Certainly I've started not wearing my armour nearly as much as I used to - not directly because of people like Sam Hill etc, but maybe indirectly - my mates stopped wearing armour, so I stopped.

And I have to say I feel (and I think I am) so much faster with it on.  If it's dry and I'm "confident" anyway.  If it's wet and rooty I go too cautiously without armour, but in the dry I definitely seem to rip faster without it.

But then I come off and have to get 6 stitches in my elbow where normally my pads would have let me get back up and carry on!  Ho hum

However, that's talking about the superficial protection that body armour gives you.  Cuts and grazes heal, and no shin or elbow pad will stop you from breaking bones.

The fact that a good spinal protector can stop yourself from being paralysed if you land with your back on a pointy rock is enough to make me think I'm an idiot for sometimes not wearing mine...

I think it's a combination of the the majority of tracks are too easy to roll down ( Good and Bad thing) , also bike are alot better than they used to be. Which makes people think there invinsible because they have 9" of suspension to protect them.
It also alters the perception of speed and danger when it's not as hard.

I would alway wear Armour if riding Gethin or Mynydd Du or Fort bill, Because they scare me the poop out of me. But places like bringewood or Forest of Dean, Are alot easier to get down, Even though i'm probably travelling alot faster on those tracks and In theory, I could hit a tree alot harder.

Downhill tracks need to be made harder in my opinion, But that's a different topic.

Armour should certainly be made compuslary to wear at races. Even for top level riders. Let's face it racing isn't cheap anyway, So people who race will probably have the money to spend £100 on some armour on top of there race fees anyway, They just choose not too.

Jon

Hard protection DOES protect the body from bone fractures (but not in all extreme cases) as it dissipates the concentrated energy from a fall over the area of the pad thus spreading the load & preventing fractures. I do think that every one should ride with armour especially back protection. Sumo & myself both now wear modified ice hockey armour combined with a DH back protector after suffering various shoulder injuries. Wearing the ice hockey armour has prevented me from damaging my messed up collar bones any further - I've had countless hard hitting offs landing directly on my shoulders including body checking trees. Although shaken and winded no major damage suffered due the hard armour spreading the load. Added bonus of being much cooler to wear and really quick to get on/off.

We always recommend to riders of all abilities to wear at least a full face lid, leg & arm protection at the park because we're always seeing people cutting themselves up on sharp flint or getting familiar with a tree! Wearing armour might be a pain but it's the difference between carrying on riding after a fall, or a injury involving weeks/months of pain. Remember broken bones are never the same again - I still can't get a decent night sleep lieing on my side after 15 years!

These have been around in the MX world for a little while and I am looking at getting one, dont know how it would be for DH but I will use mine if I buy a bike and go France in the summer.

Another thing that is massive in MX is knee braces, why are they no used in DH. If I was wearing them when I hd my crash I will have most likely not bust my knee like I did

I recently had a crash on a 4x track which left various bone broken. Not only this but I also suffered from spinal compression, I must admit it was pretty scary when the doctors started talking of fractured verterbrae. Luckily it wasn't as serious but boy did coughing hurt! On a more serious note though, it is something that needs addressing and at first I disliked the idea, however I am warming to the idea, and hopefully over the next year, some more affordable versions may pop up. If so I will get one of them, if not, well I better start saving now.

Another very well informed article from Alan, good stuff.

I've had a Leatt for a couple of months. I landed on my head at Cwmcarn and hurt my neck. The next day I read about Matti L and a couple of other unfortunate riders who have come off worse. Got it on ebay for £200 the same day.

Once you've got it dialed you don't really notice it when you're riding, so I'm happy with it.

I'm not young anymore, i've had big crahes now and then and have broken a few bones. I can live with that but i couldn't live with a permanent diability.

Ben, you're bike monger not a doom monger 

on DH tracks, i always wear my body (spine) armour, as i know usualy if i fall off, i will be able to get back on the bike within minutes and have another go

the only serious riding ive done without body armour (wore shins + helmet) was at red hill extreme, but its a smooth track, and not alot of variable, so chances of coming off (imo) were quite small. DH tracks have too many variables (take an inch diferent line and you hit a root causing you too crash) to take the risk