BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

Dude definitely almost lost his face.

had he not been wearing a full face helmet and a brace he would have been screwed. but thanks to proper safety gear he was able to get up, dust himself off, finish his run and go on with his day.

i've had more than one crash like that, face first into big nasty rocks. proper gear makes them something to get up and laugh about. not being prepared for that will pretty much ruin your day/week/month/year/life though. this is a lesson that applies to all sorts of things...

Is the brace the item I see around his neck and shoulders?

Also, this is slightly OT, but check out the photography of Kerry Skarbakka.

yup. leatt brace. probably the greatest safety innovation for riding since the helmet. without the brace that would have more than likely been a broken neck.

Those Leatt braces came on the market not long after I stopped racing motocross and I agree that they are an excellent safety device. I am not sure, but I think that their use has expanded into numerous other wheeled sports. I would probably use one if I got into downhill riding on a mountain bike; same thing for MX riding.

Also, I don't want to be the one who restarts a helmet debate, but those MX-style full-face helmets are an entirely different (read: much better) creature than garden-variety bicycle helmets.

This makes me wonder about "risk compensation".