Mountain Biking - Fenders / lights / Armour

Wow a lot in the title eh?

1 - I am interested in getting some fenders (front and rear) for spring and fall riding. I am getting sick of not being able to ride due to splatter and the fact my glasses get covered in mud. Are their preferences of does it matter.

2 - What light system do you use (no I don't want to build my own ;))

3 - Does anyone have experience with EVS BJ5 armour. It is the only stuff I could find that makes my size AND isn't full mx style protection (something I am not interested in). Did you like it and is it good?

Cheers

:beer:

1. Fenders - I like THE fenders for their style and weight (lack thereof), Some of the other fenders available seem too big and bulky. (SKS, Azonic)

2. Lighting Systems - I bought a pair of Specialized systems for my wife and I about 5 years ago and I've gotten my $$ out of them. They were a basic 4 watt halogen bulb, with the lead acid waterbottle type battery. They provided plenty of light for riding. Just recently one of the lights crapped out on me and now the batteries only last about an hour.

I've borrowed my buddies NiteRider Solo and that worked really well, and he's had his for about 3 years now.

We just started carrying Light and Motion's in the shop and from what I can tell, (just in the shop) they are very nice systems. The model we use for display is the digital and the light has 3 levels and a quick charger is available. I'm kinda waiting until the H.I.D. model comes in. It's expensive, but the run time is double for the same wattage. (13W for 4 hrs). The H.I.D. is pretty expensive, but I've heard and read nothing but rave reviews. (One here at Bikeforums - Do a search for "Light and Motion") to find it. I'm too lazy or I would for you! O.k., here it is: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=16381&highlight=Light+and+Motion

3. Can't help you with the armor ?, no experience with this stuff, other than knee/shin guards.

L8R

For Fenders.... defnitely get the THE's. I have them on my bike, and they WORK.

make sure to put the rear in the "DHy style" it's closer to your butt, and so the mud flying wont hit cha as easily...

:beer:

Maelstrom,

1. front: i don't know the name, but i have a removable plastic fender up front that looks like a motorcross style - it is light and you can remove it for dry riding.

for rear, Mt Zefal and the Flamingo and Backscratcher (hmm. is that 2 or 3 i thinkonly 2 so i have model and maker listed???) -- for rear the main problem i have had since i want a removable fender for mountain biking (as opposed to full fenders for my commuter) with many is that they do not securely fasten so they "float" around and twist to the side or whatever. i like the ones with the plastic screw that you hand-tighten and can remove in a few seconds.

2. lights for night singletrail or just street or what? i had a NiteRider Digital 6v 15W that i was happy with -- get a helmet mount OR a helmet mount and a bar mount. for single trails i find it almost impossible to ride tight corners with a bar-mounted light. as you may know from another post i have just built a 20W light... anyway, for singletrack i find that 10W is the minumin for trail riding (unless you're in a group and following someone with a brighter light) and 15-20W is pretty adequate although i don't tend to do huge high-speed downhills during the winter (only time i night ride very often) because the steep trails lie under snow. there are some new lights out (i think the Zenon bulb, but it's like $400 or so) but basically i think most of the NiteRider, Cateye and other brands are good, but you're paying $100-400 for these systems... i personally would choose 2 15-20W lights over a higher powered light... mount one on the bar and one on the helmet.

there are tons of options here -- wattage, duration, spot or flood bulb, battery type (lead-acid, NiCd, NiMH)...

i personally would say get a minimum 2hr 15W system and then beyond that figure out what you need based on price.

if you ride longer rides, say 3 hours or more, you pretty much have to do some low/high combination b/c the batteries will be so heavy and expensive to give you 3+ hours of high wattage. so you either need a low-watt bulb combo (5W or 10W) that you can switch to (like many NiteRider dual systems) or you need 2 lights where you only switch the powerful one on sometimes. this works as when climbing or whatever you don't need the high-power. then switch it on for the downhill!

3. don't know that brand, but the Daenese (sp?) stuff looks really good. i have the knee gaurds and they are really nice - also cool enough to wear most of the year even for XC (although i usually stow on my pack for climbs). no idea about sizing since M/L fits me fine

Personally I use a crud catcher/crud race guard combination - they've just produced a slimline pair as well.

Richard

Thanx guys. That at least gave me some ideas for how strong the light should be and how long it can last. I will have to search for 'THE' fenders as I cant find them in shops up here.

The armour is no biggy just something I wanted for next year. :)

Killer deal on THE fenders going on right now at www.pricepoint.com.

Their XC fender is only like $15 for the front. They have a DH fender for a few $$$ more!

Plus, they've got a Race Face Bash Ring for about $25.00.


Hmmmm......where did I put that credit card???????

L8R

Originally posted by nathank
3. don't know that brand, but the Daenese (sp?) stuff looks really good. i have the knee gaurds and they are really nice - also cool enough to wear most of the year even for XC (although i usually stow on my pack for climbs). no idea about sizing since M/L fits me fine

Dainese is awesome but in reality is too much for what I want. Also the price is really steep. What I really want is just a simple chest plate with some shoulder padding. Preferably not MX style but more concealable (sp).

All companies have something similar but they are all 'one size fits all' Meaning smaller and very large people are out of luck.

A2,

Thank you, those fenders look good. As for the bashring...with shipping and taxes and conversion it isnt a super sweet deal for me. But if I was in the states I would be all over it. Race face is awesome.

1 - I like and use this front fender FrontFender (http://www.supergo.com/itemdisplay.asp?compflag=1&parentid=18439&company=Aireon&secid=24&subid=7554)

I do not use a rear fender but The fenders are good as well. I just like the above mentioned because you do not need a star nut to instal it and it stays in place even through the rough stuff.

2 - NightSun Tri-Lite is the lighting system I run. It has 3 independently adjustable lights and you can turn them on seperatly or all at once or any combo you want. With all 3 on it produces 40w of intense bright light. They are pricy, almost 400USD, but well worth it and they can hendle rough terain ( I use them for our freeride sesions at night).

3 - I to was looking at the EVS protection but have no expieriance with them. They look like they should work and I have seen a few riders using the EVS products but I was not looking for armor at the time so I did not ask about it.
I might be getting their chest protector and if you have not bought something by then I will let you know if it is any good.

Slainte:beer:

I did a search over at ridemonkey and came up with the following:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=35450&highlight=Chest+and+protector

Doing some reading resulted in a good link to a dealer:
http://www.motorcycleville.com/Dirt_Protection_9223.html

Even some more reading, a lot of people liked this model:
http://www.motorcycleville.com/Oneal_Z-5_Body_Armor_6007.html

I can't comment since I've never used any of these personally!

L8R

Casel-Equi

I did not know that they made gear for mtb's. I have a few friends that use their protectors for bull riding. If they can keep a bull rider from being speard then I would think they woud definitly work for the rocks and branches out on the trail.

Slainte:beer:

I did see that review and that was exactly what I was looking for. I think it was a size thing but I will look again.

If only I was 5'10 and 170pnds I would have already purchased everything :)

I have emailed casel-equi. I hope they have a larger size armour. :)

I can't wait till next spring :D

Mael, why wait 'till spring? If you get down this way (So. CAL.) I could show you some sick trails you could put your new armor to use on:D .

Slainte:beer:

Originally posted by dirtbikedude
Mael, why wait 'till spring? If you get down this way (So. CAL.) I could show you some sick trails you could put your new armor to use on:D .

:beer:

Its one of my goals to make it down there this year. The problem is living in a winter resort town doesn't allow much time off in the winter.

IF I do come up with a way to get down there (maybe even for a long weekend) I know I can get cheap rooms as I work for a few major hotels it would be a matter of timing, transportation and just getting my ass down there :D

Guys,

I emailed Casel-Equi about the pro-1000 (chest armour) and sizing for bigger riders. Here is their response.



Salut Mark,

Your sizing wouldn't be a problem at all, we have a large size that fits big
riders. Plus, you have to take into accounrt that each Casel size is
adjustable up to 4 inches in diameter. But base on the measurements you gave
us a large unit would be snug for your size. If you are a really big rider
we can have a custom unit made for you. Also, if you could let us know how
tall you are, it would help.

Cheers!


Incredible. Now I just have to scrape together 300$cdn for the armour :)