Some of you may remember my initial review on my POC Bone Mountain Bike leg armour at the start of the year. At the time I promised a longer term review to see how the POC armour lasts. Well now I have been using the POC Bone protection for almost a full holiday season of biking and thought it was about time for me to write that long term review. Read on for more details.
SUMMARY: Expensive but worth it!
+ Very comfortable while biking.
+ Great protection, even in big bike crashes.
+ Last well.
– More expensive than other mountain bike pads.
POC Bone Armour: Longevity
These POC Bone pads have lasted really well. I have used them a lot over the past 8 months of almost daily mountain biking and the buckles and stitching are still almost perfect. There are two places where they are showing damage; firstly on the orange POC logo on the knee joint where the stitching is coming away; and secondly on the POC logo on the VPD material which is peeling away a bit. Neither of these are a big issue.
POC Bone Armour: Performance
I have had several pretty nasty bike crashes this year and am carrying a few new scars on my arms and body, however nothing on my legs! The pads show some scars from these offs and have obviously done their job. In the bigger crashes the pads have stayed perfectly in place, not moving so much as an inch, and have provided fantastic cushioning. It’s hard to know if I’ve hit the VPD material in particular because it shows no marks but if I have then it’s cushioned me very well.
POC Bone Armour: In Use
This is where the POC armour has excelled for me. They are quick to put on and if you turn the pads back to front (i.e. the hard plastic bit facing backwards), then they will slip on easily over your shoes. This means I can put them fully on without removing my shoes and, due to the single strap, they are very fast to fix up. The other big usability gain is from the hinged knee, put simply this is a fantastic invention! In use, when the knee hinges, the hard plastic slides over the VPD material, meaning there is nothing moving over your flesh which in turn means they are totally chaff free. Fantastic! The pads are quite warm, no more so than other pads I have used, but they are still comfortable to wear even when guiding on the hottest days in Spain.
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