Gear: POC Body Armor

September 26th, 2013 • BY Kelly Bastone

We almost always prefer women’s gear for its superior fit. So when we set out to find the best protective gear for female mountain bikers, we expected women’s-specific models to rise to the top. Imagine our surprise, then, when our favorite guards turned out to be unisex designs. POC’s body armor was the least cumbersome, best-fitting protection we tested, proving that smart engineering occasionally wins out over gender specificity.

For Cross-Country Riding

Instead of gripping your leg with individual straps, the Joint VPD 2.0 Knee guards ($120, shown above) slide onto your leg like a stocking (you have to take your shoes off to put these on). The inconvenience is well worth their streamlined protection. They’re non-bulky and supple enough to be truly comfortable during technical cross-country riding, because instead of using rigid plates to protect your joints, POC uses Visco-Elastic Polymer Dough (VPD) that stays flexible while you’re pedaling but stiffens upon impact. The materials also conform to your body, so that after wearing them a few times, these guards felt perfectly tailored to our shape.

We experienced the same body-conforming fit with the Joint VPD 2.0 Elbow guards ($100, shown below), which was trim enough to let us wear it under a jacket on cool, drizzly rides. From Winter Park to Fruita, Colorado, both models shielded us from rocky impacts and created no pressure points or hot spots after full-day wear. What’s not to love? Well, they do trap warmth. In 90-degree temperatures, we felt relieved to strip them off after their hours of service, just as we did with other pads we tested.

For Downhilling

The Joint VPD 2.0 DH Long Knee guards ($130) also conform to the body for a sleek, low-bulk fit. But these knee protectors extend farther down the shin and they also supplement the VPD with a hard shell that protects knees during high-speed sliding falls. The DH model was ideal for lift-served mountain biking, but trapped even more heat than the shorty. Would it be so wrong to make these in a cooler, reflective white color rather than solar-sucking black?

Like anti-armor, the Spine VPD 2.0 Vest ($220) and Hip Shorts ($220, below) feel flexy and soft, which provided more than just comfort: It let us move freely on the bike, so we could rotate our hips in the corners and angle our torso from side to side. The shorts’ streamlined hip protection fits under bike shorts and doesn’t over-enlarge the very part of the body that most gals wish to slenderize. The vest’s breathable mesh kept us from overheating when we layered it beneath other protective gear, and the second-skin fit made this hands-down the best torso guard we’ve worn.

We did wish that the hip shorts integrated with a chamois somehow (wearing three pairs of shorts quickly felt stuffy). And the vest occasionally rode up, so we craved some sort of short/vest integration: Snapping the vest to the shorts would keep everything in place.

Nitpicks aside, we loved these guards. They set a new high bar for comfortable bike protection.

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