In the not too distant past, even the best joint protection consisted of a pair of poorly shaped plastic cups stitched to a sleeve of neoprene that bunched up like an accordion. Then they would inevitably slide off to one side during a crash, and leave your tender knee skin hopelessly vulnerable to onslaught of rocks sharp as razor blades. Thankfully, there are many more pad options available today. Most of them claim t-shirt comfort with flak jacket protection. Pearl Izumi looks to hit that mark with their Elevate Knee Guard, a pad that that’s designed to stay in place while you’re going up, and to keep you protected when you’re going down.
The Elevate Knee Guards are a mid-weight pad designed for trail and enduro style riding. They use a D3O viscoelastic flexible pad wrapped in lightweight four-way stretch Cordura material. The pad is designed with ventilation ports in the front of the pads to help keep you cool. The mesh fabric sleeve has a cutout in the back of the knee to prevent bunching, and comes with an over-the-thigh design with elastic grippers and sticky silicone print to prevent slippage while pedaling. Our size medium test pair of pads tipped the scales at 336 grams for the pair. They sell for $125 and can be purchased on Pearl’s website or through any decent bike shop.
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From The Loam Wolf
The Loam Wolf has been watching from the woods and mountains above, waiting for the right time to attack the status quo. We have descended, hell-bent and heaven-sent to reignite the stoke in riders around the world. Our pack has been growing and we smell blood. The passion, wildness, and grassroots love for our sport will no longer go without a voice. The Wolf Pack is here, and we will do our best to unite photographers, industry friends, athletes and mountain bikers of all kinds while giving them a voice and place to remember why they fell in love with riding bikes.
