I've been wearing and battle testing the 661 Veggie Knee Wraps for about 2 and a half months to see what sort of damage I could incur on them. I originally chose to test these pads for a few reasons. They have a soft shell, which is great for wearing under jeans as I usually do and they have a slimmer profile than most knee pads, as anyone who ever wore Harbingers can certainly attest to. The price is right on as well.
I don't usually wear pads -- even a helmet feels like overkill to me. However, I've been bashing my knees a lot lately (which I'll discuss later on) and it seems like a whole lot of dirt jumpers sport pads on their lower elbows nowadays. For these reasons, I thought I'd check out what the market has to offer. I actually came to 661 first because I've been wearing bulletproof shin pads of theirs for a while and my local 661 rep hooked me up with some body armor when I got mangled racing at Plattekill. It's about time I hit them back, and their knee pads looked like they could stop a charging bull from piercing skin. I went with the Veggie Wrap instead of the Kyle Strait model because of the price difference. I tried to imagine which of these most of you would pick if they were both in front of you. Since we all operate on thin budgets, I went with the Veggies. Nothing personal, Kyle. Oh yea, and they also have a Velcro panel on them to attach to the Veggie Shin Wraps. I don't have those, but that is some full leg protection right there!
Anyway, these knee pads are the best I've ever tried! For the modest price of $35, they get the job done. After weeks of slamming my knees into the ground and pedals into my knees, the only pains I've felt in my knees are from the one night I didn't wear the Veggies. And, for the record, I later slammed my knee into the same table with the pads on and cracked the table. Needless to say, I didn't feel it much. Even sliding on concrete, the face of the pads kept in-tact, though the 6's might have gotten a little blurry. The single fault that I noticed is one which most knee guards have...the devilish insistence on sliding down my knee. Even still, the occasional pull to realign each pad isn't worth fretting about. To top off the package, these guys come in a neat little mesh storage bag that won't carry the stench after your pads have left it.
I don't know how much you can say about knee pads, but these pads f'in rock. 661 manages to keep the price down and still construct an absolutely bombproof set of pads. As I said, I'm not much of a pad wearer, though I'm wearing these a whole lot and liking them. I really did try to tear these pads apart towards the end of the test, with no results. If you need something to put on your knees for riding get yourself a pair of 661 Veggie Knee Wraps!!
In all fairness, people are buzzing about the Shadow Conspiracy pads. They don't have nearly as much padding and they look like someone stitched them out of potato sacks. I guess they are super-thin so they can fit under girl pants. Haha, only kidding. Or am I? People mentioned them to me, so I'm mentioning them here. I think the 661's were the better choice though.
- Mark D.
