Neck braces and who wears them?

**busadayz** · 21st November 2013, 15:07

Was wondering how many racers, or road riders for that matter wore neck braces while riding. I know it must limit head movement to a point, but its not a sightseeing trip is it?
Its not until you have an off that you start thinking its all well and good protecting your head with a helmet,
but what about the neck that holds the head up?
Once upon a time back protectors weren't compulsory, now you cant/shouldn't race without one.
Personally, I will invest in one before I get back on my bike when I can afford one.
Seen enough of them with the off road guys, but not so with the road.
Any feed back welcome.

**RDjase** · 21st November 2013, 18:18

The MotoX ones limit head movement to much for road racing. I think there are different ones for road use

Leate or something like that is a brand I have seen, there must be a web site with more info on it

**RDjase** · 21st November 2013, 18:25

http://www.leatt-brace.com/index.php.../street/stx-rr

There are only two types of protective equipment in the motorcycle industry today specifically designed to help prevent death in a bad crash. Your helmet and a neck brace. The STX RR is the first ever neck brace designed specifically for road racing and track day users. Helping prevent avoidable neck injuries has be Leatt’s specialty ever since Dr. Chris Leatt invented the first modern motosports neck brace in 2002. Off road riders and racers have benefited from this invention for years. The STX RR uses Alternative Load Path Technology, ALPT™, to drastically reduce the injury causes forces on the neck in a crash. Helps protect from hyper extension, hyper flexion, lateral hyper extension and hyper translation type injuries. Helps stabilize the head/neck in compressive type injuries. The ultra light carbon fiber chassis is so comfortable it will hardly be noticed while riding or racing. Designed to fit on the outside of race leathers the twin, swiveling, scapula wings on the back adjust to fit with aero humps and many body shapes. The front of brace folds back to allow for getting in a full tuck yet still fits correctly when riding in more upright positions. Removable rear platform height adjuster allows for a personal fit that gives the necessary protection while allowing optimum helmet range of motion. Additional height adjusters are on the shoulders to accommodate for different rider’s neck length. Straps can be worn to secure the brace but riders will find that it is not prone to move around on the body much, even at high speed.

Over the head fitting with emergency releases on each side
Chassis is ultra light 100% carbon fiber, only 700g (1.55 pounds)
Race adopted front construction for tucking behind the windscreen
Hammock style rubber chin pad for increased comfort and safety
Correct side clearance for race cornering
Adjusts to fit all riding suits and selections of armor
CE certified as Personal Protective Equipment 89/686/EEC
One size fits riders from approx. 140 to 225 pounds

Buy STX RR Online

**Henk** · 21st November 2013, 19:53

Or obey rule one

Don't friggin crash

Easier on the road than when racing.

**Dave-** · 25th November 2013, 10:22

I tried the road one commuting to and from work for a few days (my commutes were quite spirited back then) (link)

While riding I could find the limits in the head up/down and it was fine, you'd have to be scaling mount Everest or playing with yourself to need any extra up-down movement so that was really good.

The worst bit was while trying to headcheck, looking back over my shoulder my helmet (HJC carbon at the time) would connect with it. On the road, this might be acceptable if you have good mirrors and trust them (you can then start arguing that doing this will only lead to an occasion of needing a neck brace if you want) I imagine if you were more upright (I was on a 2004 r6 at the time) and had biiiig mirrors on your tourer or upright bike then you'd probably be ok, and probably able to rotate your head enough to see behind you. Otherwise the limitation was in my opinion a hazard.

So on the race track because you don't have mirrors this could be quite a limitation if you want to see what's behind you. Even entering the track you wouldn't be able to see over your shoulder.

A few racers I spoke with said it stopped them from getting low enough on the tank too.

The new version looks a lot lower profile, maybe it's better?

**busadayz** · 25th November 2013, 18:10

Thanks for the input, all good.

**JayRacer37** · 28th November 2013, 10:07

Originally Posted by Dave-

I tried the road one commuting to and from work for a few days (my commutes were quite spirited back then) (link)

While riding I could find the limits in the head up/down and it was fine, you'd have to be scaling mount Everest or playing with yourself to need any extra up-down movement so that was really good.

The worst bit was while trying to headcheck, looking back over my shoulder my helmet (HJC carbon at the time) would connect with it. On the road, this might be acceptable if you have good mirrors and trust them (you can then start arguing that doing this will only lead to an occasion of needing a neck brace if you want) I imagine if you were more upright (I was on a 2004 r6 at the time) and had biiiig mirrors on your tourer or upright bike then you'd probably be ok, and probably able to rotate your head enough to see behind you. Otherwise the limitation was in my opinion a hazard.

So on the race track because you don't have mirrors this could be quite a limitation if you want to see what's behind you. Even entering the track you wouldn't be able to see over your shoulder.

A few racers I spoke with said it stopped them from getting low enough on the tank too.

The new version looks a lot lower profile, maybe it's better?

Originally Posted by busadayz

Thanks for the input, all good.

The company I work for is the importer for Leatt products. As has been mentioned here, there are two models for tarmac use - the original STX, and the new STX RR.

The STX is a road brace, and as such is higher, to stop the neck movement earlier, but means you can't move your head quite as dynamically as may be required for racing. They have done it with cut down panels over the back of the neck so turning your head shouldn't be an issue once the brace is correctly set up for you - there are a few different sizes in the standard STX and a lot of adjustment availability to get it just right.

The new one is the STX RR - this is a full race brace, and is much lower in most planes to give you the movement needed on the bike on track. Its a carbon construction and it very tasty looking...Leatt's plans are to get more people racing in these braces as they can really be a life saver.

If you are interested it would be well worth having a look at them and trying on, getting a bit of a fit so you can see what it would be like. I see you are in Hamilton, Boyd Motorcycles have stock of the STX standard, and we can get them down an STX RR if you would like to look - just get John or someone there to call Jay or Troy at White's and we can have one there pretty quickly, if you are interested.