Every rider likes feeling well protected while you’re out on the trails, but when it comes to safety gear there’s one major hurdle to overcome – comfort. Sure, it’s safest to slap plastic shields all over your knees, elbows, chest and spine, but most riders try to strike a balance between protection and other factors like ventilation, freedom of motion, and overall comfort.
Bluegrass has just released their new Wapiti D30 knee and elbow pads that look like a promising option for those who’d like to shed their hard shells. The company designed this new version of the Wapiti pads with flexible and impact-reactive D30 material to ensure ease of movement yet provide the best protection possible.
The Wapiti D30 pads also feature air mesh back panels, top and bottom straps to keep them snugly in place, and the knees get side zippers for putting them on and off quickly and easily…
As the name indicates the Wapiti’s protective pads are made entirely from D30, with no rigid shells to hamper your motion. The pads utilize an asymmetrical design to ensure a precise fit, and lightweight air mesh fabric for the back panels to keep you cool. The side panels are constructed from durable and supportive Kevlar fabric, and the open cut-outs behind the knee and elbow joints should eliminate any uncomfortable bunching.
The knees and elbows both rely on two Velcro adjuster straps at the top and bottom hems to keep them in place. One nice touch is that the top straps run through a guide loop at the rear, so they won’t sag or slip around while you ride. The pads also use silicon grippers inside the hems to prevent slippage.
The Wapiti D30 knees feature two smaller pads on both the inner and outer sides to help protect sensitive areas from frame or crash impacts. The knee pads also include full side zippers so it’s quick and easy to put the pads on or take them off, while keeping your shoes on.
Since there’s no shoes to worry about, the elbow pads are a slip-on style and do not feature side zippers. Like the knees, they do include an extra pair of small pads to protect your forearms on the top and bottom sides.
Bluegrass’ Wapiti D30 pads are available online with the knees selling for $155 USD and the elbows at $133. Both come in black only, with four sizes available from S-XL (check out Bluegrass’ website for sizing info). Now that you’ve got the details, check out this video of DH racer Harry Molloy ripping around in the Wapiti D30 pads at Revolution Bike Park in Wales.
