Been getting a lot of comments assuming I am telling people not to wear knee braces. I am not a medical professional and everything I say in this video is just based on my experiences. They make braces for a reason and at the end of the day you just have to make an educated decision on what you are going to wear. This video was not intended to scare anyone away from wearing braces, it just goes to show that regardless of how much you protect your body things can still happen and if you are scared to get hurt then you shouldn't be on two wheels.
So, if you have a fall and have the bad luck of having your helmet bend in in a way which ie. Breaks your cheek bone and a few teeth (but probably has prevented of virtually exploding) and that it has happened to other people as well, would you say you will change it for a bicycle helmet from then on? Just curious…
I have always believed that those knee pads are designed for people who have serious knee stability problems, a knee pad designed for walking calmly. Using this type of protection, as our friend has seen is DANGEROUS, it is better to use "bauerfeind" knee pads that will give you the necessary reinforcement in the joint but without restricting movement and then put on an anti-impact knee pad, greetings from Spain.
Great video! I had a vertical fracture with blown out ACL as well - so i feel your pain. I couldn't walk for a year lol! You may want to try this: for off road riding, I use those velco type medical knee braces with the aluminum on the sides, and then just put the knee guards on top. It seems to be a good compromise. Let me know what you think. Cheers!
I had the same injury and I was NOT wearing knee braces. I think it is all just luck. Some good, some bad. As someone who had the same injury, I know what you went through for your recovery. The fact that you finished the race is unbelievable. That is honestly the most bad-ass thing I have ever heard. I ended up getting a Helicopter ride to the hospital which I am certain you would have preferred to the bumpy car ride. Props to you dude. That injury sucks and my knee will never be 100% again, but it is good enough to ride. FYI, at that time, I too was in the best shape of my life. Oh well.
Same tib fib plateau break with internal fixation here 6 months post surgery. I'm on my feet 10 hours a day at work no to minimal limp and still ride but I hurt at times.
I had the same injury in 2020, no knee brace - and no idea when I actually did it (no crash, just the bike overbalancing at walking pace a few times on rutted lanes). Felt a bit stiff, told the lads to carry on without me when we got to a proper road and I rode about 20 miles home. Got home, put the foot of the broken leg down to get off the bike and couldn't hold the weight - fell over on my driveway, but managed to pick myself and the bike up and put it in the garage. Got similar metalwork in there now. Before the incident I'd been considering knee braces, afterwards was kicking myself for not getting them. Now I'm a bit easier with myself knowing they aren't a magic bullet and I may well have had the same injury even if I had been wearing them. Three years on, I can walk, ride and cycle, a bit stiff, but about to have the metalwork removed as it's uncomfortable.
Not only do knee braces protect from hyper extension but I've noticed they also form a cage around the knee that protects it from lateral forces. Like the bike landing on it or impacting a rock. See, what happens with these braces is all the force of impact gets dispersed to different parts of the leg rather than all on one point. Sure maybe it can cause a different type of injury, but lord, i would hate to imagine how my knees would be without my braces. But you do you man.
Agreed! Had my bike land on my leg on rocky terrain. Knee brace took the whole impact. I got up and continued to ride and was just fine. That’s happened more than once over the years. Thankful I had them on!
Plus they try to stop side to side movement like if your leg is elevated and the bike lands on it. it wont stop it from moving sideways but is way better then having no support and 100 plus kilos going crunch sideways on your knee and clearly tearing ligaments and fracturing something or potentially a huge break fi it hits it the wrong way. with my knee braces i have the lockout set so my leg cant fully extend so only way it can flex is the regular way which is the way it should be set unlike the guy in the video who says it locks out when his leg is fully flexed which is terrible.
Yep, that is what tore my knee up. Hitting a tree, I basically wrapped around it. It was all lateral movement that caused the damage. Being Canadian, I'm now afraid to walk on slippery surfaces without my brace... So I'm trapped 6 months of the year lol
“Yahooism”, a disease young riders suffer from where they think that structural assistance makes them a better rider. Being competitive and lacking talent is a recipe for underachievement.
Correlation does not equal causation. I am a 50+ Expert, and have been riding for 40+ years. I tore my right ACL completely in half along with meniscus damage while racing in the mid-90s. I have wore knee braces since then. The ACL replacement surgery was difficult, but I endured and worked hard through therapy. I was riding again after three months and racing again by the time I was released from therapy - around the fourth month. I have used CTI2 braces and Asterisks, which I wore out, and now PODs with excellent results. I will not go back to standard knee pads. While I am currently not racing, I ride hard in the desert, mountains, and woods, and I am sure the braces have saved my knees on numerous occasions, as well as catching all of those cactus thorns. Every person has their own experiences and opinions, but I won't go back. Bones heal, ligaments have to be replaced.
I ruptured my ACL a few months ago while riding bike. My friend told me that knee braces can prevent this problem, but after watching this video, I started to wonder, if the knee braces only limit the knee angle but do not absorb the impact force, does that means the impact force is just transferred to other places, and will it be possible that the ACL problems turned into a tibia fracture, just like the video.
I’m the most padded, braced, and protected guy on a bike. Ive had so many injuries over the years and am just now 12 months into recovery from a fractured shoulder that came with multiple ligament tears, nerve damage and god knows what else. The reality is you likely never know how bad an injury could have been if you weren’t wearing protective gear. Based on the location of your break I fail to see how the braces could have contributed to your injury. Maybe if you had snapped your femur above the brace you could argue it was the brace but no brace is going to stop what happened to your tib 🤷♂️ All that aside though my take on it is this …you NEVER want to be the guy that tries to convince others not to wear protective gear because you never know what the consequences could be for others or your own karma. Just look at Ryan Hughes. He banged on for years telling anyone and everyone not to wear neck braces and what happened? He broke his f#$king neck!
Different kind of gear, instead of not wearing gear. I'm more an ADV kind of person so I use knee pads integrated into pants. I was thinking of getting knee braces for rougher trails but now I'm not so sure.
@@fallinginthed33p Same here, I own an adv bike and a 300L. I bought a Leatt z frame with leatt knee brace pants. I like the comfort and stability it gives to my knees. Chasis is not too rigid and I can do long walks. I sold it and now I'm thinking to upgrade to X frames, but after watching this video, I am also not sure how to proceed.
I wear Mobius knee braces and truly feel that they've saved my knees multiple times. I'd 'tweaked' my knee a few times before getting them, but never had any injuries since getting them. Everything I've read/been told is that bones heal up quickly and when they're healed, they're as good as they were originally, however, tendons and ligaments never properly heal, and take a long time to heal. I don't understand how the knee brace made the 'pogo' any worse? If your knee bends the wrong way (as it's more likely to without the braces), then you'd have had potentially a lot more (but maybe different) damage? I agree that knee braces aren't going to save you from any and all crashes/injuries, but I personally feel that they are well worth wearing, and that your injury was an outlier. Everybody needs to make their own choices about protection.
I wear the Mobius also, have them set, so no full extension. I like the full wrap around design. Im wondering if his accident would of been different if he had those instead. ??? So now he is completely against any type of knee protection.
100%. As a matter of fact, the Mobius allows you to lock flexion out in a few different degrees of flexion.....theoretically by locking you out from full extension, you could potentially lower your possibility of a fracture like this. This is one of the reasons I wear mobius as well. They are also the best knee guards out there IMHO
I also wear Mobius and 100% agree with this. Ive fractured my tibial plateau before and had an ACL tear. Both suck. Plateau sucks worse, but IMO it’s a little bit harder to do that than to damage ligaments, especially if you’re doing a lot of slower technical riding. My tibia actually broke from hitting my knee into a tree in precisely the knee guards he’s describing. I actually feel that if I was wearing my current Mobius braces I would have possibly walked away from that injury as they have much better impact protection than most knee guards.
I do physical therapy and have had a major knee injury as well (patellar tendon rupture) and I would say from my experience and research it all depends on which direction the force was exerted on the knee and which position it was in. Do you remember if you were sitting or standing when your foot slipped off the peg? If standing, it’s unlikely that you were going to avoid a plateau fracture unless somehow you bent your knee more before contacting the ground. If sitting, there’s a chance you could have escaped with less severe injury (PCL and other soft tissue damage). Don’t listen to people who talk about how bones heal better, the tibial plateau supports half of the body’s weight on a very small surface and if that isn’t right it changes everything. If you had blown out all ligaments, you would’ve had a much more complex rehab as far as stability goes, but much less pain. Something to weigh when deciding on braces. Hope this helps!
I ruptured my ACL a few months ago while riding bike. My friend told me that knee braces can prevent this problem, but after watching this video, I started to wonder, if the knee braces only limit the knee angle but do not absorb the impact force, does that means the impact force is just transferred to other places, and will it be possible that the ACL problems turned into a tibia fracture, just like the video.
I tore MCL 6 months back with the Knee brace on Leatt by the way got away without a surgery... When my leg started streatching i could feel the barce stopping it from streatching more if i didnt had the braces on 100% it would have been worse... just gave a break for 2 weeks and started riding with brace on still have mild pain feel it when i do streaching... I completly support wearing knee brace
So sorry this happened! I have practiced sports chiropractic for 40+ years, and worked with many different knee injuries, and after moving to a remote desert area of CO in 2004, I left 750cc and 1000cc sportbikes forever. My current bike is a 2023 KTM 350 EXC-F. I use Klim Baja pants in all riding situations. I hope your rehab from the injury was successful and you are still enjoying your off-road adventures! Thank you for sharing your injury and your solution to prevent future similar injures!
Yepz, I am a sponsored rider, a competitor of LEATT with years of protective gear development in industries plus motorcycles ( and I even have a LEATT helmet- so NOT a gear snob). I have MANY years of experience with braces/guards I have torn my ACLs, broke my tib right above my mx boot on a hard dab on a rock slab that really had that pinch hurt for a long time-a compression fracture-and the SUC. Knee braces are awesome for the right reasons but I also prefer knee guards as they do let your leg/joint flex more naturally but any riding is risky and we try to manage that. What happened to you could have happened to anyone AND if your leg had been on just a bit more of an angle almost any way the brace would have helped greatly. Thank you for sharing your story and sorry about any uninformed hate directed your way as you faced a long recoup. I went on a trip with my wife right after mine as I thought it was just a compression ouch. We walked all over beautiful Boston until I pretty much stopped in the middle of the park and said I give up. My bone doc said you did what?? I told her Im an old guy that hurts everywhere anyway and she got me fixed- but it takes a while to heal. Im getting back to riding again and have different types of guards depending on what terrain I expect. Hinged/full length for those FUN days in mud/rocks/hills for max protection to multi strap full length fixed guards for trail riding and then the slip on type for comfort and low speed type practice and fun. Not that they can not cross into each others terrain- just have enough pad between you and the type of earth you try to stick a knee in or limb or kicked up rock does not leave a mark on your shin bone. A really great video my friend and it came across to me that you advised to wear what is good for that person and expected terrain. I advise people to try their guards before use, Slowly kneel onto uneven ground feeling the padding- then keep dropping faster on to rougher material to see how good the protection is for you You should not feel anything really. The guard should give you a bit of suspension above the ground. Some you can feel exactly what is on the other side of the plastic- you may want to try others. Thank you allowing my old two cents from decades of riding off road, Keep the great content and info my friend and I cant wait for the next. Stay safe out there my friend !!
Something to keep in mind, so thanks for that. Definitely a lot of variables at play and to consider here. Personally, I think knee braces are way overkill for casual trail riding and knee pads will do just fine; as far as semi hard to hard enduro is concerned I'd probably go with the brace instead. Dunno... kind of hard to gage sometimes. I think psychology definitely plays a role in the choice you end up making as well, probably negatively too since you can become too lax as far as being mindful of what you do with your legs while pelting through the woods is concerned, because, you know, I'm braced up like Megatron, so what could possibly go wrong! In my personal experience there isn't much of a leap from confidence to carelessness, so you have to be careful to keep yourself mindful of what you do on the bike, tons of protection or not. Hell, maybe ride like you would when you don't have any protection, despite being armoured to the gills, but then again that probably swings the pendulum too far to the other side. Find a balance between protection and your mental state perhaps? Haha... Anyway... thanks for the info. Take care.
There were studies of college hockey players and a big debate about face masks. They called it the gladiator effect where people with a mask would put them selves in riskier situations then if they did not have a mask. Example, harder checks, stopping shots, ect.
Completely agree! About six years ago I was wearing Pods knee braces and when I went down my tibia plateau snapped completely, and through the skin. Also broke my tibia and fibula in several other places. Eight days in the hospital, a couple surgeries for a rod and plate, a blood transfusion and then wheelchair bound for months.. It took 8 months and endless rehab to recover and I still have some numbness in my foot. I'm 100% convinced this was a result of the knee braces. I always thought I was invincible wearing braces, but boy I was mistaken!
@@olliechristopher467 That's a stupid and ignorant reply considering that you weren't there and have no idea what type of fall I had and how brace played it's part in destroying my leg.
@@robd9819 " I always thought I was invincible wearing braces" This is why you were injured. It was not the braces fault. That's as ignorant as someone claiming full wrap hand guards broke their wrist going over the bars. Motorcycling is a dangerous sport. It's the rider, not the protective gear that is responsible for injuries. When you swing a leg over the bike it's the chance you take.....
The only way you can say 100% is if you tested the same accident without a brace. You have no idea what could have really happened had the brace not been in place.
I was 25 years old at the time and was racing 1/4 & 1/2 semi- pro FlatTrack. I was going about 80 miles an hour into a turn sideways put my foot down and hit a rock . I felt my foot hit me in the left side of my back. I had the same injury that you had .I took 3 years to heal enough to ride again I can say that I feel your pain man take care !
I clearly remember the videos about the race and your injury, it worried me very much. It's good to see you now, still enthusiast and fine. As always, I wish. you all the best.
Love your content, mate. I'm 59 years old and do 95% off-road riding on grassy mountain slopes littered with embedded rocks. Never racing. I'm happy NOT to have knee braces. I think they are overkill but I do wear Leatt dual-axis knee guards. My only complaint with them is that the bottom edge digs into my shin. I'm willing to modify my gear so I'll try some extra foam in that area. I also wear a Leatt 5.5 body protector which I need to fix - the chest "impact" foam is in the wrong place - my stomach. I also have a Leatt 7.5 v22 helmet which is perfect. I'm not a 100% Leatt fan boy by any means - I've got other stuff from Fox, Fly Racing and RST - but I do like Leatt's PPE but need to modify it occasionally to be perfect for me.
Thanks for this video! I"m 64 and returning to motorcycles after 30 years raising eight kids. Because I enjoy exploring back roads, lumber and mine roads and trails, I got the KLR650 Adventure. I've been trying to figure out what the best knee protection would be. I was a Paratrooper and had a complete knee replacement after running on an injured knee for over thirty years. Worse than that, I was riding my bicycle and a lady on her cell phone took me out. My back was broken at the L-1. My pelvis was cracked. My left femur was shattered into eight pieces with three inches completely missing (needed three reconstructive surgeries, two different sets of titanium hardware, and bone grafts). My left forearm was broken in three places. My left shoulder dislocated. And on top of a concussion, I had all manner of road rash! I wasn't supposed to ever walk again without a walker or cane. But after over two years of physical therapy I can jog four miles in less than an hour, and ride a motorcycle! Needless to say, protecting myself and my knees specifically, it a top priority. I never want to be that busted up again! Your video has kept me from making a YUGE mistake! Also, I see you've posted a video on ADV Boots. Perfect! I'll be watching that next. I ride in combat boots. Where I go I may have to hike back out if things go sideways. I can't imagine the "protection" you get from ADV Boots make it a good hiking boot. I'll be very interested to see what you had to say about ADV Boots. Thanks again for posting this video!
You are the man, during my career I’ve seen this type of injury, no matter what you do out in the field, the patient is still uncomfortable. Glad you’re doing well and don’t pay attention to keyboard cowboys.
Just going by what you have explained at the point of injury (POI) it would seem to me that the brace most likely had nothing to do with your injury, that is to say you most likely would have received the injury with or without it. When you say 'my foot slipped off the peg' with forward momentum and the bike all sorts of loose (in the video). I assume your boot made contact with the ground and most likely gripped a bit. Forward bike momentum + Foot on ground + Axial loading (sharp/extreme downward weight force) will fracture a tibial plateau relatively easily. Braces do not protect you from extreme axial loading of your knee and tibia, nothing does! 30+ years rider & rider instructor and Intensive Care Paramedic.
I also broke my Tibia plateau. I was riding a CRF450 but no knee protection. I think the injury depends on the type and direction of impact. I don't think my injury would be different even if I would have been wearing a knee brace. Thanks for the videos. Keep'em coming.👍
Hey man, feel how you will about knee braces, but I think I'm going to invest in a pair once im recovered from similar injuries as you. I pogo'ed my leg just like you two months ago. Tibial spine fracture, fibula fracture, and miniscus tear. I was wearing zero knee protection at the time, and that has led me to have the opposite thoughts as you. Would I have been okay if I just put on my braces? Who knows, but I think I'll wear them from now on.
I own the same knee braces that were worn during this injury so I'm interested about this type of knee injury. What was not very clear to me with this clip was how the knee braces were instrumental to cause or increase the injury. Hope you have a complete recovery!
because as he said he had it set so his own knee could fully extend to max and the brace was set to stop there, Thats the mistake and should be set to stop just before full extension - oops.
Thanks for sharing. Glad you're still riding. My 35+ years of dirtbikes have been sprinkled with broken bones and torn ligaments. Ignore all the internet experts. Only you are responsible for yourself and others that hear your opinion are also free to make their own decisions... no matter the outcome. Freedom really is the ultimate expression of personal responsibility. If you find yourself in Utah let's ride
Wow...your video popped up right as I'm making this decision myself...I'm 43, been riding for a long time...took 10 years off of dirt bikes after injuring my right knee in 2007, got my left in 2021: 2007 - EVS knee brace (lower level version) - Tib/Fib Plateau and spiral fracture, plate and 9 screws very similar to your injury. 6 months before I could walk again without crutches. Took 10 years or so off of dirt bikes after that, rode street bikes in the interim Started riding and racing again in 2017...bought Pod K4 knee braces 2021 - 15 seconds in to a 24 hour endurance race, rear wheel spun up, caught myself with my left knee and POP...ACL avulsion fracture (like yours) and ANOTHER (minor) tib/fib plateau break! So I've gotten BOTH of my knees on the tib/fib with braces and the ACL on one side. I"m strongly considering trying pads only again for the first time in decades. It's a little scary, as I've damaged both knees and there definitely is a little security blanky feel to those braces...but after two major knee injuries with the braces I think I'm going to try again without them. Fingers crossed. Thanks for the video, I quite literally have felt your pain.
It was the Honda CT70 that kept me watching. As kids we wore nothing more more than helmets and gloves, Hand protectors on the bars weren't even invented yet. How am I still alive? Now I want back in and my wife is all for it but when a new Shoei is more than a cheap TV you know times have changed. My body is an orthopedic mess so for me it's a kidney belt, leathers, skateboard wrist protectors and boots. Knee braces go towards our mortgage. That guy holding up the trophy for third place in D class cross country will be me. My first real "injury" was my mom beating me on the helmet with a wooden spoon for staying out late on my 125 enduro. Thanks for the well done research.
I started wearing braces after a traumatic hyperextension plateau tibia break with bone graft and plates and screws. The burned bone from grinding will never leave your memory. 🔥 It's up to each rider to choose the protection according to their needs and beliefs because of difference of opinion with proof on both sides. imo Story usually is injury would have happened no matter if you had braces or not.
Thankfully, I have not had a knee or leg injury. I used to ride with POD K4 braces but eventually moved to the Leatt 3DF Knee+Shin guard. I admit that decision was partially influenced by Ryan Hughes. I believe one of the most important things any rider can do to keep their legs and knees safe is to keep their feet on the pegs at all times. No leg out. So I diligently practice keeping my feet on the pegs in all scenarios and it ultimately is not only safer but faster and you save energy. This is not a comment on your injury, just a general message to anyone who might read this comment. I ride enduro pretty much exclusively and I race 24+ events per year. Feet on the pegs!
I'm brand new and trying to understand.. so if you get "squirrely" like he did, rather than put your foot out, you should just try and weight the outside peg and counter steer and hope for the best, and potentially land on your hip and side?
@@colbyprince9409 It's difficult to analyze his crash because of the limited footage and viewing angle but basically yes. Counter steer, grip with your knees even tighter than you were to stabilize your body, and throttle it out. Again, we can't really get a good look at his crash from his footage and I don't really want to try to dissect his crash or what caused his injury. I am not a medical expert. And like he said, his foot slipped off the peg and didn't intentionally put his leg out. Check out AJ Catanzaro's videos on riding with your feet always on the pegs.
Idk, man. I'm on my 2nd knee injury. Both with braces on. Slow highside down the hill, 10ft down, pole-vaulting over my extended leg. Crushed the meniscus. I'm fairly certain my knee would've been snapped in half from that tumble without the brace. I was 10mi out. The brace kept my leg together pretty well and I rode out without issues, though in pain. Wasn't able to walk once the brace was off. 2nd get off a few weeks ago somewhat similar. The outer side of my knee is sore and bruised. I can only assume it's from the knee trying to break out laterally, running into the hinge of the brace, which kept the knee from buckling and all of the ligaments intact. Everyone takes life in their own hands when on a moto. I'll continue to do so with braces on. P.S. If I rode MX and sent triples on a regular, I might consider the dangers of snapping the femur because of the brace. But I only ride enduro. Tumbling downhill or trapping my leg between boulders/trees is not only more likely but happens often.
Thank you!!! I am old and I just a dirt bike. I too purchased some knee guards. I couldn't get them adjusted properly so I never got around to wearing them. You may have saved my riding fun.
Ok, I have no expertise on this. Just a question/observation. In professional motorcycle races, it seems that when I see riders walking around, suited up, they have sort of an ape-like stance. Their legs are not straight. Your demo of the brace appeared to be pretty straight. Any chance, that if your leg had been unable to straighten out, would your leg have buckled instead of pogo-sticking, as you put it, in the straight position?
I blew my knee out just getting up from kneeling down. After surgery and rehab, I picked up the same type of knee braces. I wore them for the first few months back riding. Now I feel like it's overkill with more potential for injury. I am most likely gonna leave them in the gear bag from now on. Thank you for your video.
Your X-rays could be mine from a while back. I find it ironic that I was thinking knee braces/pads might have helped me. I was in a low speed wobble that threw me off the bike and I landed on the pavement on my right knee and shattered my tibular plateu in to, I think, 9 pieces (thankfully no tendon injury). At the same time the handle bars snapped back and cracked my left wrist. So a walkee with a shelf on it since my wrist was non-load bearing. I dont know if knee pads would have helped and my situation was not the same as yours but the outcome seems very close. Also your big bone comment is on point.
Broke my tibia plateau on my bike, too. Surgery X-rays looks almost identical to yours. 8 screws and plate. Can’t say for sure my knee brace was or was not responsible, but the rehab was intense. Glad you’re doing better. Confidence definitely comes back with time.
I wear KTM 3 strap knee guards. I have had them for probably over 10 years. I never even wanted knee braces. I have known about them, but I never even looked into them. Glad I didn't. Hopefully your knee gets back to normal.
LOL, i broke both tibia and fibula just below my knee, by hitting my leg with my fist. Im a paraplegic after huge offroad bike racing accident 35 years ago. So i was now getting into my car, leg got stuck in the process, so i just kept pounding it with my fist. The following day i went to hospital and had it all plated up
Maybe a knee brace that always kept a slight bend in the knee would be the best of both worlds? That way you would get protection for acl injuries, whilst still allowing the knee to do its job and let the leg flex to absorb impacts. I don’t ride dirt bikes so I don’t know if that would be bad…
I got a TPF in Sept of 2020. Same deal. Greatest year of my life. 59 at the time. Riding like crazy. Bounced off a tree and fell off my 500 at 15 miles an hour and hyper-extended it all the way. I have a pic of the bottom of my hyper-extended legs', boot sole from my gopro on my chin. 2.5 years of recovery so far. healing from a partially de laminated artery, nerve damage and plate and pins my knee, it sux. 12 weeks on crutches at age 60 is no fun. Then it flared up arthritis in my good knee. I bought braces and wear them whenever I ride. But the flexibility in that knee is not good and it can be painful to ride much. It has pushed me into DS now. It is going to be hard to give up the woods, but it is what i should do. But probably wont completely. I will still wear the braces.
Having had multiple bone fractures and multiple ligament tears, I'd take a bone fracture over ligament tears any day. I'm a big proponent of knee braces. I know they won't prevent massive damage in the wrong circumstances but in most cases they provide the 10 - 20 percent increase to leg stability that will prevent major damage. One to two thousand spent on quality and if necessary custom knee braces is priceless compared to 6 - 8 months off the bike, 60-80 thousand dollars in surgery bills and lost days on the job. Each rider needs to choose their ridding gear that makes them comfortable and confident. My knee surgeon at first was opposed to knee braces until he came out to our local supercross race and actually saw the racing, speed and situations we put ourselves in. After that personal experience he came up to me and strongly supported the use of knee braces as well as other protective equipment like neck braces. He was judging the use of these devices from ammeter level competitive contact sports and not considering the mechanical speeds created by the motorcycle.
I think what caused the fracture was the fact that the brace allowed you into full extension. If the brace had a limiter and provided a continuous slight bend at the knee your fracture probably wouldn't have occurred. That said depending on the force your foot hit the ground you could have sustained either the same or other injuries. My point being, I don't think the brace "caused" the injury, and in fact it may have prevented a more complex injury, but its setup probably could have been better to offer more protection. I believe that it still provides more stability than not having it, especially against lateral and twisting forces. A lot of assumptions I know, "could, should, would" doesn't solve the problem. I just hope that your healing continues and you're back there enjoying yourself soon.
I had the same idea with the limiter. A lag that is completely stretched out is very fragile. Should a brace be setup Thet it's limit the knee to be streched up to 90%?
He didn't crash, and I didn't' crash, I hooked my foot on a stump and snapped it sideways, if I had a brace on at the time, it would have prevented that. And I know this because I have done it many times since, and it just sweeps my leg off the bike for a moment.
not wearign a brace cost my every ligament, my arteries in my knee Nearly died and my knee is not fixable - so I have a bummed leg. I'll take a broken bone any day over un fixable ligaments
Our trauma doctor says braking bones is the best injury to recover relatively quickly from. Hyperextensions, torn ligaments etc. take a lot longer to heal. I broke my skull in half and broke my inner ear somehow during a bicycle accident when I was 14 ( wearing no helmet while my front fork broke in half due to a failed front fender on a Trek MTB ). The skull healed pretty fast, but I'm 43 now and I can only sleep for 6 hours before getting serious neck pain and headache, that's my muscles still going in panic mode for no reason... I think you just had bad luck. But I understand you, I'll never ride a Trek bicycle again in my life, in a similar way as you hate braces from that moment on :)
had the same break in my left leg, do to a tractor accident I walk with a limp now and I am always in pain, The Dr. said that I can not run anymore. I have tried several things to help with the jolts example leaping jumping off the steps etc etc., Even when I am at stop lights and my left leg is down I can feel my left leg shaking as I try an steady the bike. 2010 Ultra limited, that I hardly ride now due to the weight of the bike. they are a night and day difference in my left an right leg, I honestly dont think I could ever do enduro riding, and def no motocross stuff, I recently got a KLR 650 that i plan to ride offroad but nothing like single track or anything like that, for me it is just simple dirt roads the kind you would take your grandmother down in a station wagon dirt roads. lol . I hope you are back to top shelf and dont have the trouble out of your leg as me.
Very sorry to hear about your accident, this type of surgery you will like feel some effects for the rest of your life. Off-road riding comes with a fairly high degree of risk for injury especially if you throw competition into the loop. There are also numereoud videos on RU-vid where leg braces, neck braces have saved people from very serious injury. I wear full body armour and still know there is a risk of injury. In my senior years, I don’t engage in competitons or try to keep up with younger folks or have them try to “egg me on: - I play at my own game and have lots of fun, I realize this is not for everyone. Keep riding!!
As an old timer it always surprised my the usage of knee braces for riders with perfect knees! Knee protection is good but braces only if prescribed by a doctor and even with that I am not convinced…
I had the same brace, quality of leatt is very bad …. Aluminium screws (with blue locktite) damage the thread that hold the brace in one piece on the side and they say the carbon part will break when they under allot of stress. Try Mobius x8 , like it very much. Not as heavy as leatt braces and less parts that will give up on you.
You are right of course, sometimes shit happens and you have a great attitude. Sorry that happened to you. I too was under the false assumption that you only get injured when you crash. I managed to pop my bicep tendon while riding in Moab. Had to ride out of Sovereign trail with the injury. My retired Army Spec Ops riding buddy that was with me was impressed at my toughness riding out of that rather difficult trail with basically one arm. The thing is, sometimes ya just don't have a choice 😆
i have a buddy that had his front end slide a little bit, stuck his foot out and broke the same chunk off, plus a 3 inch break down the middle of the tibia. Hes a B rider, it was really a ridiculous injury but he is getting older. Getting him out was fun and took the rest of the day.
Coming from someone who tore all 4 legiments completely I would have absolutely preferred that I would have broke my femur. 6 years later I struggle every day with my knee, having issues with the popping out, dislocating on a pretty regular basis. I’m currently 21, the injury happened when I was 16. I’ve had the ACL repaired since that surgery and I am now on the waiting list to get another surgery done on the same knee. I honestly think in your case you were very unlucky. In my case my legiments gave out rather than breaking anything (I wasn’t wearing knee braces) I get bone pain sucks, I’ve broken many bones in my life. But severe legiment damage absolutely sucks. My knee will never ever be what it was, and with all the internal damage and wear because of the injury I’ll need a replacement by the time I’m 40. I don’t know if braces would have made my situation any better, but I wear them now because my knee physically can’t do strenuous activities without them.
Feel your pain buddy. Thanks for the video and being honest. Wish you the best!! Have 3 bolts in my ankle and a broken fibula. After 9 days off touring in dense heat, not eating and resting enough and enjoying the life I ended up In a ditch. At a slow 25km/h because I was daydreaming... The bike of 270kg straight on the leg and done. I am 42 and always been an athlete and never broken anything. This injury is changing how am thinking about all this.
I'm all about guard type impact protection, but no bracing. The load has to go somewhere, and when leverage is involved things get spooky and unpredictable. The neck braces have the same issue in redistributing load into a different catastrophic injury that the body may never normally experience. Of course the industry studies and testing will bias to better than nothing, but when the high level riders start dropping their use because they see the anecdotal evidence all the time.
Braces or standard pads…either way there is no substitute for leg muscle strength, joint flexibility, and proper stretching before rides. I think it’s important to be realistic about your physical state/condition (especially as we age) and ride accordingly…regardless of the type of protective gear chosen. We ask too much of the gear and often overlook the reality of our own bodies. I run both Leatt Dual Axis standard pads and Asterisk Carbon Cell braces. For me, I like to have options to choose from depending on how I am feeling and type of riding.
Maybe those braces can be made to have some more movement, to help avoid unnatural pressure on the knee? IDK? However, I do know, from experience, that dirt bike riding is dangerous, regardless. I'm glad you are doing better.
I broke my femur 2 inches above my knee cap while wearing the Leatt Dual Axis knee guards. I wish I was wearing full knee braces at the time. I think it depends on the luck of the draw on how you get your injury.
I was wearing the original Pod braces released back in 2008 , inflexible old things , had an awkward fall in 2011 on a greasy downhill , stretched my MCL pretty bad , took about 4 months to heal completely , saw a knee specialist as I was concerned about miniscus damage, was ok , specialist told me in no uncertain terms without the braces I would have done an ACL and probably more. I wont ride without braces these days, can see the argument for only wearing guards, tryed just guards , not for me, feel naked ...lol
Good video, sorry you experienced this however the mechanics of the injury where limited to that pogo stick motion you described that broke the head of the tibia by your brace. It’s near impossible to forensically prove how much more, not different, damage may have occurred without the added protection of the brace you were wearing. I would suggest your injuries were limited by the brace versus exacerbated by the brace. You may actually have come away from this lucky. In extremes braces can transfer forces which break bones upon their exit from the protection of the brace. Breaks like those are still arguably better and less damaging that what would take place in the absence of the braces.
Structural engineer here…that makes perfect sense. Naturally you would have put your foot down with flexed knees to absorb. Having it lock out is skeletal. Could go up into hip as well. Great vid.
I too crashed my dirt bike a few years back and I was wearing full gear. I had the fox titan knee and shin guards on... I wish I had been wearing these knee braces, I severed my acl ( fully ripped it into 2 pieces) tore my mcl, sprained my pcl, tore my meniscus and a tib fib fracture. 1 month of ice and elevation, followed by a few months of physical therapy, knee surgery using my hamstring and cadaver tissue, then ice and elevation for a week, followed by almost 6 months of physical therapy... it was at least a year after everything before I could jog at a slow place. Today, my right knee doesn't work the same... buy the knee braces.
I'm sorry for the whole thing. I had a similar injury (the x-ray looks exactly like mine with all the screws/bracket..) I did brokethrough my tibial plateau by slipping my foot down the peg. I don't know man: I had normal knee protectors and I didn't broke any ligament; I broke meniscus and I cracked my femour on the side, instead. 2 surgerys with the 2nd for meniscus, to "clean" the knee and remove the hardware. I was 49 and it wasn't easy.
Sorry about that , damn that sounded rough . Glad you're back and your knee is better . I haven't even been able to ride in months and it isn't because of an injury but a family issue . Forward is the way for sure as yesterday is right where it belongs .
I set my braces to stop at a 10 degree bend, so I never impact straight legged. I started wearing EVS web braces after coming down hyper extended and “bruising” a meniscus.
Glad to hear you were able to finish the race and great to hear about long but well endured recovery. Keep taking care of yourself and thank you so much for sharing this. I don't do any adventure riding yet and am just getting back into motorcycling, will be my first time in a new location where I haven't done so in nearly a decade but I've been at it off and on. However, since I've been doing my gear research (always was an atgatt guy), this is the first time I've seen about such an accident and I'm shocked to see this. Will have to look up knee braces.. While I certainly don't want to rely just on my regular CE1 knee pads in my touring pants, especially after being reminded of just how delicate and complex that joint is, I think I should watch your other videos about protection gear. Ride safe and have fun bro! God bless.
The dual axis have probably fallen apart by now. The straps stretch out to incredible lengths in a short amount of time. I found that they stay strapped on better if you take the plastic buckle part off and simply wrap the strap around your leg the required 10 times and tuck the velcro end under against your sock. The hinge also breaks. i did a low speed flop practicing sandy corners and barely landed on my knee and its been sore for 2 weeks. I also have a permanent mark on the inside of my right knee from where the sweat-hardened hinge pad is grinding on my skin. ive ordered the z frames. at least the straps are replaceable.
I broke my tibia last month while jumping. The surgery went well i am still recovering. I was using Leatt dual axis knee braces, but I'm not sure if they were properly fitted (maybe not), for the price they are great. That's why I think each case is different.
I literally only use a helmet and some steel toe work boots had some really bad crashes over the years but never broke a bone yet I feel like proper gear adds restriction to how you can move about on the bike and to your joints when you fall.
Injured medial ligaments on each knee in two falls. KLR 650 (500+) pounds, landed on legs. Your post tells me a smaller dual sport bike has it’s problems too.
When ridding slow tech trails where falling off of boulders and twisting your knee is a risk… knee braces seem really valuable. If smashing whoops at 30 mph I could see how knee pads make better since. Similar to skiing at that point
I did a similar injury. Flipped my KTM( same model as yours ) at walking speed. Came off the back and landed on both feet and did the ACL and Tibia Fib . Rode out for an hour. Knee blew up. Hurt like a bitch once the adrenaline wore off. Cost 30k plus rehab to fix. 2 years on its still shit. No knee braces. Was going to buy a pair of expensive ones the week before the injury.
I had a similar experience, only the exact opposite of yours. I ride track, and I was using the Leatt knee guards you just got and dabbed my foot in a corner without failing and tore my ACL, miniscus fractured the Tib/ Femur plateau and stained some other ligaments. I did a lot of research and decided on the POD K4. Since they are poly and not carbon, they have more flex and give a little more. I was always anti knee brace, and now I wear them every ride. 😅
My asterisks have saved me many times including a head on where a two stroke expansion pipe folded my radiator around my knee. I wear them because my knees are beat from riding without them.
Life time MX racer here with Number 1s in all sorts of classes, flat track and road racing too. Before knee braces got invented, I toasted my meniscus at 15, shattered patella at 16, ACL+MCL at 17. Because of all this I suffer platue fractures pretty easily, theres no cartiladge left in there! I've had three from not wearing a brace (doesn't fit under leathers), and none from wearing one. You're comment about which injury you'd rather have is extremely naive. Straight up, if that's how you feel about platue fractures you would not have survived the things that happened to my knees. I'm still racing 20 years on from those injuries because of braces. I literally couldn't do a lap without them. Papers published by doctors about such things are educated conjecture at best. The neck brace debate comes to mind as well. Poll a bunch or orthopedic specialists about it. I did, I had to if I was ever going to race again. They not only told me to wear braces at all times, but helped me get my insurance to pay for them! If you don't want to wear X or Y piece of gear, go for it but dont spread misinformation on RU-vid. The world sure has enough of that.
I did a stage 5 tib plateau fracture , shattered it and my tib fib, 21 screws, 2 plates and couple surgeries. Knee will never be even close to 100% but I still ride, the way I did it a brace or no brace would have made no difference. I got off balance in the air and straight legged by leg into the ground and boom, shattered . I always wear my knee braces but like any safety equipment it can only do so much and also depends on the person , some people just break easy.....I would keep those braces on and get back to riding !!!!!!!!
Ouch, sounds like bad luck fella glad to hear your well into the recovery process with more knowledge learned the hard way from that experience. Yes I prefer to wear knee guards when possible especially riding off-road with others as it’s great protection from airbourne rocks from rear wheels plus they have saved my knees countless times when I have come off from rock rash. Pretty sure the knee guards won’t protect against all types of impacts as you already now know but the way you described how the injury took place sounds very similar to a mate I was riding with many years ago. He was leading and I was behind and saw it all unfold, we were at pace going along a fire trail and every so often there were erosion mounds made across the road to control water runoff making perfect jumps. Anyway he got airborne on this particular one and as he came down to land right at the last second his foot was off the peg hitting the ground the same time the bike was. It didn’t look like that much I thought he was all good expecting to see him powering off but NO he was in extreme pain. He had done serious damage like you to his knee area not sure of the doctor names of body parts but a nice vacation in hospital. Still remember the expression on his face when I went to visit him about a week later in hospital after his knee surgery and during his rehab, he had truly had enough definitely wanting me to get him out of the hospital and he had one leg strapped into this machine that just kept moving his knee back and forth all day long to keep it moving in the proper way. The way you described the pain is very similar to how my mate also described the pain factor, it sounds terrible. If I were to guess I would say it’s all about how the injury takes place so having gear that protects in some areas is beneficial for me , but hearing of your injury and seeing a mate do his knee in is scary stuff but I guess it’s the risks we take to enjoy doing what we do. Pretty sure you can’t go wrong using the poverty pack type knee guards with the Velcro straps for gravel rash protection but those fancy knee guards that do this and that might be either over engineered or need to be set up a certain way perhaps. Hope you have a 100% recovery it takes time , keep smiling
Tore my acl 10 years ago, and finally just started riding more again and I dabbed my "good" leg today on the yz250 quick and hyperextended it a bit. I think I partially tore something but I can still get around and go to work tomorrow hopefully. I ended up here after searching which knee braces to buy as I can't sell the bike. I have heard this information before and stopped wearing my donjoy brace on my reconstructed knee for just a regular knee pad a long time ago. I am so torn with what to do. Can't afford to get seriously hurt at 28 but can't afford to stop riding either.
Had the exact same braces as you. Never had a knee injury but due to many other injuries wanted to go above and beyond and protect my knees. I went from never having a knee issue to getting knee sprains. Dumped the bike 2 times. Never landed on my knee but first time ended up. With a minor mcl sprain. Second time laid over on the right side and high speed. Never hit my knee but ended up with a sprain on my right patella tendon. Switched to knee guards. I'll never wear them again. I think the issue is no matter what you do, do to skin and muscle your legs will always slightly twist in the brace and your knee joint doesn't move naturally due to following the range of motion of the brace. Just my 2 cents. I've got amazing knee braces in new condition for sale now.
you were using the wrong braces. c frame has 1 hinge. already better version is x frame. I personally suffered a fracture of the top of my tibia in leatt dual axis. Immediately after recovery, I bought POD k4 braces
Absorbing an overwhelming impact w a "locked out knee" (ie, more than fully extended)? Take it to the bank that something big is gonna happen. The little happen is the acl let's go and the knee folds up backwards (I did that one 😲). The big happen is u explode your hip or the tib plateau. I wore a knee brace for a few years after that incident but the knee was would not heal fully. It felt as if the knee would pull apart when the brace protected it from going to a full hyper extension. I stopped wearing the brace and the knee immediately healed. But notice to all here: you learn something the hard way from that experience. And that is that u never let your leg go into hyper extension when it's out by the front axle in a corner. Just use a bit more energy and keep it just a smidgeon off full lockout. Cause if your heal snags something in what may appear to be soft sand, well, there goes a hip, acl or a plateau. Its with that knowledge I ride w no braces no this day. And that's 20+ years ago.
Now dealing with a joint injury that will eventually result in hip replacement, IMHO if your knee heals close to 100% after the fracture, you're better off long term than with a bad soft tissue joint injury. Meaning maybe the brace saved you from something worse for the long term?
I’m just back to riding again. I rode a lot when I was a kid with no gear except the helmet quite a few injuries, but I’m 48 years old now I’m just getting back into it last year. I got myself a Yamaha WR 250 F fully uncorked got the competition ECU for it With the CCU and really that’s all I changed on the bike but today I wear pretty much all the gear. I still don’t have chest protector and shoulders or neck brace. I won’t wear one. I’ll wear a chest protector back protector shoulder protector combo in one for the knee Guards when I first started riding again, I had a bad habit of having my feet angled on the pegs and going through one time the front tire grabbed got traction jumped out of the rut and tossed me right into twist. My right foot backwards wasn’t going fast. I was able to jump up and move And fall because it wasn’t that big of a 2 1/2 inches a branch but it was anyway I was there for about a half an hour. I could not get up on my freaking leg. It hurts so bad so I got myself some knee braces they’re not expensive ones but they’re more for making me keep my feet in the position they’re supposed to be in , so the knee braces I have allow for hyper extension. I can bend them a little bit sideways, but not very much but the padding on them is good. I forgot the brand of them.evs that’s what they are. I bought them at Royal distributing in Canada, but I hear you vote the injuries. I’ve had my share of injuries and I won’t take too many chances on the bike anymore. I do slow. I’ve been doing a lot of balance and collection throttle control, and wheel learning to ride like Jarvis, but not hitting the obstacles he does. lol respect nice video, man
Appreciate info man. I have stayed away from the braces, mostly because of Ryan Hughes. Good to hear your input as you've been thru the fire. Like you used to wear, I have the traditional two velcro strap guards. They work great for me. Hope your leg is getting better man.
I love Ryan Hughes, but I don't know if I'd heed his advice regarding what he says when it comes to knee braces. He's also against wearing neck braces as well. FYI...I worked as a Chiropractor for 20 years, retired but wanted to stay in healthcare so I currently work as a medic in Austin Texas. Off the ambulance and I now work in the ER as a tech and as someone above who works in an ER mentioned, I've seen a number of tibial plateau fractures and not one was wearing a knee brace. IMO the argument is the same as when someone gets that rare injury because they were wearing their seatbelt and then from that day on they don't wear a seatbelt.
I fractured my tibia like a piece of firewood and completely tore my acl multiple tares in my menicus and partially tore my lcl. Never been the same since. But I have the xframe hybrids from leatt hopefully never experience another bad knee injury. 🤞
I also broke my tibial plateau AND femur as well as acl, mcl, lcl, and patellar tendon with my knee brace on, doc said we would of been doing an acl if I had a pad only on.
You did well to finish the race with that break. Adrenalin must have been pumping through the body! That injury might have happened with or without a brace. Was it a pile-driver into the ground with a straight leg? The brace is not 100% locked to the leg so there is always some play before protection kicks in. Knee pad: helps for direct knee impact. Falls, trees etc. Brace: side and hyper extension support and direct knee impact. Basically it’s a knee pad with side support. Brace should theoretically be better than a pad. I only use pads as my riding is not that aggressive.
HI I also had a Tibiaplateau fracture and the acl shredded. I am recovering from the surgery atm. I had no braces on it happened in the halfpipe with my skateboard. somehow i slipped off the tail and landed hard with my leg fully extended. I don´t think that the brace made that much of a difference, yet i also don´t think they are that useful in the first place. I can´t imagine that the "hyperextension protection" works with forces that come into play at a crash, and even if, something has to give way.
I went through a tibial plateau fracture this year also wearing POD braces. I’ve had a lot of conversations with sports focused knee specialist, different knee surgeons and I can confidently say with a better understanding of how the knee joint is SUPPOSE to function I disagree with this. Your knee is suppose to move in a straight motion from 0 degrees to 120 of flexion and extension. The brace keeps it from involuntarily side to side movements which the knee is not designed to do. A TP fracture happens mostly from a straight down impact that causes your femur to impact your tibia and the weaker of the two breaks. Usually from having your knee straight instead of bent. No piece of equipment can prevent a TP fracture, but you can help by keeping you knees bent when possible. Even after going through the same injury (along with an MCL tear) I’m still wearing knee braces. That’s just my choice though. I would talk to a knee specialist and make your own decisions!
If you wear the braces again adjust them so you can’t lock your leg straight. Make sure there’s a very slight bend in it. That way if you jam your leg like you did it will bend and not transfer all the energy into your knee. I had a tibial plateau fracture also but mine happened from a side ways bend.
I've always ran traditional knee guards but my only experience of braces (funny enough the leatt c frame) is my friend tearing his ACL in a race not long after purchase, I've heard enough stories on top of that to make me steer clear of them now.
