currently the Leatt, the jury is out on whether its the best. Then the Alpinestar, then way below that any other neck brace thats not a roll ie EVS or Omega braces.


You need to understand the most important part of having a neck brace is getting it to fit properly, I can't stress that enough, if you or your bike shop can't get it to fit, then it won't be doing you any good and more than likely will cause you harm in a crash.
So that means that it rests flat across your shoulders on both sides, and touches near your collarbone and somewhere on your neck/back. If it rides up and doesn't touch your shoulder then its too small. Also height isn't a guarantee that you'll need a large either, it works on chest width, so don't be offended if your 6'5'' and fit a small.

90% of the time with any brace, unless your chest protector is designed to fit with a brace, it wont work. There are exceptions to this, a Leatt will fit with the Thor Sentinel armour with a bit of fiddling, its easier with a small Leatt.
In light of that, Leatt and Alpinestar both make armour that is designed to accept a brace, which are in the region of $160-$400, which is fine if you have neither but can be a pain if you already have perfectly good armour already. However, you can modify chest protectors to fit by removing the shoulder pads, which are what usually prevent a NB fitting correctly.
Unless you have no neck then you shouldn't have any issues with binding between the brace and the helmet, which is bad and can result in you riding around staring at your fender when trying to ride in the attack position. This is actually a pretty common problem with kids whose parents put them in braces before they are big enough for the brace to work properly and end up with almost no neck movement.

Leatt. Comes in 3 models and 2 sizes.
The Pro, all carbon fibre, around 600g and ~$1100. Fully adjustable engagement front and rear and width front to back.
The club, fibreglass, around 1000g and $600. Fully adjustable engagement front and rear and width front to back.
The adventure, fibreglass, around 1000g and $400. Adjustable only in width front to back.
Comes in 2 sizes, S and M.

Alpinestar. Comes in 2 models and 2 kids sizes and 5 or 6 adult sizes.
The Bionic, light weight, around $1100
The Bionic SB, heavier, same design as Bionic, around $600 for adults, $500 for kids.
Not adjustable at all.

EVS R4. 2 sizes. Adult $180 and Child $140.
Adjustable only slightly in the rear wing.

Omega brace.
Kind of an ugly ducking of braces, in NZ anyway. Not many were sold because they are so different to the Leatt/AS braces.
IIRC it retailed for around 500
IMO, its probably the one I would go for if I decided to get one. Make up your own mind on it http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=omega+neck+brace&ix=seb&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1639&bih=817&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Mc6LT67RFIakiAfKmLDWCQ
I can see it being a pain to try and fit with most armour without modifying the armour.

The ProGrip brace, if i'm thinking of the right thing, is just a foam neck roll in a harness with some spine protection.

Neck rolls are made by a few companies, Alpinestar, EVS, Thor and others. They all pretty much work and fit in the same way. They are around $50-$80. Get whichever one you think fits you the best.

So really it comes down to how much you want to spend and how difficult it is to get one to fit properly.

[flyingcr250]

got that if you wont it http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=466419634

Does the awesome floral bed sheet come with it?

[jt119]

Does the awesome floral bed sheet come with it?

hay wont to do the mara two man this weekend o thats right your bike BLOW UP

[Rupe]

hay wont to do the mara two man this weekend o thats right your bike BLOW UP

Any baby oil on that bed sheet?

[Rupe]

Neck rolls are made by a few companies, Alpinestar, EVS, Thor and others. They all pretty much work and fit in the same way. They are around $50-$80. Get whichever one you think fits you the best.

.

Can you get these ones for peewee's?

[noobi]

Can you get these ones for peewee's?

There are youth sizes, Im not sure whether they are small enough for peewee though. More aimed at 6-10.

[flyingcr250]

hay wont to do the mara two man this weekend o thats right your bike BLOW UP

:pinch: to the bone :pinch:

[Crabby]

If you are looking to buy, check out MR motorcycles, they currently have the Leatt Adventure 2 with free Leatt adventure jacket for $400. I ended up paying an extra $50 and got the Adventure 3 brace with the jacket. Good deal considering the jacket is normally $300

[BoristheBiter]

+1 to what Noobi said in the above post.

Went with all my gear to Cycletreads and got fitted with the brace and it fits perfectly.
The problem was it did not take my backpack and I bought a new helmet. With the backpack on it pushes to far forward and stops me lifting my head far enough backwards so on steep downhills so I cant see where the tracks go.
Haven't worn it since.

Here's the advert, If someone is interested just make me an offer.
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/144790-LEATT-Neck-Brace-quot-adventure-quot?highlight=neck+brace

[scott411]

Noobi put it well (must have tuaght him pretty good)

some people do not fit certain braces, so try them on and see what fits you the best, take your helmet in with you and make sure you still have head movement,

none of htem really fit kids under about 8 properly, except for the neck roll, they have to be able to move the helmet normally left and right so they can see properly when riding,

like an ill fitting helmet, and ill fitting neck brace can be bad news,

[CRF119]

some people do not fit certain braces, so try them on and see what fits you the best, take your helmet in with you and make sure you still have head movement

As Scott has said taking your helmet to test fit is a must. If you can also sit on a bike and stand up on the peggs and look ahead like you would riding you will be surprised how much your already looking up when in the ride position on a mx bike. I set mine up in store for what i thought was enough movement but i couldn't look up the face of a step hill if i was at the bottom. So i had to readjust. Also my Shoei VFXW has a little peak bit that sticks out the back this also limits a lot of looking up movement.

[L Rider]

Noobi put it well (must have tuaght him pretty good)

some people do not fit certain braces, so try them on and see what fits you the best, take your helmet in with you and make sure you still have head movement,

none of htem really fit kids under about 8 properly, except for the neck roll, they have to be able to move the helmet normally left and right so they can see properly when riding,

like an ill fitting helmet, and ill fitting neck brace can be bad news,


Our boy will be 9 this year & is a midget basically! The only neck brace that could fit him was the Leatt but that wasn't until he was 7. And it also needed alot of adjusting to fit correctly. We had Matt at Watson Racing fit it. Matt had tried fitting one to him earlier but it was too big so not worth getting as it could cause more damage. With his they put what they call a wedge piece in the back where it goes down the spine - I understand (could be wrong though) but the small ones now come with this piece.

Having them correctly fitted is really important as others have said.

[scott411]

Our boy will be 9 this year & is a midget basically! The only neck brace that could fit him was the Leatt but that wasn't until he was 7. And it also needed alot of adjusting to fit correctly. We had Matt at Watson Racing fit it. Matt had tried fitting one to him earlier but it was too big so not worth getting as it could cause more damage. With his they put what they call a wedge piece in the back where it goes down the spine - I understand (could be wrong though) but the small ones now come with this piece.

Having them correctly fitted is really important as others have said.

the wedge has been in the kit for a little while, on the 1st ones they were an option, my nephew has just turned 7 and we can not get one to fit him either,

I had one of the top BMX's in NZ come in a while ago and was shocked at how bad she had it fitted, we adjusted it for her and she came back in after the weekend racing and said she could fianlly see the first jump from the starting gate,

Leatts espcially are very adjustable and need to be adjusted so they are right, the other braces have more sizes to choose from,

[NordieBoy]

Omega X1 is $199 at Torpedo7 at the moment.

[scott411]

the new Atlas brace is available in NZ now as well, $399, i quite like some of the features on this brace, worth a look and a bit better priced than some of the others,