Dainese Oak Pro Pads – First Look

Too many of you won’t remember Dainese in a push bike sense…

The legendary Ricky Chester (friend of ride.io), rocking the Dainese Knee and Shin, not as long ago as you might have thought!

Lots of us however will fondly remember the wonderful grey plastic of the knee and shin pads. I still have a pair somewhere. The iconic summer strap tan for those of us racy enough to have the single strap, or the sweat rash of the full wrap-n-strap of the other sort. Everyone who was anyone had a set and they were bad-ass. Sadly Dainese wound back in the bike market, and making plenty of coffee and ice-cream tokens (they are Italian) on high end motorcycle and ski kit it seemed to be that their day was done. We all bought knee pads and that was that.

Not so fast! Windwave, importers of FSA and Marzocchi to name but two, picked up the brand and are getting the gear back into the UK. Dainese have some very trick and up-to-date pads for all occasions. We got our sweaty limbs inside the Oak Pro knee and elbow pads for the first time the other day.

Being their top end pads, they have some superb pedigree to live up to. The first thing you notice when pulling these pads on is how comfortable the liner material is. Silky, contoured and padded, these have all the hall-marks of a fine Italian suit. The tough polymer liner and outer material ooze a similar quality, but what really sets them apart from other pads is the “Boa” adjustment system. You might have come across this on your snowboard boots (I suspect because snowboarders can’t tie their laces?!) or kayaking helmet, but to see it on a pad has to be a first! For those of you not familiar with the system, you wind the dial and it pulls in a cord, tightening the system. To undo, you just pop the dial up and you’re free.

The Boa system lets you crank these pads up nice and securely with no chance of them slipping, vecro ripping open or any other catastrophe. Both the knee and elbow pads give a full overage, the Boa dial sitting well above the joint. Both sets give good coverage of forearm and shin.

Eastridge Mini Enduro was the first outing for the pads. Being optimistic, I strapped them on and set off up the hill. These are not a lightweight all day “enduro” pad, well vented both through the holes up front and the open back, you cannot get away from the fact that they offer full coverage and maximum protection. I rode the transitions with then in leg-warmer position and pulled them up for the race stages. Pedalling wasn’t an issue, the strapping system keeping them firmly in place and allowing full movement, they were just too hot to go up hill in!

On the downs however they really came into their own – secure, unflappable and reassuring in their padding, once in place I forgot I was wearing them and got on with the job in hand – very much the point of good armour! I’ve not binned it onto them yet, but time will tell, and we’ll give you a full write up on that in due course….

These retail for the princely sum of £130 for the Knee+Shin, and a similar sum for the elbow pads… They also offer a set without the Boa, and the classic hard shelled versions for a good wedge less. There’s no denying these are the best pads I’ve ever used for protecting my sticky out bits going down a hill, but that price might leave some of you reaching for the bubble wrap and duck tape?

http://www.dainese.com/uk_en/

http://www.windwave.co.uk/