Reviews: Leatt Airflex Ultra Lite Knee Guard, Troy Lee Speed Elbow Sleeves

My dear friend Emily, who is an amazing rider, taught me a few years ago that elbow pads and knee pads are like bravery sleeves for mountain biking. Ever since then I’ve put on my pads when I am not having a confident day or when I know I want to try to send rocks, roots, or anything steep. I even wear them when I simply want skin coverage to protect against poison oak (hello Santa Cruz all year) and also for warmth in colder temps. I feel like I’m riding naked without pads.

I tend to seek out pads that are on the lighter/slimmer side and that I can forget I’m wearing. I put them on when I leave the car and take them off when I get back to the car. I don’t want velcro straps, and I like longer pads that don’t gap below my chamois or leave my shin fully exposed. For elbow guards I’m all about the “sleeve” effect where pads grip under my t-shirt and extend nearly to my wrist, if possible. I like coverage, not bulk.

I have had mixed success with the fit and function of pads by Fox, Pearl Izumi, Troy Lee, and, most recently, Leatt. Currently, I’m riding in Leatt Airflex Ultra Lite Knee Guards and Troy Lee Speed Elbow Sleeves, which have their pros and cons that I’ll go over here. I’m mostly happy with this combo.

First, there’s a general issue of pads and fitting women’s bodies that I want to briefly address. I’m 5’6″ in my riding shoes, and I weigh 130ish in my summer riding gear. I usually wear a women’s medium in shorts and t-shirts, so I don’t consider myself a true small. I have “climber” shoulders and arms that usually hulk out of size small women’s cycling jerseys that are meant to be aero. So, while in most women’s clothing I’m around a medium and I don’t usually have trouble finding clothes that fit, I have had trouble finding mtb pads that fit well, especially elbow pads, and I imagine I’m not alone. I am speaking here just for my own particular body size and experience.

Troy Lee Speed Elbow Sleeves, size XS/S

I bought these from Sports Basement this year and I’ve been riding in them for several months now. They replaced my old Fox Enduro D30 elbow pads, size small. I loved the fabric of the Fox sleeve, which was silky and breathes well on hot days, but the pad itself was laughably large for my elbow/arm! The Troy Lees are also nice and long, like the Foxes: they go all the way up under my short sleeves and down almost to a watchband. Contrasting the Fox D30 pad, I like the slim pad in the TLs — it is truly a mesh sleeve with a little extra padding over my elbow and the bony part of my lower arm. (It does not feel silky like the Fox sleeve material.) What I struggle with is that the top of the TL sleeve only stays up if my upper arms are already sweaty. If they’re not sweaty yet, the whole sleeve falls down like a slinky and is useless (and annoying). Sad trombone. The size XS/S sadly is the smallest size. I will wear them until they wear out, but I won’t buy them again unless the upper arms feel tighter and have better grip. I’m not going to get much more “swoll” nor should I have to to fit in an XS/S.

Leatt Airflex Ultra Lite Knee Guard, size S

I bought these to replace a pair of Fox Enduro D30 knee pads that actually fit pretty well, but I destroyed the back-of-the-knee mesh by tearing it with my pedals, as I do on flats. I wanted to experiment with lower profile pads to replace the Foxes. I found the Leatt Air Flex Ultra Lites in the Loam Wolf review (*with great product photos*), and they spoke to me, so I ordered both a small and a medium to see which one would fit best (the Leatt size chart was hard to judge, even though I used a tape measure to follow their specs). It turns out that small fits me perfectly and the medium is far too big. Strangely, Leatt’s webpage is now down for the Air Flex Ultra Lites, so I wonder if they are being discontinued?

I’ve been riding trail and XC in these pads for about a month now, and there are two main things to relay. First, the fabric feels like silk, cool and smooth to the touch, and I love putting them on! They feel luxurious. I also really like how the back of the knee is cut out — this is where I usually damage the fabric with my pedal. However, I think the cost of this light silky fabric is that it tears easily and has already torn with zero falls. I repeat: I have not bit the dust on my bike, and the fabric of the knee sleeve is already torn. Bummer! I predict that these will not last long.

The second thing I want to say is that I love the look of the knee guard “gel impact” protection, the red triangle-pattern padding that you can see through the outer mesh on the knee. While it does feel like enough protection for me on XC rides, I find myself wishing for slightly more padding on the knee during gnarlier trail rides where who knows what will happen. I certainly don’t know. So, I guess I’m concluding that the Leatt Air Flex Ultra Lite’s don’t have enough padding to give me full confidence when things get rougher, and I will likely wind up buying another pair of Fox Enduro D30s to wear on rockier/rootier rides. But because they feel so good, I will continue to wear the Leatts on XC days until they are mere shreds that hold a light pad over my knee.

feature photo credit: Dave Zahrobsky (davidzahrobsky.com)